America advice

[bigd1]

I'm off on my jollies in Sept to the US of A. I need some advice from those of you in the know. I am thinking of buying a new Bass and bringing it back with me.
Questions: What Tax etc would I pay when arriving back in the UK ?
Would it be safe to put the bass in it's case in the hold of the aircraft ?
Is it possible to insure it for the homeward trip ?

Words of wisdom from the wize ones among us please.

Ta very glad BIGd

[skywalker]

Hi Bigd

Your Customs allowance is something like £154 pounds I think, anything over that you should in theory pay Duty/VAT. If your Bass is £500, then you should pay on the £350 or so balance.

For Duty and Tax work on something like 20% of the value if you declare it correctly in the Red Channel. If you come through the Green Channel and say nothing chances are you will go through without being stopped, but you didn't hear that from me. You will normally have probably three Customs officers watching 300 people off the flight, so the maths are easy. If you do get stopped, you may even get the Bass confiscated, but I think the chances of that are slim. Customs these days mainly concern themselves with narcotics. Just a heads up that when you buy the bass and case, ensure they are brand new and out of the box, as there is every chance that one which has been on display in the shop has been tried or at least handled by someone who has been in contact with narcotics, especially in the USA, and any trace, however small will send the drug dog in the baggage hall loopy when you get back here.

The bass should be safe in locked flight case, after all that's what they are designed for. I have never had a problem, but others may differ on the point.

Check your travel insurance you should find that there is cover for lost/damaged items carried as hold luggage but look at the small print for exceptions.

I hope this helps, good hunting, let s know what kind of bargain you manae to get.

Steve

[Hamster]

[quote name='skywalker' post='33341' date='Jul 17 2007, 11:02 PM']Hi Bigd

Your Customs allowance is something like £154 pounds I think, anything over that you should in theory pay Duty/VAT. If your Bass is £500, then you should pay on the £350 or so balance.

For Duty and Tax work on something like 20% of the value if you declare it correctly in the Red Channel. If you come through the Green Channel and say nothing chances are you will go through without being stopped, but you didn't hear that from me. You will normally have probably three Customs officers watching 300 people off the flight, so the maths are easy. If you do get stopped, you may even get the Bass confiscated, but I think the chances of that are slim. Customs these days mainly concern themselves with narcotics. Just a heads up that when you buy the bass and case, ensure they are brand new and out of the box, as there is every chance that one which has been on display in the shop has been tried or at least handled by someone who has been in contact with narcotics, especially in the USA, and any trace, however small will send the drug dog in the baggage hall loopy when you get back here.

The bass should be safe in locked flight case, after all that's what they are designed for. I have never had a problem, but others may differ on the point.

Check your travel insurance you should find that there is cover for lost/damaged items carried as hold luggage but look at the small print for exceptions.

I hope this helps, good hunting, let s know what kind of bargain you manae to get.

Steve[/quote]

+1 except buy a tatty secondhand case with stickers and smear up the bass with greasy fingermarks.

Hamster

[skywalker]

I did think about the old case thing, but you never know where it's been. (Ref to the narcotics thing). Maybe an idea to slap a few stickers on a new case.

Steve

[Hamster]

[quote name='skywalker' post='33446' date='Jul 18 2007, 09:27 AM']I did think about the old case thing, but you never know where it's been. (Ref to the narcotics thing). Maybe an idea to slap a few stickers on a new case.

Steve[/quote]

If they were that good, they would be barking at every £50 and $100 note that's in your pocket

Hamster

[skywalker]

Thats a fair comment, although the drug dog here at East Midlands close to me gets some very impressive results.

An old case might well be the way to go.

Steve

[Tee]

You may well find a nice second hand bass, in which case it may well look used/old already. If you want to stick it in the hold, i'd still bubble wrap the headstcock and neck joint areas in the case for extra safety.
VAT is the killer when importing, the rest isn't that bad, particularly when you're saving a bundle anyway.

[bigd1]

Thanks everyone it seems a good idea at the mo as the pound is so strong. 2 for 1 thats half price and would still be saving even with the inport tax.

[douggy]

as far as i know , take a case over with you with the cheapest bass you can find in it, ditch the cheap bass in the usa and bring back the shiny new one in the old case , you can then proove you left the uk with the case!


apparently this works i know a few guys who have done it this way and havent been stopped.

doug

[skywalker]

Sounds like a good plan to me

[Johngh]

I used to take my basses to Brazil and back on a regular basis, these included a Status 5 string and an Alembic Mark King signature, nobody ever bat an eyelid. But I would get yourself a second hand case to bring it back in, you stand a better chance of getting it in if you do.

[The Funk]

If you travel a fair bit, you could peel the worn, damaged old stickers and tags off your suitcases and chuck 'em all over a brand new flightcase out there.

[Guest Bald Eagle]

[quote name='douggy' post='33522' date='Jul 18 2007, 12:06 PM']as far as i know , take a case over with you with the cheapest bass you can find in it, ditch the cheap bass in the usa and bring back the shiny new one in the old case , you can then proove you left the uk with the case!
apparently this works i know a few guys who have done it this way and havent been stopped.

doug[/quote]

FWIW that's what i'd do.

[Toasted]

Just pay the money.

[misrule]

[quote name='Toasted' post='33617' date='Jul 18 2007, 01:57 PM']Just pay the money.[/quote]
Yes -- good advice. I got nicked bringing in a guitar. Customs confiscated it, then conducted a mini-trial in the interview room which resulted in a £150 fine as well. I then had to buy my own guitar back from the Queen's Warehouse.

The 'old case' trick doesn't fool them, either. They target people with guitar cases -- then ask detailed questions about where you bought the instrument, what you paid for it and how. They want to see a US receipt, or a UK one to prove you bought it here, before they'll let you go.

And they know a lot about makes and serial numbers.

It's better to visit the Red Channel and cough up the 17.5 per cent VAT and 3.9 per cent duty they'll demand. And that's on the whole value -- they don't deduct your allowance Sorry.

Cheers

Mark

[skywalker]

You may even be lucky then - a couple of times when I have come through the red channel there have been no Customs men and just an honesty box or a phone to ring them and tell them what youv'e got

[bigd1]

I will be going through the red and paying whatever it cost. I think the other ideas are good but to be honest it's just easer to pay. Anyhow I'd get caught for sure I'm just that lucky.

BIGd

[Toasted]

Big D, you'll pay:

((((Price on recipt + 3.9%) + 17.5%) + handling fee) - Price on recpit)

The handling fee will be I would guess £5 ish.

[misrule]

[quote name='Toasted' post='33669' date='Jul 18 2007, 03:00 PM']Big D, you'll pay:

((((Price on recipt + 3.9%) + 17.5%) + handling fee) - Price on recpit)

The handling fee will be I would guess £5 ish.[/quote]
You only pay a handling fee on deliveries, as far as I'm aware. Customs don't charge you that, at least

Cheers

Mark

[mike257]

Well, I.... erm... I mean a friend of mine came back from a holiday in Oz with a Stingray, and after succesfully making it from Adelaide, to Melbourne, to Hong Kong, to Heathrow (and a moment of panic when I saw them literally [i]throw[/i] it onto a trolley unloading it), only for the whole family to be stopped at Manchester, all our luggage rifled through, and NOT A SINGLE QUESTION asked about the shiny new guitar I was carrying.

So you never know, it might be worth a shot!

[Dan_Nailed]

Taking a case with you is the best idea and bringing the instrument back with you in it. You should check the case into the hold on the way out(via oversize baggage) and leave baggage tag on it, then on your way out of the USA the tag should still be on there and they can;t prove you haven;t just taken your instrument out of the country. It's unreasonable for them to ask you to produce a receipt for a bass that you've owned for a while, if that's your story.

[wazz]

if you take it in the cabin, which I always do, backed up by my MU card, it should fit in the overhead lockers.
A Hiscox case does anyway. I wouldn't consider travelling with a bass in any other case.

[misrule]

[quote name='Dan_Nailed' post='33942' date='Jul 19 2007, 12:52 AM']It's unreasonable for them to ask you to produce a receipt for a bass that you've owned for a while, if that's your story.[/quote]
It may be unreasonable -- but that's what they do. They would, probably quite rightly, expect you to take the receipt of a new bass with you to prove you hadn't bought it abroad.

They also understand the serial number, which will tell them when the bass was made and probably where it was sold. When I was stopped, they had a huge printed serial number manual which told them when my guitar was made (I told them I'd bought it second-hand).

Don't mess with these people -- they have horrible powers.

Cheers

Mark

Edited July 19, 2007 by misrule

[Cantdosleepy]

I had to bring a bass back from Japan last year. I wasn't trying to buy it on the cheap, though - I'd been living out there for a couple of years and owned it out there for half that time. Didn't have a receipt for it or anything. Walked through customs with it with no problems at all.

[skywalker]

Might be an idea to ask the shop for a receipt for a lower value. Must shops will be happy to do that.