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Shipping a bass from Mexico to UK?


Tulou5445
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Just a simple one:

I have found a beautiful Fender Jazz but it is shipping from Mexico from what seems to be an independent guitar shop, found on Reverb, the postage cost being £160 to the UK.

I have been Googling about and have read some dodgy things which have unsettled my desire to buy this bass because of the postage. Like: it has never arrived or has taken months too.

But for such a high value, heavy item, things must be different and taken in consideration, perhaps prioritised during postage, no?

Really really would like this bass! Anyone have in experience?? Please tell!

Thanks!

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It must be really cheap if you're considering paying £160 to the courier. I'd be pretty sure that distance selling regs won't apply to Mexico so if you don't like it or there's something wrong you probably won't be able to return it.

Personally I'd steer clear and find one closer to home that you can try.

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You don't give a lot of info about the bass but realistically unless it's a rare vintage instrument it would likely be easier to find one closer to home.

A few things to be aware of when importing - firstly - CITES. If it has a rosewood fretboard, it'll be subject to the currently complicated & expensive import regs for endangered hardwood species - both buyer & seller need to obtain and pay for the correct clearance paperwork, otherwise it will be confiscated and destroyed by customs.

Second thing - import duties. I don't know what importing a fairly high-value instrument from Mexico is likely to cost, but considering I recently got stung for £21 for importing my partner's birthday present from Japan (a fluffy toy tardigrade, if you must know!) then expect it to hurt a bit.

Have to say, I'm intrigued though - any chance of a link to the sale?

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5 minutes ago, Tulou5445 said:

It's a '93 Japanese Fender Jazz fretless and to my surprise also, it is selling (reduced from £500) to £380. It sounds too good to be true but it can't not be legit. Not returning it would be no issue 

 

28 minutes ago, Tulou5445 said:

I have found a beautiful Fender Jazz but it is shipping from Mexico from what seems to be an independent guitar shop, found on Reverb, the postage cost being £160 to the UK.

 It makes me wonder about the shipping and the reduced cost by ration to one another. Then there's import taxes and all sorts of fun. I'd be a bit weary and honestly, I reckon you could easily find the same bass around our neck of the woods for around the same price or even lower by comparison to the cost of the bass, shipping, imports and the nervousness of dodgy shipping. Mind you, if you're really that keen, go for it! :)

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You will pay import duty and VAT not just on the cost of the bass but also on the courier fees. You might be unlucky and find that Parcelforce are the UK handler and they will add an extra £20 or so 'admin/handling' fee. 

I've looked at the bass, I'm not sure the board is original so you might be taking a risk. Given you'll pay well over £700 total, possibly more, I'd wait for one in the UK 

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1 hour ago, Tulou5445 said:

But for such a high value, heavy item, things must be different and taken in consideration, perhaps prioritised during postage, no?

Based on my experience of couriers I would have thought not :(

As for the final cost, I think one would be looking at about (edit to correct) £664-ish inclusive of import duty and courier importation handling fees but exclusive of supplementary insurance or any additional Cites paperwork (the cost of which eludes me). 

Edited by skankdelvar
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For VAT and duty you need to allow an extra 25% on top of the DECLARED value of the item and postage. This will include the courier handling fee for sorting out the payment of VAT and import duty.

The important point here is that the VAT and duty are calculated on what the sender has DECLARED on the customs form and there is a good chance that they will declare the initial value of £441.21 rather than the discount value of £378.18. They might even declare a higher value if they want to cover themselves in the event of needing make an insurance claim.

Finally and most importantly there is CITES. That looks like a Rosewood board that will be subject to CITES regulations and requires licences at both export (to be paid by the seller who will most likely pass on the cost to you) and import (to be paid by the buyer - you). AFAICS the import licence cost £74 and I would expect to export licence to be much the same. You MUST have both licences, without them the instrument will be seized at customs and probably destroyed. For this reason alone I would be very reluctant to buy any wooden musical instrument from a country outside of the EU.

So allowing a worst case scenario expect the import and VAT to be calculated on the original full price of £441.21 plus the shipping cost, and budget for having to pay for both CITES licences. A quick and dirty round up calculation makes that £850 all together.

I would allow £1000 in total to cover any unexpected over-valuations by the seller when shipping and whatever the costs of the CITES export licence in Mexico is. That way you shouldn't have any nasty surprises, and with a bit of luck you'll end up paying closer to £850.

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21 hours ago, Reggaebass said:

A little more expensive than the one the OP has seen and Cambs is a bit of a drive from Cardiff, however i'd feel much safer investing my time and money by trying before buying. 

I know how I'd spend my money if I were the OP.

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On 11/04/2019 at 19:03, Tulou5445 said:

It's a '93 Japanese Fender Jazz fretless and to my surprise also, it is selling (reduced from £500) to £380. It sounds too good to be true but it can't not be legit. Not returning it would be no issue 

From my click on  your link the price is now £ 413 + £ 168 shipping. You are now at nearly £ 600 and prima facie this the price varies based on exchange rate. Who know what you will pay by time they debit your card. When you stick on taxes  etc, Reggaebass's suggestion makes much more sense. Personally I would not take the risk, especially if there have been issues before re posting etc.

Edited by Bobthedog
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