Shipping from the States

[epervier]

Has anyone experience of buying from the states, shipped back to blighty, and know of the costs and pit falls involved.

answers on a postcard please.

Apologies if this has been done to death before, buy I didn't take any notice before, because I thought I'd never need to know, but things change.

 

[Seahope]

Has anyone experience of buying from the states, shipped back to blighty, and know of the costs and pit falls involved.

answers on a postcard please.

Apologies if this has been done to death before, buy I didn't take any notice before, because I thought I'd never need to know, but things change.

I looked into this when I was first thinking of buying a boat. The ones is the USA looked so cheap, but they need to be made CE compliant. For a 10.4 m x 3.9 m boat back in 2009 I was quoted around 10k euros to ship the boat from Newport RI to Southampton, then:

Customs Clearance:

Customs export clearance will need to be arranged prior to your departure from Newport and upon your arrival in Southampton.

* The fee for customs clearance is approximately US$ 250.00 in Newport RI
* The fee for customs clearance is approximately UKŁ 90.00 in Southampton.

* Customs Import VAT may also be payable at 20% on the purchase price and shipping cost.

* You may be liable to pay customs import duty at 1.70% upon your arrival in Southampton, if the yacht is less than 12.00 meters in length.

Sort of put me off really, especially as the boat may have problems and then who would help?

 

[epervier]

The craft I'm looking at is Swedish built so at a guess wouldn't be too far off the ce standard, but as you state if 20% vat and all the other hidden little extras the HMRC want plus shipping tends to kill the idea.

 

[Jim@sea]

A few years ago I was told that if you had owned a car or boat overseas and it was registered in your own name in that particular country then you could import it without any import duties.

 

[russ]

A few years ago I was told that if you had owned a car or boat overseas and it was registered in your own name in that particular country then you could import it without any import duties.

I have imported a few cars and it is sometimes more hassle than its worth.
If you have owned the vehicle for a year and can prove that you have had your own address and insurance in that country you will not have to pay duty.

 

[EugeneR]

The fact that it's a Swedish boat i.e. has already been loaded with the cost of exporting to the US and now being re-imported, suggests that it may not be as profitable as a US manufactured boat.

For shipping, I got quoted $1000 from Baltimore to Southampton for a typical 28ft sportsboat. Scaled by volume. "All in" (shipping, cradle, loading, dock charges, etc) was less than £2k, plus VAT and duty. Every agent adds 30% along the way, even for little value-add, so go as direct as possible!