Shipping Laptop from US to UK?

Question

Hi!

Does anyone know if a friend wants to send me a laptop by mail to England, how much tax and customs fees should I pay to receive it. any website that explains?
And will I be able to pay these fees at my door, or will I need to go to the customs to pay?
Has anyone in the UK received laptop PC from abroad?
Is it worth the hassle, or better buy it from England?

Thanks for answers,
it's because they're MUCH cheaper in the US.

any other answers?

Answer 1

On the whole not a good idea. You can get a power adapter which is just the start of the costs if you go ahead. The box it's shipped over in will have to be magnetically shielded meaning special freight charges and the SW versions installed on the laptop will all be US. Unless it's labeled as a gift which avoids the whole VAT and duty it'll be hit with import tax and duty upon arrival. Note that duty is added before VAT... Labelling it for a value for insurance purposes is sure to get the customs and excise on you so if you go the gift route it won't be insured during travel. So it can be cheap at a risk. My wife owned hers before she came over so the duty etc. didn't apply but the experience of that comes from some heirloom china her mum sent was insured.

The best way to buy a laptop in the UK is to find someone who works for a company that still does the laptop minus tax prices. It's rarer these days as the government led initiative to do that has finished.

Answer 2

FedEx ships worldwide, and all the costs are factored in. You'll know before it leaves how much. Also, your power supply will have to be purchased here. AC is different overseas, but the DC that runs the box will be the same. You'll simply need to order the US version of the adapter.

Answer 3

Most laptops have switching power supplies, but you'll need a UK style plug to actually plug it in. That's probably only a couple of £'s.

You'll be charged 17.5% VAT on the import.

Answer 4

for the price of flights i fly over and head to places like best buy buy all what i need and hand carry it back loss the original packaging and if you get stoped they cant prove you brought it to america so you dont pay the customs a penny. do make sure anything you buy is duel voltage 110-240 etc

Answer 5

Get it in the US its way cheaper. I think its about 100 bucks for shipping and 100 USD for custom something in that range.

Answer 6

Tell him to send it as a gift.
Thats it
Then you just pay for the weight.

Answer 7

Different power in US and Canada. Not a good idea

Answer 8

good question !!!!