Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2001/05/01
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Customs duties between Europe and North America are for the most part either 0 or largely symbolic so it will not be an issue. I have sold several items to people in the U.S. and to my knowledge they did not have to pay anything on receipt, even in the case of items insured for over $1000. In Europe, the situation is a bit different, since the receiver will have to pay his local VAT when receiving the goods, and that can be substantial, ranging from 7.6% here in Switzerland to 25% in Denmark. The VAT is usually collected by the post office; if you use an express delivery service like FedEx or UPS they will pay the VAT for you and bill you but they will tack on an outrageous fee for performing this service, so I would recommend using plain airmail with insurance, it is much cheaper and almost as fast. There really is no way around the VAT on the European end except to take the risk of understating the value of the item on the package. But then of course you cannot insure it for the real value either. Nathan goldframe wrote: > I’m talking about making a trade with a LUGer in Europe and we’re wondering > if there are any customs duty to be paid when sending equipment between two > individuals in Europe and the US? > > Thanks - gold - -- Nathan Wajsman Herrliberg (ZH), Switzerland e-mail: wajsman@webshuttle.ch General photo site: http://belgiangator.tripod.com/ Belgium photo site: http://members.xoom.com/wajsman/ Motorcycle site: http://www.geocities.com/MotorCity/Downs/1704/