I've ordered a guitar from Japan and not got done by customs...it was marked "Used guitar" even though it was new.
Guitar from the US, got done over - marked "gift".
I think that the problem is the value of new goods...ie. that is eligible for VAT.
I think that you don't have to pay VAT on used goods if they are marked as such.
Would be worth testing. If it's true, then you would only have to pay the 5% import tax and not the 17.5% VAT on top.
No dice I'm afraid - it's still a financial transaction, new or not. The one guitar I've had sneak through was from Japan - maybe EMS (Japanese postal service) comes into a different airport or something?
I had to pay £40 for the cowbell jazzy but my friend bought a vinyl boxset from the us, valued at £150 and he had to pay another £100 customs charge.
Whaaaaaaaaaaaat? Was this recently? He should contact Customs, because that's fucked up; either a typo has snuck through and he's borne the financial brunt, or there was a mega high insurance value placed on the package? You can check what should have been paid by checking the Customs website.
