Customs and shipping

[RedHawk]

I'm planning on getting a King Arms M4 from a certain Hong Kong based airsoft shop. I've done this twice before but had to face £70+ of customs. This was with EMS i believe. I have previously shipped via UPS and only had to pay £20 customs on everything. However, after recieving an email from this shop suggesting UPS are even tighter about what goes in and out of the UK, would it be worth going with normal shipping?

I am a registered skirmisher and not trying to avoid customs, just to get the best service. Feel free to share your experiences.

[windywindmill]

Re: Customs and shipping

Either way you choose to have it delivered it would be best to factor in customs charges to you total price, add 20% to your order. If you don't get the charges then consider yourself lucky.

[Hawk]

Re: Customs and shipping

20% usually gets you to within a few pence of the customs, and if you don't pay the full amount, you are one lucky man

[generalbaxter]

Re: Customs and shipping

i worked this out last week on a std TM m16a2
it worked out with the 20% of customs to be £10 yes £10 cheaper then buying from Z1,

is it really worth waiting for?

maybe a few £'s here and there due to exchange rates,

anyone noticed how paypals exchange rates differ to the actual lol

[Xxerox]

Re: Customs and shipping

It's always in favour of them yes.
But yeah, as you say, if it's only £10 (and as it's a RIF potential hassles getting it into the country) it's really not worth it. Plus you get the warranty that you can actual act on as you only need to ship it back to Z1.
From what I can see, the only things really worth buying from HK are accessories and parts (unless you just can't find that gun you must have over here) as guns are more often than not similar in price after import.

[Aeviv]

Re: Customs and shipping

I import magazines from china, as certain websites sell mags in pairs, for a tenner each. Plus a tenner for shipping and around £5 for customs, thats about £35 for four mags. Not bad for highcaps Imo.

I also do it if I cannot find a gun i want in the UK- specifically say, the A&K M60VN.