Buying guitars direct from the USA

[fbloke]

Hello folks.

Has anyone tried this?  I'm looking at buying a guitar from Sweetw@ter in the USA and having it shipped to the UK.  Any pitfalls to avoid/tips from anyone out there?

Thanks,

Mike.

[Antag]

Yes, I've bought several guitars from the US.

Shipping: get them to ship with UPS or Fedex, because both of those companies will handle the package end to end, are fast, reliable & offer decent tracking & insurance.  If they ship via USPS (=US postal service), it gets passed to Parcel Farce over here or some tinpot local courier who will do their best to break it.

Packing:  make sure the seller loosens the strings before packing (assuming it's going by air), that the guitar is securely packed in its case which is in turn surrounded by padding & in a box.

Import tax: you will need to pay import duty & VAT on your purchase.  Last time I imported a guitar duty was 3.7%, then VAT (@17.5%) goes on top of that. So, for example, if you paid £1000:
(1000 x 1.037) x 1.175 = 1218.48, so VAT + import duty will be 218.48 (there's often a £10 or so admin fee too)
Another good selling point of UPS & Fedex is that they take care of the paperwork for you.  UPS will expect a cheque or card on the doorstep, Fedex will invoice you later for it.

Hope this helps.

[fbloke]

Yes, I've bought several guitars from the US.

Shipping: get them to ship with UPS or Fedex, because both of those companies will handle the package end to end, are fast, reliable & offer decent tracking & insurance.  If they ship via USPS (=US postal service), it gets passed to Parcel Farce over here or some tinpot local courier who will do their best to break it.

Packing:  make sure the seller loosens the strings before packing (assuming it's going by air), that the guitar is securely packed in its case which is in turn surrounded by padding & in a box.

Import tax: you will need to pay import duty & VAT on your purchase.  Last time I imported a guitar duty was 3.7%, then VAT (@17.5%) goes on top of that. So, for example, if you paid £1000:
(1000 x 1.037) x 1.175 = 1218.48, so VAT + import duty will be 218.48 (there's often a £10 or so admin fee too)
Another good selling point of UPS & Fedex is that they take care of the paperwork for you.  UPS will expect a cheque or card on the doorstep, Fedex will invoice you later for it.

Hope this helps.

Antag,

That helps a great deal as it would become more expensive to buy from the USA once you've added import duty and VAT, so there's no point in doing the transaction.  I can just order one from a UK dealer instead.

[Antag]

It depends on the guitar, whether there are UK dealers that actually stock them at decent prices, & the exchange rate (right now it's around 1.60 which isn't great), but sometimes you can save a fortune: my Jackson RR1T was <£1100 (including shipping, duty & VAT! :))

Double check my figures for duty though - it was a few years ago so it may not still be 3.7% & wasn't VAT dropped to 15% for a while after the last budget?

[Jonny]

It seems to 3.7%, I'm more certain on it. However VAT is going back up to 17.5% in January time so we're all screwed after that for buying anything.

[hunter]

I have to object regarding UPS. They treat fragile goods like shite. I had some bad experiences.

I had my Axis sent via USPS though and it arrived nicely.

Packing is vital!!

But I gotta say, it depends a lot on the guitar. I wouldn't buy a Gibson type in the US, but a Fender type with maple neck anytime. Do those actually break ever?

[Philly Q]

But I gotta say, it depends a lot on the guitar. I wouldn't buy a Gibson type in the US, but a Fender type with maple neck anytime. Do those actually break ever?

I did once buy a terrible US Strat which turned out to have a cracked neck heel, probably because the neck was a very poor fit in the pocket.  It may well have left the factory like that, though.

[WezV]

Do those actually break ever?

you so see the odd cracked heel from the screws and occasionally cracked headstocks around tuner holes... but even these are usually a quick fix and not often fatal

[Tomcaster]

I would never buy a guitar blindly. From one series, one factory one guitar can sound excellent and the other like a POS. You have to knock on wood to know. Same goes for fretting and general setup.