Import Charges/ Taxes. Strength of Sterling etc.

[bradsteel]

Hi everybody,

How much extra would shipping/ importing a guitar from the States (vs somewhere in Europe) actually be? Say a £3,000 guitar.

[Zumbilly(Murdoch)]

Hi Brad
I am making a guess
remember that VAT is added to the total cost of the package including the shipping cost and then there is imposrt duty on the value of the instrument. I would guess that depending on weight(is it a d10 or a single neck ?) the shipping could be several hundred pounds.
So if We say £3000 plus £350 for shipping Your total outlay would be around £4200 from the U.S.
I am unsure of the VAT rules after Brexit but there could be a few months of no VAT charge.and the shipping would obviously be less.
Do You have a particular guitar in or model in Mind? I would recommend contacting Ted Nesbitt and see what He has available .Ted is very well respected and only ever has guitars in top condition.
Good luck

[bradsteel]

Ok thanks mate! It was mainly out of curiosity more than anything - especially now that a new D10 GFI would set one back about £6k these days!

[JohnDavisStringsHere]

[b]for £6K i can buy a 26 foot yacht with twin cylinder inboard diesel engine and a full rig of sails
Nothing wrong with a GFI but if you pay 6K l would advise you to have you bumps felt (by a qualified practitioner )

[bradsteel]

Quite right John, I love GFI but it’s an incredible amount of money.

[Malcolm]

Brad, as Billy said, I would check with Ted Nesbitt or hold fire and watch for a good quality Guitar to come up for sale in U.K. or Europe. If you can wait another option would be, once things get back to normal, would be be visit USA for a holiday, buy one there and bring it back as baggage, a lot of us have gone down that road. I know of one player who had a guitar shipped over, and on collection at airport was charged over £700 by customs, and that was many years ago, who knows what it would cost these days.

[Malcolm]

Brad, just noticed you are In Lancashire, have you visited Promenade to try both out? would highly recommend you do that if you have not already. Just as a matter of interest, if looks are not important, last time I spoke to Mike Mantey of Mullen at Dallas show he was showing me the Discovery, it has the same mechanics as the RP, just not as high a cosmetic finish ( black end plates etc) they sound exactly same as RP.

[Barry]

Have you given a look at UK made Sheffield Pedal-steel guitars...just a thought.