Import Duty

I was thinking of getting a set of Cactus wireless triggers but they have to come from Hong Kong.

Has anybody done this and know the import rates on a $60 purchase?

Seen this on ebay?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cactus-V4-Wireless-Flash-Trigger-Set-Transmitter-Recei...

or

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Cactus-PT-04-Wireless-Flash-Trigger-boxed-/13104616463...

John K

Stephen - this is likely to incur the following charges:

Duty - 4-7% of the retail value of the goods
VAT - 20%
clearance fee - £20-£30 (depending on the clearance agent).

FWIW - it will cost as much on import charges as the actual flash trigger.

Steven & Jak - thanks for the info. It hardly seems ordering from HK if it jacks up the price that much!

I'll look into the eBay v4 Cacti - I've also heard good things about the Aputure Trigmaster ll which you can get from Amazon UK.

Thanks again.

just bear in mind that it is not guaranteed that you will pay import duty.

it's always a bit random. basically, anything over £18 is liable for import duty, but not everything gets snagged for that. but it could happen. I've bought many things from abroad that are way over the import duty threshold and never had to pay any, but it can vary.

Depends on whether it's worth the administration costs. If you import via "common carrier" (private couriers, such as TNT, UPS, DHL, etc), they have a duty to declare all imports that exceeds the "de-minimis" of £15.00 (not £18.00, as you have stated).

does the £15 limit still apply now

Depends on its "Commodity Code" and its "Country of Origin" as well as its value - see sites like this https://www.chambercustoms.co.uk/ukimporttaxcalculator

For example, I recently bought a specialist satellite receiver from Spain for around 79 Euros - but paid no extra import duty or VAT.

Thanks John. If I've picked to correct "Commodity Code" for a filter it looks like I'm OK