[spirit]

I bought an unsigned Banksy from someone in the US. Approx value £1000

The seller is going to fedex it to me but I don't know whether I should ask him to mark it as a low value gift (and thereby avoid expensive import duties) or not. Obviously if I do this and it goes missing/gets damaged I can't claim on the insurance.

What would you do in this situation?

[Viva Hate]

for that extra reassurance of 5 quid, do it.

[mcster]

Insure it, it's not worth the risk for the sake of a few quid.

[spirit]

It's not so much the few quid for insurance I'm worried about. It's the £175 import duty that will be incurred if the true value is declared.

[rosstierney]

you've been given the choice so i suggest you insure it unless you're prepared to lose £1000

i received the papermonster faile this morning, marked as a gift & valued @ $1

although i was happy to avoid customs, i think papermonster would have problem if something had happened to it

but . . . i presume it's something they're prepared to resolve unlike a private seller

[mcster]

Emmm. Doesn't always happen though, I've had two lots of stuff arrive from the States this week and only got charged on one of them (fortunately it was the cheapest). Either way you take a chance, but I think with something travelling a long distance there are many things that can go wrong. I've received damaged prints that have only had to travel across London. It's your choice, but I'd rather take the chance of £175.00 duty than a £1000 loss on a worthless print.

[rosstierney]

i also presume you've bought the print from the us because it works out cheaper before customs? why not look for one in the uk for a maximum of £1200 delivered? which print is it if you don't mind me asking?

[spirit]

I'd rather not say which print it is until it is safely in my hands. Suffice to say it doesn't come up for sale very often and when it does it's usually in the US.

[angryboy]

Where is insurance only a £5? On a £600 print Fedex wanted £58 to ship it to the States at that value. Parcel Force wanted £34 to ship with a value of £150, upping the insurance to £600 put that up to £63. I'd still pay the insurance but the £5 seems a little low.

[skelly]

Insure it, it isn't worth the problems that can come about from not insuring. Although I did insure a banksy I traded recently and it got stuck in customs for a little bit because they were trying to charge him a couple hundred tax and he wanted to get it restated as being worth the original price the banksy sold for from POW..

[spirit]

Does anyone know if sending by USPS instead of FedEx reduces the chance of getting charged import duty? - I believe Fedex doesn't release the tube until it's paid is that correct?

There must be people here who have bought high value prints from the US before no? Please can you share your experiences?

thanks

[jusdeep]

I've bought prints from buyers in the States before also. Sometimes you get hit with import duty and tax others not. It's a bit of a lottery but I would definately get the print insured up to it's value. You'd kick yourself if it got damaged or lost. Plus I think if the seller labels it correctly you should only pay a smaller ammount of tax for art of a certain type or age. (There were some posts about import duty and tax for art a few months ago).

[Heavyconsumer]

get it properly insurd but marked as a "return to source" on the shipping label. It came from the UK after all!

[curiousgeorge]

If the original buyer, purchased it while living in the uk, ie paid VAT on it. No more charges apply

[rosstierney]

Apr 9, 2008 19:34:55 GMT 1 curiousgeorge said:

If the original buyer, purchased it while living in the uk, ie paid VAT on it. No more charges apply

interesting! thanks curiousgeorge

[jusdeep]

If the original buyer, purchased it while living in the uk, ie paid VAT on it. No more charges apply

In my experience this counts for JACK! I have purchased a few prints which were purchased from a US buyer who originally bought the print from the UK and paid VAT on the item (So shouldn't have to pay VAT again). Still waiting to hear from customs import tax department (been several months) and don't expect to get a refund on charges. Hate to be a party pooper.

[curiousgeorge]

Sorry, i should have added it's not an easy process.BUT....... providing you can prove via a paper trail that VAT was paid they will refund any charges. I must have been lucky with the person i spoke to, they were very helpful and even surprised that raised the points i did. Best bet is call and speak to just one person, and then keep all future contacts directed to the same person

Jusdeep persistance is everything;)

[bonesy]

Fed Ex is weird with insuring art to begin with. You might be paying for insurance (and VAT) but them fulfilling a claim may be difficult if anything happens.

[nickc]

Don't forget that if the print was bought from POW then they would have paid VAT on it regardless of where it was sent to.

[Billy Sport]

you could try u-pic.com for insurance purposes, and getit marked returned item...i've been hit with customs charge with usps delivery and then royal mail adding a rather nice (for them) handling charge...