Hello,

I am just wondering if anyone could offer any advice for buying from the US? I haven't done so in a number of years and some of my wants are currently only available over there.

What i'm wondering is what kind of tax/duties would be owed?

Also, is there any benefit of shipping items to a friend and have them ship them to the UK?

Are items between friends and family subject to the same duties as direct purchases?

Cheers,

Jordan

20% tax on puchase + postage (ebay) ,There may be a new Trump tax but it did not show up on a disc I brought a couple of weeks ago,no way round the 20% ebay takes it on payment also postage is about $22 these days so take that in account.

Given i have some friends in the US, wondered if it was more viable to bundle a few wants and ask them to ship as a friend rather than as a purchase? This should reduce postage on each 45 as it's only a few dollars internally in the US.

Just trying to understand what/if anything i would be paying on top of the sales price if i did it this way?

Then i can at least factor this into any decision.

If they shipped in bulk then they could put a low value on the parcel so you pay less duty but if it gets damaged then you lose more in insurance

22 hours ago, Northernjordan said:

Given i have some friends in the US, wondered if it was more viable to bundle a few wants and ask them to ship as a friend rather than as a purchase? This should reduce postage on each 45 as it's only a few dollars internally in the US.

Just trying to understand what/if anything i would be paying on top of the sales price if i did it this way?

Then i can at least factor this into any decision.

This is the way forward to avoid add-on costs. eBay have rendered the system toxic with VAT and global shipping. In any case, the number of records in the US and the condition they’re often in means the UK is a better source of records just lately.

On 08/10/2025 at 10:46, Northernjordan said:

Given i have some friends in the US, wondered if it was more viable to bundle a few wants and ask them to ship as a friend rather than as a purchase? This should reduce postage on each 45 as it's only a few dollars internally in the US.

Just trying to understand what/if anything i would be paying on top of the sales price if i did it this way?

Then i can at least factor this into any decision.

Shipping via US friends & in bulk is by far the best idea (cost wise).

If your'e buying on Discogs or Ebay VAT will be added at payment for cost including postage.

If you ship to a friend you will pay US postage and then overseas postage but may be able to avoid VAT if your friend orders for you and then puts low value on the packet to you.

You can ask US seller to put low value on packet to avoid UK charges

5 hours ago, bri phill said:

If your'e buying on Discogs or Ebay VAT will be added at payment for cost including postage.

If you ship to a friend you will pay US postage and then overseas postage but may be able to avoid VAT if your friend orders for you and then puts low value on the packet to you.

You can ask US seller to put low value on packet to avoid UK charges

In some instances you could also pay the US sales tax eg. buying from Ebay and sending it to a US based friend.

You will find that many sellers refuse to send to any address but the one you have registered with you Paypal account. So if you're registered with an UK address they will send to that one only.

Ebay calculates postages automatically most of the time, which means it uses the address from your Ebay account. And if that's a UK one you'll get UK postage invoiced.

10 hours ago, bri phill said:

If your'e buying on Discogs or Ebay VAT will be added at payment for cost including postage.

If you ship to a friend you will pay US postage and then overseas postage but may be able to avoid VAT if your friend orders for you and then puts low value on the packet to you.

You can ask US seller to put low value on packet to avoid UK charges

Could have a point here. . . . I had to get a copy of SOUL UP NORTH mag to Chuck Corby in Pittsburgh a while back. I checked how much it would be to post the mag from the UK and it was over £20. My son was heading across to the US and so I asked him to post it there for me. He did so, but wasn't happy as he had to pay $20 to send it internally in the US. . . . So to pay US postage & then US to UK postage on the same 45's may work out quite expensive.

On 09/10/2025 at 16:40, Frankie Crocker said:

This is the way forward to avoid add-on costs. eBay have rendered the system toxic with VAT and global shipping. In any case, the number of records in the US and the condition they’re often in means the UK is a better source of records just lately.

Aye, trouble is. Hardly any private sellers in UK seems to ship outside of there, not sure why?

Dont need to because of many UK buyers?

Can't be arsed? :-)

Saved me heaps.