USA - Europe Duties

Customs and duties are a relatively small portion of the total cost of our hobby gear. While I don't ever want to give the government any more than I have to, I can't see how a few dollars in customs is worth the trouble and effort.

Gregm, my apologies. I am not familiar with the European duties and VAT other than what I hear "through the grapevine". I did nto realize that the fees could go that high.

Avguygeorge, anything that is imported into a country has duties and taxes applied to it that are collected by the government. The rates vary and are country and item specific. The rates are a percentage and based on the declared value. In most cases the declared value is also the selling price. As an example, a cd player brought into a country may have a 5% duty, yet loudspeakers may have a 3% duty. A different country may have different rates applied to these same products. There some other fees and taxes that can also be added. If you buy an imported product from your local dealer the import duties and taxes have already been paid by the importer. Keep in mind you still pay it. It just gets included in the price you pay. A call to Customs can get you the duties, fees and taxes on any item you want to import. Just tell them the exact item and the country of origin (where it is being shipped from). This is a very basic explanation. I'm sure there is much more to it than this, particularily for our friends in Europe as they have the VAT. Thanks, Doug