Buying and importing from the States ...

[Anonymous]

Ok - now im on the look-out for an EarlyBay again and considering a US import .. wondered who could share their personal import stories - the problems, challenges, etc. Also wondered if anyone has contacts say in California who can go and look at prospective vans - buying off theSamba just feels a bit risky somehow without seeing the van in person ...

 

[Guest]

Give Randy a shout at 'Oldbug' did some searches for me which unfortunately the seller was a time waster or a scammer (we never figured it out) i could have parted with the cash and ended up with a headache so Randy saved me a time and money. His is the balboa bay at vanfest.

 

[Wensbry]

We bought our bus through Randy at Oldbug and it all went well.
He was very honest and acted as a go between for us with the seller, we would recommend him.


Steve

 

[noddy]

Bought my of an old lady one owner from new, bought off samba from pictures, lots of detailed pics of lower 6" all round was in original paint with all the extras like westy side tent, so took a risk. Turned out to be a great van, found it a little stressful till it landed. Bus was better than expected and it came from New Hampshire, even the original window rubbers were good.
Try to get a spare key posted to you before the van is shipped, the shippers lost the key that was with the van, so had the previous owner not sent me a key I would have either been changing all the locks or having to pop a barrel to get one cut.
Get an photo inventory of every thing thats in the van before it leave, so if any thing goes missing you have some thing to batter your shippers with.
Try asking them not to use a fork lift as well.
So far the motor bikes and Vdubs Ive shipped have all been good, but I have taken a risk each time.

 

[Guest]

Ive got two other contacts one north and one south in California, its a big state so a drive to inspect can mean a 4 hours each way etc. so it will cost you money. Alternatively there are alot of really good US based guys on here now who would probably inspect a bus for you if they were close enough?.

 

[cdennisg]

I sold a nice OG paint 68 bay to the UK last fall. Everything went well. The buyer was pleased with the bus, and I sent dozens of pics via email. The trick about sending a key ahead of time is a good one. I'll do that next time if I ever sell a bus overseas again.

One thing that I have heard about recently that may cause issue with some US sellers. When you send a wire transfer, the banks (or whoever) are requiring some more identification for tax purposes on our end. This makes it more expensive for us to sell, since we now have to pay income tax on that sale. If it were a cash sale (real cash, good and green) we could put it in our pocket and never look back. Not entirely legal, but then again most of those that make our laws are criminals anyway.

I have a splitty for sale on the samba right now. In the ad I state that I will not sell overseas. Taxes are the reason. Unless overseas buyers are willing to pay a 15% premium to cover our losses, we may be less willing to send them over. It's a shitty reality.

I love this sight and the information contained within. I have my sights set on a couple of early bays that I hope to build soon. If I can figure out how to post pics here, I will show you guys what I am up against.

 

[Guest]

if your selling you need a kind of VAT number thats liked into your social security number, thats all. its certainly not 15% from what i've heard. I just brought in a bus and bug 2 months ago from Phoenix and Cali and the sellers had no problems with the number and it takes about 5 mins to get. it became a legal requirement in the US from march this year. Chris at the cfrline was quite happy to help the seller register this number as it was needed for export docs. No one mentioned extra tax.

 

[Bondo]

My mate just brought a bus over used it to bring a few parts in.The container with his bus in was picked by US Customs for a search it was transported from the docks completely unloaded seached and repacked and sent back to the docks he was then told by the shippers that he had an extra $2895 dollers on top of his shipping bill to pay.There was also parts taken and broken.This is not the first time a few traders i spoke to at vanfest have also had it happen.

BEWARE :shock:

Thanks Daz

 

[cdennisg]

if your selling you need a kind of VAT number thats liked into your social security number, thats all. its certainly not 15% from what i've heard. I just brought in a bus and bug 2 months ago from Phoenix and Cali and the sellers had no problems with the number and it takes about 5 mins to get. it became a legal requirement in the US from march this year. Chris at the cfrline was quite happy to help the seller register this number as it was needed for export docs. No one mentioned extra tax.

The tax I refer to is federal income tax on our end. It's not extra, it was just a grey area before this. We will have to pay income tax on that sale since the wire transfer now has a tax number attached to it. That tax rate could easily be 15%, though I don't know exactly what it will be. The rate will depend on your annual income.

I think that once the people shipping buses from over here realize the income tax issue ('2010 income taxes are due in April '11) they may realize they need to do something different.

 

[Guest]

i get that, but isnt that always the way, you pay tax on your income? if you sell the bus to a US citizen or a UK citizen you still pay uncle Sam? even if you get a lump sum cash in your hand and deposit it in the bank, won't your accountant have to explain how you came across it?

I was just making the point if your an honest seller it doesnt make a lot of difference if you sell to the Uk or stay within US.

 

[Austin]

i imported my bus myself, and my mate packed it with stuff i bought too. It is a lengthy process and a bit butt clenching, but as long as you have good communication with whoever helps you in the states you should be fine. You'll always be taking a risk buying anything you havent seen, but you will be saving time and money buying one that isnt rotten!!

importing my bus was the best thing i ever did, i could no way afford uk prices for either a uk bus or one imported by a company over here. My bus would of easy of had a mental price tag on it, and i paid peanuts.

as long as you use your common sense and everything feels right, it will be a really exciting experience. i couldnt wait for my bus to get here, it was on a ship called "the stuttgart express" it was nearly 4 weeked on the water, and just a few days in customs. the ship was owned by harpag lloyd, and they have a really good tracking system that lets you see where your boat is every hour on a map, i was looking a few times a day!!

Also, my advice would be, if possible, dont buy on the samba, there are some awesome busses on there, but i found that they all carried a bit of a premium, and it was a con artists dream on there, some of the best bargain buses are on places like craigs list, mine wasnt even for sale and hadnt seen the light of day in 16 years, but my mate convinced the owner that he should sell!!

Good luck mate, and i hope you get a really good bus.

nearly forgot, use the shippers "kingstown shipping" they are in hull and will help yo get it over here. nice people. dont waste time thinking you will make a saving booking a shippers in the usa, there are more little charges than you think. Kingstown will give it to you straight.

 

[mjknight71]

using kinstown at the mo....$1795 plus taxes/fees etc....LA to Felixstow

...watching the create online as we speak........ :lol:

1 week across country to houston... then 2 weeks across the pond......

 

[Guest]

'Kingston' use Chris @ cfrline for all their US shipping AFAIK. You can go direct to cfrline but you still need a freight handler ala Kingston to get the UK end sorted. They work together very well. I recall getting really good advice from a guy called Mark at kingston shipping.

 

[Graham L]

Johnny is right, deal direct with CFR for the US side, not sure why its $1795 does that include some trucking across the states as its $1595 out of LA at the moment and approx $1300 out of Houston??

 

[Wensbry]

When we did ours 12 months ago it was $1250 out of Houston but we had to 630 miles by road from Missouri to the port which as Graham says does add to the cost I think it was $585 for road haulage.

Then it was £350 this end plus £50 duty plus VAT.

Well worth doing though.

 

[Nugsy]

wish i hadnt just googled craigslist. I got an auntie in Texas DFW and just found a deluxe bus, bit battered but awesome patina

so just to confirm the prices quoted above include everything or are there other charges

 

[Guest]

you will have customs clearance charges, unloading/handling charges (moving the bus/container to a bonded warehouse) at the UK end it will come to about £250-400ish from the UK handler depending on who you use, your US costs will be as Graham has said about $1300 from Houston $1600 from LA (price will vary depending on fuel costs), you pay 17.5% VAT on the price and some of the shipping, £50 duty.

 

[froggy]

So roughly £1018 shipping (@ $1600 )
£350 handling
£50 duty
Cost of Bus ($9000 converts to £5730) + 17.5% VAT (£1002)(going upto 20% in Jan - thanks PM)
And then any transportation costs on both sides of the water.

So on a $9000 bus with $600 US transportation to the port (this is what i got quoted when i asked about a bus last week) that works out roughly £8600 (not including UK transportation) then factor in the cost of registration and whatever it needs for an MOT and you could be looking close to £10k for what could be a rust free mint bus.
What does £10k in this country get you?

(these are figures using google US$ to GBP convertor)

 

[Graham L]

To be honest if you are buying a bus of that value it virtually equates to what it costs in dollars is what it costs landed in the UK, the bit you forgot Simon is they also charge VAT on an element of the shipping.

Just be warned all that glitters is not gold and a lot of buses on the samba are not what they appear to be, when Haveacamper was looking for a new shell I sent my contact in Texas to look at a bus for him, it cost me money but boy was it worth it, when it was viewed it turned out the white paint it had been painted in was a modern metallic off a Toyota/Lexus not a flat white VW colour, no matter how many times I looked at the photos you couldn't tell. The inspection cost me a couple of hundred dollars, the respray would have cost me far more, we didn't buy the bus!!

 

[Anonymous]

To be honest if you are buying a bus of that value it virtually equates to what it costs in dollars is what it costs landed in the UK, the bit you forgot Simon is they also charge VAT on an element of the shipping.

Just be warned all that glitters is not gold and a lot of buses on the samba are not what they appear to be, when Haveacamper was looking for a new shell I sent my contact in Texas to look at a bus for him, it cost me money but boy was it worth it, when it was viewed it turned out the white paint it had been painted in was a modern metallic off a Toyota/Lexus not a flat white VW colour, no matter how many times I looked at the photos you couldn't tell. The inspection cost me a couple of hundred dollars, the respray would have cost me far more, we didn't buy the bus!!

were you happy with the panel i sold you? if so i have assorted body parts and i heard you are heading this way next month. 8)