buying from overseas

I have purchased from overseas for many years. The only drawback has been the high shipping costs BUT sometimes it evens out as many times an item can be had with a better price tag.

A while back I bought Compucolour and Precision paints from Hannatts in Londonand they told me they had a large American customer base and their shipping was not that expensive

PLUS they always made it a point to subtract the VAT tax which usually lowered the cost another 15ish%.

I recently had a model shipped to me from France as well as Germany and China too. Not a problem.

Hi Mallard,

               I do the opposite importing US trains via mail order to the UK.

We have to pay 20% VAT on imports above £35 in value. Model trains don't get import duty added in the UK. Usually £8 "Handling Charge" for going thru customs. 

You should have a lot less charges in the States as you won't get hit with sales tax. Not sure about import duty. However you guys are not fans of HM customs & excise. A little misunderstanding in Boston back in the day....... So I guess US customs may have been set up a little differently.

A couple of good magazines to get some UK mail order vendor details are Railway Modeller and Model Rail. I have seen Railway Modeller in Books A Million when visiting the States.

Nick

I've bought some freight car kits from the UK.  Biggest issue I had was shipping cost.

Transactions went very well. 

I ordered some 00 rolling stock that was FREE shipping. It came in a grey plastic bag with no other 'protection' other than the display boxes. Amazingly it arrived intact but I just about had heart failure when I first saw the package!   

If you do a lot of traveling or ordering from overseas, shop around for a credit card.  My Capital One card does not charge a foreign currency fee, so that's what I use.  My other cards charge 3%, which does add up.

I subscribe to RM, and have purchased other British mags while in England.  It's amazing how heavy they are to haul through the airport.  

Probably will start with a small order and see how it goes.

I've had no issues with buying oversees.  I do quite often for various items which are unavailable in the states or not released here until later.

--Greg

Mallard:

I buy from several UK sources and I've never had a problem with an order. A few of my preferences for vendors are as follows:

Models: Hattons and Rails of Sheffield

Books: The Book Depository

DVDs: Videoscene and Telerail

Depending upon how quickly customs is moving, I find transit time sometimes isn't much longer than buying from a domestic dealer. The shipping charges of any of the above dealers is reasonable. In the case of The Book Depository, it's FREE which is a major consideration as, due to their weight, books are typically VERY expensive to post from the UK. In most cases, British railway books must be purchased from a UK source as very few dealers in the states carry them. 

I hope this helps.

Bob