my friend can send me a macbook pro from usa? anything i need to know? tax/vat?

[wakkaday]

hi guys

i really want a macbook and my friend is willing to send me one from the usa, what's the best way in doing this? i don't want to be paying over the odds in tax/custom duty etc...that it works out the same as buying it from here?

i hope you can help?

thanks guys

[gazzae]

You'll have to pay VAT.

Think the duty rate is 2.5% as long as it is below £700.

[Chris]

The one crumb of comfort is that you don't need to do anything complex to arrange it - IIRC the Royal Mail will pay the duty for you. You then have to pay them back when they deliver.

[tizmeinnit]

I assume you will need to buy a 240 volt ac adapter for it?

[Chris]

Power adapters for any kind of computer can normally cope fine with any voltage from 110 to 250. It will have the wrong plug pins on it though, so a replacement or an adapter will be required.

[tizmeinnit]

also the cheapest macbook pro is $1199 which is around £760 so the duty will be higher

I have assumed postage and insurance is $15 each your VAT will be £160

This still saves you £70 on the cheapest

[swoop101]

Originally Posted by tizmeinnit

also the cheapest macbook pro is $1199 which is around £760 so the duty will be higher

I have assumed postage and insurance is $15 each your VAT will be £160

This still saves you £70 on the cheapest

But it will be second hand when it is sent so it should have a lower value

[Chris]

Indeedy ... Though i suspect HMRC have heard that one before. The only really viable way of getting a cheaper computer from the USA is to find a good friend before they head to Disneyworld and persuade them to buy one for you, ditch all the packaging and then bring it home as their own personal machine, preferably in cabin baggage.

Major point to bear in mind when importing any Mac laptop is that the US keyboard is slightly different to the UK one (no £ sign).

[wakkaday]

yeh that's fine. i can do that stuff.. how much do you reckon i will be looking at paying? in tax..

[tizmeinnit]

if you are paying a grand for one is it worth the hassle?

---------- Post added at 13:07 ---------- Previous post was at 13:06 ----------

Originally Posted by wakkaday

yeh that's fine. i can do that stuff.. how much do you reckon i will be looking at paying? in tax..

http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-im...x-calculation/ I used this to come up with my figures

[Halcyon]

If you know a teacher that works in a school you may want to look at asking them as you get a discount on Apple computers too through the education site.

[danielf]

Personally, I'd be a little concerned over potential warranty issues when you have a mate buy one for you and then ship it over from the US. As said, I'm not sure if the hassle would be worth the relatively small savings.

[wakkaday]

Hmm... so i won't really be saving much it seems. if i put a lower value down... will that help? it could be a broken macbook? etc

---------- Post added at 13:16 ---------- Previous post was at 13:15 ----------

Originally Posted by Halcyon

If you know a teacher that works in a school you may want to look at asking them as you get a discount on Apple computers too through the education site.

thats a good idea... i do know a teacher? how much discount would they get?

i really want a 13 inch macbook pro with retina display, but its not out just yet.. i don't think

[danielf]

Originally Posted by wakkaday

thats a good idea... i do know a teacher? how much discount would they get?

I recently looked at a 15" Macbook pro (without Retina display). Educational discount is ~£300 off the £1800 price tag IIRC.

If I'm not mistaken, the machine would have to be purchased through an educational institution though.

[wakkaday]

teachers get 6%
students get 14% discount...

i just rang apple...