shipping from USA!

mark brailsford 2 · Jan 14, 2012

Well, I decided that I would have a go at ordering a few lures from the states and ordered three bucher lures from Rolie and Helens musky shop. Next day I received an email advising me that the postage would be $39.00 (£23.00) and kindly asked if that would be ok. I could not believe it, by the time I added the PO and custom tax to this those three lures were going to cost me nearly £90! I thought buying tackle from the USA was supposed to be cheap?
anybody out there experienced this and/or do any of you guys no how to get around all these silly charges?

Mark

S-Kippy · Jan 14, 2012

At least they had the decency to tell you about the shipping costs first ! As for the Customs duty & VAT,parcels are subject to screening & examination & you take a chance on whether yours gets through or not. The shipper makes a declaration of value & its typically 20-25% on that plus a PO admin fee. Some overseas shippers will state "gift" on the declaration and/or reduce the value as a way round the import charges but we are wise to that one.I can't see that its viable unless you are getting a real bargain on something where the price differential is significant. There is no way round it unless you know people who visit the States regularly & can bring stuff back....and even then the Customs charges apply.

The whole point is that UK PLC want you to buy your stuff in the UK from UK businesses.

floatfish · Jan 14, 2012

I bought some floats etc from California,cannot buy them in UK but paid same shipping cost, US Post office general parcel post USD 39.00. You can pay more for currier delivery. To justify costs you need to order enough items to spread the cost per item. I think I finnished up with 2 dozen . Will keep me going for a year or three.!
Payment via Paypal sorts out US Dollar banking costs, very reasonable conversion rates.I bought some in 2008, the Postal costs we are great deal less then.

beerweasel · Jan 14, 2012

I cannot understand why anybody would want to buy USA made lures when you
consider what is available from here and Scandinavia and as for floats

mark brailsford 2 · Jan 14, 2012

The real reason I wanted to buy from abroad was so I could get hold of the lures I used to purchase from the Harris angling company. I still can't understand why sportsmail bought them out and then refuse to carry the stock that sue harris used to stock!

Mark

PS: Please don't mention Salmo! tried these and the quality was a bit lacking to say the least!

sam vimes · Jan 14, 2012

I used to buy a fair bit from the USA but you have always needed to be careful of shipping prices and you have to take the potential for customs/handling charges into account. However, it was only really worthwhile when the exchange rate was around the $2 mark or better. I don't recall buying anything direct from the States for the last two years or so.

Jeff Woodhouse · Jan 14, 2012

S-Kippy said:
Some overseas shippers will state "gift" on the declaration and/or reduce the value as a way round the import charges but we are wise to that one.

I've had some terrific casting reels sent by post, but she winds back the drag so no matter how you turn the handle, they just don't work then she sticks on a lable stating "Broken - purchased in UK and returned for repair, value $nil". Since most C&E Officers are stupid creatures by nature :wh and wouldn't know anything about casting reels they assume it is broken and let it through.

If you're bringing any lures back with you, remove all the packaging and lay them in a tackle tray or something like they've been used and just say you took these favourites with you for a bit of fishing and are now bringing them back. They can't prove otherwise so can't charge you. DO NOT try to conceal lures within your bodily orrifices, at least not without removing the hooks first.

mol · Jan 14, 2012

lundgrensfiske.com

www.pikeshop.de

Have a look at the above shops, both carry a good selection of American lures, certainly not as cheap as the US but with cheaper shipping costs and no VAT or handling charges.

Personal I like Salmo lures, the hornets are deadly for perch and the sliders are pike magnets

mark brailsford 2 · Jan 14, 2012

mol said:
lundgrensfiske.com

www.pikeshop.de

Have a look at the above shops, both carry a good selection of American lures, certainly not as cheap as the US but with cheaper shipping costs and no VAT or handling charges.

Personal I like Salmo lures, the hornets are deadly for perch and the sliders are pike magnets

cheers for that mate,
The pikeshop is a brilliant site and I have found the bucher lures I have been after

Thanks

Mark

S-Kippy · Jan 14, 2012

Jeff Woodhouse said:
I've had some terrific casting reels sent by post, but she winds back the drag so no matter how you turn the handle, they just don't work then she sticks on a lable stating "Broken - purchased in UK and returned for repair, value $nil". Since most C&E Officers are stupid creatures by nature :wh and wouldn't know anything about casting reels they assume it is broken and let it through.

If you're bringing any lures back with you, remove all the packaging and lay them in a tackle tray or something like they've been used and just say you took these favourites with you for a bit of fishing and are now bringing them back. They can't prove otherwise so can't charge you. DO NOT try to conceal lures within your bodily orrifices, at least not without removing the hooks first.

All the above can be found on page 2 of the Customs Officers Beginners Guide to Obvious Smuggling.All are offences rendering the goods liable to seizure & the persons concerned liable to considerable fiscal grief. You'd be surprised at how unwelcome you would be in [eg] the States with a black mark agin your name for smuggling offences...BUT....please go ahead. Like I said its up to you but if you do get caught dont expect to have a nice day.

And on a serious note we have better things to do than mess about with stuff like this which simply gets in the way of what we are really there to do. It also makes it more difficult to find in amongst the multitude of smuggled reels ,lures,watches etc.

Jeff Woodhouse · Jan 14, 2012

S-Kippy said:
And on a serious note we have better things to do than mess about with stuff like this which simply gets in the way of what we are really there to do.

On a serious note, my daughter has sent me gifts of reels (reely good ones) and declared them as gifts and no problems. I think C&E guys are marvellous and congratulate them in their valuable work.

(That enough sucking up Skippy?

)

greeny1321 · Jan 15, 2012

I don't know what salmo lures you have been using, I have several and although they have yet to prove themselves to be good catchers for me I have no issues with quality, in fact the quality is excellent IMO.

mark brailsford 2 · Jan 15, 2012

Well,
you never know who's reading this forum, do you jeff!!!

Mark

---------- Post added at 10:04 ---------- Previous post was at 10:01 ----------

greeny1321 said:
I don't know what salmo lures you have been using, I have several and although they have yet to prove themselves to be good catchers for me I have no issues with quality, in fact the quality is excellent IMO.

I have only bought a couple of this brand and the wire they use through the lure was oxidized, not good to say it is supposed to be stainless!!!

Mark

terry m · Jan 15, 2012

I travel to the US several times a year with work and when I was in Chicago last year my host took me to the local Cabelas (everything hunting, shooting & fishing).

Fantastic selection of lures, I bought a few, but did not go too mad. Many lures catch more anglers than fish, but would recommend that you check out these guys if you are ever over there, just for the experience!

mark brailsford 2 · Jan 21, 2012

terry m said:
I travel to the US several times a year with work and when I was in Chicago last year my host took me to the local Cabelas (everything hunting, shooting & fishing).

Fantastic selection of lures, I bought a few, but did not go too mad. Many lures catch more anglers than fish, but would recommend that you check out these guys if you are ever over there, just for the experience!

Hi terry,
I have had a couple of the cabalas catalogues sent to me in the last few years but they were the hunting ones, one thing thought that I really like about the Americans is there customer service, a lot better than here in sunny England!!!!!

Mark

shipping from USA!

mark brailsford 2

Banned

S-Kippy

Well-known member

floatfish

Well-known member

beerweasel

Well-known member

mark brailsford 2

Banned

sam vimes

Well-known member

Jeff Woodhouse

Moaning Marlow Meldrew

mol

Well-known member

mark brailsford 2

Banned

S-Kippy

Well-known member

Jeff Woodhouse

Moaning Marlow Meldrew

greeny1321

Well-known member

mark brailsford 2

Banned

terry m

Well-known member

mark brailsford 2

Banned