I've an Albion Ringeck on the way but now I'm tempted by a single-handed sword as well. I quite like the look of some of the Angus Trims that are being sold through Christian Fletcher, but was wondering if anyone had any experience (or just general kowledge) of how much it would cost to have one sent to the UK and whether I am likely to have to pay additional tax (and how much it would be).

Thanks in advance for any help.

Hi there !

No experience directly with Christian Fletcher but heard only good things about him and Angus Trim.

The problem as far as i know will be the shipping charges. When i ordered from Arms and Armour to have it shipped to Germany the shipping charged were 340 USD.

The reason as i understood it:
USPS only allows packages of maximum 42 inch length to be shipped internationally so packages larger have to be classified as international air fright, wich is a lot more expensive.

However if you stay under the 42 inch mark (outer package size) you should be able to get it cheaper but still have to factor about 150 USD for shipping (just a rough guess there).

Let us know how it went.

Best regards

Klaus

Edit:

I forgot. Regarding tax (can only speak for Germany here but i guess it will be similar to the UK). You have to pay Value added Tax on the total costs (item+shipping). As well as a import tax depending on the tax laws for you. In Germany that is 0% on swords (classed as sporting tools if i remember right).
How ever the VAT is always there. You can call your local customs office and ask them on the details there and what kind of papers you need to provide and in how many copies. Good luck.

Thank you for the reply.

I've spoken to Christian and the postage to the UK is actually more reasonable than I thought. I understand that VAT will be added, but I can't seem to find anywhere that tells me how much the customs tax is on swords (if there is any). I hope it's like Germany and there is none, but I imagine a forum member would be able to tell me...

Perhaps I'll make a separate post asking just that.

I have found that shipping charges from the US to the UK are not so bad and I just sent a sword to the US for £55 so I would expect that or thereabouts

Import duty will be between 6% and 17.5% depending on how the goods are classified, but it will be no more than standard VAT

Tod

Thanks Tod,

I love the stuff on your website by the way (I might be contacting you in the future regarding some leatherwork, once I save some more money up again).

What I'm confused about is whether you have to pay VAT at 17.5% and then another duty on top (at the 6%-17.5% you suggested)?

This could mean a potential extra charge of 35%, which is an additional $140 on a $400 purchase.

Thanks for the compliments.

Basically you have bought something and they want a tax take on it which is an import duty. Depending what class of goods it is will depend on the levy. Wood items have a different levy than metal and I guess leather, so a scabbard which has all three elements will have a levy laid on it basically at the whim of the inspector if it is inspected or at some arbitrary level if not. This is probably completeley wrong but is my understanding of it.

VAT may have been the wrong word to use in this case but basically you pay $400 and you will get an additional tax of between 6 and 17.5% on import; where in that scale I have no idea.

Tod

Apparently UK Customs and Excise have no idea either.

When I phoned them today all they could do was give me the names of some rather useless websites to check and one of them told me that "it is illegal to import any knife or sword unless it is an antique 'Samurai sword.'"

Very useful.

I will keep my fingers cossed for you.

But better expect the worst when you order and then be happy if its cheaper.

I always found import taxes rather pointless myself -after all its a global world trading community right ?



regards

Klaus