A friend and I are considering ordering a couple swords from Lutel, but he's concerned about the import duty on the pieces when they arrive here in the US. Can someone with prior experience ordering weapons from Lutel or other overseas swordsmiths share their experience with US Customs?

Thanks in advance! :)

I ordered two swords from ArmArt this year and did not have to pay any import duty.

Thanks for the replies! :)

I think the import duty that typically applies to Lutel, etc, is a British import tax. I noticed it when I was looking at gauntlets from armouronline.com I think it's called the VAT. I will do some snooping around though. You've sparked my curiosity. Good thing I'm not a cat.

Ben

CORRECTION: the VAT (Value Added Tax) applies to other EU Countries. It appears that US citizens are exempt from the tax. I haven't found anything on US customs tax though.

Ben

May be totoally unrelated. But ordered some stuff on E bay from Germany and the UK recently. Just last month. Had to pay an 18% tax there too. Now this was a fee for bank processing of US drafts.

Heck if I know. When I used Pay Pal, no problem.

?????


Thanks.

Over the past dozen years I have made numerous purchases of a variety of consumer goods and steel products from Poland, Germany, Italy, the Czech Republic, and England. Not once have I been charged a US import duty for items shipped to my home. Although there may be some duties payable on steel goods, it appears that US Customs will waive those comparatively minor fees if the package is addressed to a residence. Goods shipped to businesses may be charged import duties on some of the same items, however.

Some European sellers will accept payments through American bank cards. There is typically a very small fee (less than two percent) imposed by VISA or MasterCard issuers for payments made in foreign currencies. If you are required to make payment by a wire transfer or direct bank deposit, the banking fees can be substantially higher.