Page 1 of XBOX + import TAX

Am wodering what the import tax would be on an xbox into this country.
Can get an xbox for £220+shipping (about £40ish) from the US and would like to know roughly how much i would be looking at in total.
Asked the local computer shop down the road how much he could get it to me for and he said (after i told him how much i could get it for)that he wouldn`t insult me by giving me a price as there was no way he could come any where near that cheap!
Any help would be great.

I would reckon at least £50 for tax...i have never imported a console from the US but have ordered a PS2, GameCube and Dreamcast from Hongkong and had to pay from this up to £70 for the Gamecube i ordered using FedEx.

I was thinking of ordering the Xbox myself from DVD Boxoffice but dont see many games i am interested in apart from maybe DOA3 or Halo.

Even paying an extra £70 is still a lot cheaper than your local import store, £650-£700 is what you are looking at.
Then you wil need a stepdown convertor which will cost you £20+ unless you have any Import consoles.
And if you want to play DVDs you will also need to order the Remote that enables the playing of DVDs.

Skirpydoink:
Was wondering, where did u get the ps2 from in hong kong and what was the reason for getting it there as opposed to here?
Don`t know what a stepdown convertor is, and don`t need the console as a dvd player as i have a pioneer 535.
Was going to get a ps2 here and getting it chipped to play imported games as i think it worked out cheaper than getting 1 imported, however always looking for a good deal.
How long did you have to wait for the ps2 to arrive from ordering and how much did it all work out at £wise.
Thanks for the info..:-)
By the way...When IS the xbox released here and is it already released in the US and Canada?

This item was edited on Monday, 17th December 2001, 21:46

the xbox goes on sale in the Uk on the 14th March for £299

Some American retailers deliver products marked as gifts rather than mechandise. Gifts sent to England from other country`s are tax exempt as you have not theoretically purchased the item. I guess that even though it is marked as a gift there still might be a chance that you have to pay Tax.

I haven`t had much experiance in this but I recently received a `gift` tax free without any problems.

£300 !!!!!

How are the mommies and dadas gonna afford that :)

If it was resonably priced Ie £200 id consider it.

> Gifts sent to England from other country`s are tax exempt

Gifts are not tax exempt.

The standard duty free limit is £18

For a gift the duty free limit is £36 (also has specific restrictions on what can be classified as a gift)

Customs tend to target larger packages (games console sized)

> Gifts sent to England from other country`s are tax exempt.

Thanks for the reply cw2000. I stand corrected on the above comment that I made.

However, the item I recently purchased from the USA cost $290 but when I received the parcel it was marked as a $15 gift on the label.

Do you know what customs would do if they had opened the package and realised the goods were worth more that $15 ?

> However, the item I recently purchased from the USA cost $290 but when I received the parcel it was marked as a $15 gift on the label.

You were lucky they didn`t open it.

>Do you know what customs would do if they had opened the package and realised the goods were worth more that $15 ?

Normally they check the value of the goods and add the full customs duty and VAT on to it. But sometimes they confiscate items that have customs values mislabeled as they consider it as attempted tax evasion.

You would also be added to the watch list which would mean any package you import (no matter what the value) would be checked by customs.

Hello mike.d......i get most of my import stuff from www.lik-sang.com
they are very reliable....have dealt with them for a couple of years.
I always import the latest consoles when they are available if i can afford them, i like to get everything as soon as it comes out especially games....cant wait for them to come out in the UK, and most games that come out here are bad conversions that run slower than they should be and with borders.
It was a long time ago since i imported the PS2 when it was reased in Japan....i cant remember the exact price i paid for it, but do know it was £300-£400 less than what i would have paid for it here.

I imported the Gamecube when it was released in Japan...it came with 2 games, memory card and correct power supply, all for £306+£40 FedEx tax, at the time UK stores were selling the console itself for £499+ AND £79 A GAME ,£40 FOR MEMEORY CARD....quite a saving!

I chipped my PS2 a few weeks ago with the Origa chip and it seems to work great so far...Original Import PS2 and PS1 games bootup from start but if you need to use a backup (incase you damage your original) you need a DVDregionX or Action replay to boot them up

When ordering from HongKong using FedEx it normally takes 4 -7 days for delivery, plus you can track online.


Its worth thinking about!