Customs Duties on a Guitar Entering USA

[Brent Hutto]

In route to Scotland on a golf holiday next month I'm spending a day in London. The plan is to meet up with Rick J for an afternoon shopping excursion to a couple of Denmark St. guitar shops, mostly tire kicking. I've just bought a couple of guitars and don't have anything on my shopping list but an impulse purchase is always at least a slight possibility. Although with eight days of planes, trains and automobiles ahead of me something like a parlor guitar would be the largest item I could physically accomodate.

As I understand it, when I fill out my incoming-traveler form on the way back to USA if the stuff I declare adds up to less than $800 there are no duties owing. So in addition to my usual couple of sweaters, etc. I can probably get by with a small (<200 quid) guitar purchase but anything more is dutiable.

Anyone know what the current US import duty rate is on guitars? The exchange rate already makes buying a guitar in the UK a bad deal for us but it would be even worse if I'd have to add 10-20% or more for customs. I will have to resist the urge to pick up something that ends up costing $600 all up when I could buy it at home for $250 (and that's not an outrageous possibility all told).

[klasaine]

Yes, $800 U.S.
But here's what I do - totally illegal - so proceed at your own risk.
I bring an old style receipt book with me, the kind with carbons or that makes copies, and pre-date a receipt (obviously dating from prior to your trip) from a shop in the states. It alleges that the guitar is already mine and I brought it with me.
Or, bring a bunch of old receipts of guitars with you and pick the one that most resembles what you picked up on your trip. I've never seen them check that closely and, unfortunately for our safety but good for your shopping spree, U.S customs guys aren't usually the sharpest blades in the drawer.

[JayFreddy]

I believe the first $400 are exempt, after that, you pay a slight duty, depending on the country of origin.

The US Customs website says it can be "as high as 6%", but in the mid 90's, I paid 3% from Japan.

CLICK HERE to visist the US Custom's Website

-OR-

HERE for a US Tariff Schedule in PDF formet

[Big Steve]

First, I really doubt you will find anything. I have a ton of relative in the UK and they buy guitars every time they are here because they are half what they are in the UK.

Second, I would only buy used over there. If you do, just don't declare it. Tell them you brought it with you. Since it will be used, you won't be questioned. I travel in and out of the country with used guitars and have never had a problem.

[J-man]

What Big Steve said - Don't bother buying guitars here unless you really HAVE to have it, it'll cost you far too much.

[boris bubbanov]

Kinda sad, when you think about it.

Always thought about coming back from the UK with a couple handfuls of LPs, or CDs, plus a guitar with a little different provenance, some nice old world dirt on it.

But, it'd be strictly romantic, no practical angle at all unless I can find some rare Cathal Coughlan, Alan Rankine or something.

[Brent Hutto]

Thanks for all the idea, guys. I agree completely about the likelihood of finding an attractive deal. It would almost certainly take some kind of used treasure or really oddball bargain for me to make a purchase. Even getting carried away in a holiday shopping frenzy isn't going to make me want to pay seven or eight hundred bucks for a MiM Strat or the like.

Of course keep in mind that I know of no place within easy driving distance of my home where I can find more than occasional onesies or twosies of used/vintage/funky guitars. So if I were to see a shop full of the sort of stuff Wunjo seem to specialize in it's not really a comparison of paying $600 for an old guitar I could get at a shop back home for $300. More like paying $600 in person for a guitar I might find on eBay back home for $200. Still not something I have the budget to do for most items but I'm in a little different situation than someone who lives near Chicago or New York or some other city with places to shop for non-standard stuff. I live in an area with only a couple of decent music stores and they don't carry much beyond beginner instruments, acoustic-electric drednaughts and the usual lineup for new Fender/Gibson/Taylor/Martin stuff.

Just to pick one totally at random, here's an Airline P3 vintage archtop for about $850 at Wunjo's:

Not content with just having electric guitars by the celebrated Airline Brand, we managed to sniff out this fantastically clean archtop aswell! We don't know too much about these apart from they were made from the late 50s onwards and they are well cool. What more reasons do you need?

Not something I would buy but they do have some stuff I'm not likely to see anywhere else any time soon. They have dozens of other oddballs like that and Vintage & Rare have a good collection of higher-end vintage gear including some old Fender stuff (way out of my price range of course).

[Big Steve]

That is where you might do well. You might find a brand that UK folks don't know so it will sit. For instance, I got a great deal in Scotland on a Hamer. Hamer simply isn't well known in the UK.