Importing from the SilverTowne Mint - USA

[SilverSniper]

Hi,

I was jut wondering on whether anyone has had experience of importing silver from the SilverTowne Mint in the USA.

I am considering placing a trial order of perhaps 40-60 of their various designs of 1oz silver bars, as these bars do not seem so readily available within the UK (I'm hoping for a niche market outside the US).

I have contacted their sales team, but their response seems a little reluctant; I'm hoping to grind them down to make the sale.

Cheers
Keith

[morezone]

Last time I checked, they would not ship outside of North America.

[SilverSniper]

Their sales team said they will, but the 'shipping is outrageously expensive'.  I'm sending them a shopping list so they can give me a better idea of cost.

cheers,  Keith  

[Scuzzle]

How much does it work out per 1oz bar, I bought 10x Eagle and Shield Retro 1oz bars off of Ebay and I got them without any issues but that was from a re-seller in the US.  I paid £11.84 per bar which turned into £15.30 per bar when delivery and import duty was added.

[SilverSniper]

1oz silver bars work out at £13.99 each including import duty.  However they have quoted $65 shipping, I think that's bloody expensive.  I've asked if it's a flat rate so I can add more product to the shipment to make it worthwhile, otherwise I'll seek alternatives.

cheers, Keith

[ifing]

We all need a trusted US friend, who can buy them, and re-send them to Europe in discrete brown packages :D

[SilverSniper]

5 hours ago, seXes said:

We all need a trusted US friend, who can buy them, and re-send them to Europe in discrete brown packages

Customs labelled as 'gifts' lol

[SilverSniper]

On 10/29/2015, 12:09:24, SilverSniper said:

1oz silver bars work out at £13.99 each including import duty.  However they have quoted $65 shipping, I think that's bloody expensive.  I've asked if it's a flat rate so I can add more product to the shipment to make it worthwhile, otherwise I'll seek alternatives.

cheers, Keith

End result:  Not flat rate, if I increase the order at all, it will increase the shipping further.  I think MoreZone is correct, they do not want business outside the USA.

Think I'll approach Scottsdale Mint instead.

Cheers, Keith

[morezone]

40-60 bars for $65 isn't too bad.  Higher than most but since they don't really ship outside of the USA I doubt they'd get a shipping discount for international deliveries.  You should see how much it costs us to send 2kg insured for £500 to the USA using Royal Mail.

[chinerlot]

Hi,

I think it's a challenging job.

[mikehosilver]

How much are the import fees? Is it a flat fee or a percentage of the perceived value? Do they charge that to everyone receiving any type of package?

[morezone]

Here in the UK we get charged 20% VAT on the declared value.  There is also a handling fee for the customs processing which ranges from £8-£12 depending on the courier/postal service.

[mikehosilver]

Ahh, ok. Do they charge that if you buy it off of eBay also? EBay has changed how they handle shipping internationally. A number of years ago I sent two packages, 1 to Australia and 1 to Argentina. I had to handle all of the paperwork myself at that time. I remember being concerned with messing it up and the package not making it, because I was not familiar with any of it. It took quite awhile, something in the timeframe of 6 weeks both times, but the packages did eventually arrive. Since then, they have us send it to a place in Kentucky, where they handle the repackaging for it's overseas journey. I'm not sure how it compares time-wise and cost-wise to how it used to be done, but it's definitely simpler for me as a shipper. Scottsdale Mint has their own eBay store. That might be workable for you.

[morezone]

Through the eBay GSP it works out at around 23% of the purchase price. 20% is VAT and the other 3% or so might be Pitney's skim on top. The GSP is not a viable option for us in the UK because they charge VAT on everything regardless of whether it's except or not.

Paper work for customs for private individuals is pretty straight forward. Item description, country of origin, declared value and weight is all that is needed. Delivery time should be a week or 2 to most places but if it's taking 6 weeks that would suggest it's being sent as surface mail instead of air.

The issue is SilverTowne not being internationally friendly with their lack of international online ordering and high shipping charge. There are plenty of places to buy stuff but I believe the OP wanted some of their own bars.

[mikehosilver]

Yeah, I was just thinking that there are other companies that carry their bars, so he may be able to get them from a different company that was more keen on the idea of international shipping.

[SilverSniper]

On 11/2/2015, 11:14:32, morezone said:

40-60 bars for $65 isn't too bad.  Higher than most but since they don't really ship outside of the USA I doubt they'd get a shipping discount for international deliveries.  You should see how much it costs us to send 2kg insured for £500 to the USA using Royal Mail.

Sorry, I forgot to say I amended the amount of bars on order.

The $65 shipping fee is for 30 bars.  I decided to reduce the order to a 'sample amount' to see how high demands would be in UK or wider in Europe.  Therefore 40-60 bars would have been a much higher shipping fee;  if it had been $65 for 60 bars, I would have gone ahead with the purchase.

Cheers, Keith

[sovereignsteve]

Yes, I usually factor in $1 per oz for shipping.

[SilverSniper]

21 hours ago, sovereignsteve said:

Yes, I usually factor in $1 per oz for shipping.

Thanks Steve, I was wondering if I was overreacting to the expensive shipping fee.

Cheers, Keith

[Murph]

On 02/11/2015, 16:04:01, morezone said:

Through the eBay GSP it works out at around 23% of the purchase price. 20% is VAT and the other 3% or so might be Pitney's skim on top. The GSP is not a viable option for us in the UK because they charge VAT on everything regardless of whether it's except or not.

Paper work for customs for private individuals is pretty straight forward. Item description, country of origin, declared value and weight is all that is needed. Delivery time should be a week or 2 to most places but if it's taking 6 weeks that would suggest it's being sent as surface mail instead of air.

 

The issue is SilverTowne not being internationally friendly with their lack of international online ordering and high shipping charge. There are plenty of places to buy stuff but I believe the OP wanted some of their own bars.

It's not too bad.  Apmex start at $50 iirc and some other sellers also charge as much even if you were buying one item.

I've always wondered what happens to the money people are charged for VAT on things like tax free gold when the seller uses the ebay GSP?

[HelpingHands]

I think I've read that the UK gets the income if the goods land here first.

I think I've also read that if the goods pass through the UK on to Europe then the UK would still claim the income.

Its possible that I've just made that up.

[morezone]

7 hours ago, Murph said:

It's not too bad.  Apmex start at $50 iirc and some other sellers also charge as much even if you were buying one item.

I've always wondered what happens to the money people are charged for VAT on things like tax free gold when the seller uses the ebay GSP?

$65 for 30 bars is a little on the expensive side.  Although Apmex starts with a minimum charge (understandable), the charges for every subsequent oz is very reasonable.  Ideally you want to be paying around $1/oz which is either a different supplier with cheaper shipping or larger order to reduce the charge/weight.  Obviously the price for the goods needs to be factored in.

 

I have to assume the GSP is a flat rate on all goods which is all paid directly to HMRC.  If they went through all the different transactions and didn't forward the VAT which they charged on except items, that could constitute as fraud.  A flat rate charge is the only viable way really otherwise people could list things in other categories to avoid VAT.

[morezone]

7 hours ago, HelpingHands said:

I think I've read that the UK gets the income if the goods land here first.

I think I've also read that if the goods pass through the UK on to Europe then the UK would still claim the income.

Its possible that I've just made that up.

VAT is payable to the country where the goods are destined for.

If goods pass through the UK and then onto Europe, VAT is only payable to the UK if the goods are unloaded and received by a company.  If they are simply transferred from one mode of transport to another or flight to flight etc, the goods will be held in bond by the carriers.

[HelpingHands]

There was something about goods going through the UK GSP depot before continuing to Europe but it was some time ago when I saw that.

[Murph]

So in theory you should be able to reclaim part of the charge made when the seller uses gsp?  I imagine it would be pretty troublesome doing so as iirc you don't get any paperwork with customs reference numbers like you do when Royal Mail or another courier levy the charges for HMRC.

I'd expect GSP would still have to mark any parcel with the contents and tarrif code using the details from the ebay advert or have the customer mark the contents so really they should use that to work out the charges as the amount of duty payable will depend on the contents e.g no duty on precious metals but 4.5% on watches.

[Keithoil]

Not sure if you are sorted yet but I have a contact in the USA some people on here have also used him.

His name is Glen Hotrum and his email address is abelieverinchrist@msn.com

I have only ever got caught once with customs and that was because it was a 30 odd ounce order.

So my next one was sent in several packages, and was OK.

Just email him mention my name and tell him what you want if he cannot get it he will tell you.

Good Hunting

Keith