Gidi

Hello,

I'm a British citizen whose moving to England after living his entire life abroad.
One of the things I'm trying to figure out is whether I am better off selling my possessions and buying new stuff in England, or whether it would be worth shipping everything over.

I am a professional photographer and have equipment which is both heavy and expensive. I can easily figure out the cost of shipping but I'm wondering about what kind of taxes I'd have to pay when bringing thousands of pounds worth of equipment into England.
So, does anyone know what I should take into account on that front?
Any advise from people who have moved to England from other countries regarding shipping their possessions into the country?

Cheers

Englishmum

Which country are you moving from?

Gidi

I'm sorry, and I don't mean to be rude, but I'd rather not go into the details in that sense, for personal reasons.

But, how is it relevant which country I'm moving from?
Other than shipping costs, of course, which I am already aware of... I'm wondering about costs of entry into the country. Is there some kind of taxation when bringing things into the country? Am I supposed to pay, perhaps, some for of VAT on my possessions? etc.

Thanks

Mummy in the foothills

So long as it's your personal possessions and not all new stuff you have bought to sell on they don't usually charge you.
We are shipping my Dh's own shop tools and were told by the shipping company so long as it's all his and not new and we make an inventory we should be just fine, it'll all be packed along with the household things.
The reason for asking country was the cost for the shipping varies depending on where you are coming from.

dunroving

It's difficult to answer your question about whether it's cheaper/better to ship or sell without some idea what country you are moving from.

Chandler

I'll take a stab at this: sell.

Editha

Why?

Pollyana

Exactly - whether he can get a good price for stuff where he is, plus the exchange rate could affect whether its more cost effective to ship - plus the small matter of the variances in shipping costs!
Moving from France is a heck of a lot cheaper than coming home from Aus

Chandler

Based on the information given I thought I'd take a 50/50 punt.

ElizabethK

We are having our furniture shipped from USA to UK and we have been quoted around $8,000, although with luck it should be less than that when it's finally weighed as we have sold a couple of sofas and corner units since the initial estimated costs.

Anyway, we went to various UK furniture stores online and compared the quality of what we have now to the cost of buying similar in UK and came to the conclusion that it's cheaper to ship.

If you try and sell used furniture/tools/photographic equipment etc you will get people making ridiculously low offers and will end up making next to no money for them.

dunroving

Yes, the quality of your belongings make a difference, but as the OP doesn't seem willing to share much information, it's hard to advise. So, we will likely end up stringing 80 posts together between us before we realise we are just talking to each other.

Most of my furniture was used and not great condition - it would have been cheaper to sell and buy new or used. Moving back is often an opportunity to start anew - I also think it depends on the size of the furniture. So many folks bring back huge sofas from US, South Africa, etc., and end up having to saw the end off it in order to squeeze it into a tiny UK house!

Cardienscarf

I've only shipped a few pieces of furniture that I was particularly attached to and couldn't replace. Much as I loved my sofa, I didn't bring it because I thought it would be too big for the size room I am likely to be able to put it in here - let alone getting it through the door in the first place. It wasn't even that big by US sofa standards, but it certainly would dominate a room in the UK.

ElizabethK

I have noticed that the OP has been quiet since the first couple of postings, yes
Anyway, we were quite savvy when we bought our furniture, always keeping in mind the liklihood of returning one day to UK, so as far as I can guess we won't need to chop off any bits to make it fit in

Having said that, the amount of other useless shite I've managed to accumulate (and now find very difficult to part with) over the last 17 years may well end up going in the tip once it arrives !

old.sparkles

The OP may be struggling with the after effects from the malware issue. Even some of the moderators are unable to get on the forum reliably, and for a new member, the warnings are likely to keep them away

ElizabethK

True, I too am still having the warning pop up when I attempt to come in via firefox, internet explorer allows me in without a problem though