Page 1 of import questions

know this probably isn`t the right forum for this, but there`s always a fair bit of discussion on the topic.

Basically, was wanting to buy an ipod (~$300 MP3 player) second hand from ebay in the US. From reading customs page it seems to suggest that I`d have to pay VAT and import duty on whatever valuation they decided to put on it. Can this be right? if i came back from holiday with one I wouldn`t be charged anything- what if I just left it in US by mistake?

If anyone knows what the actual situation is for issues like this is or knows any legal way around it, your help would be much appreciated

thanks

nick
etaluger[at]ku.oc.esilatot

"if i came back from holiday with one I wouldn`t be charged anything- what if I just left it in US by mistake?"
Why wouldn`t you be charged anything? if you had a receipt from the uk and could prove that you got it in the UK you might get away with it but remember customs are covered by a differant set of laws in that you have to prove innocence they do not have to prove guilt! so if they found it you would probably have to pay duty.
My wife collects them stupid TY teddies and occasionally swaps with people from the USA. They actually cost about £5 but some are limited edition (they still sell for £5 if you can get one) but collectors will pay over £100 from each other. My wife had arranged to swap with this person in the USA who sent us the teddy through the post. You have to write the amount on the outside for insurance purposes, we never saw what the person had written (the person would have paid $8 for it but to collectors it was changing hands for about $140) because the postman wanted £40 duty from us before he would even let us see the parcel which would have made the deal too expencive so we had to return to sender.
Steve..