Buying a laser from optotronics to deliver to UK - what about customs?

Hi all,
I'm thinking of going for the 40mw green laser from optotronics (Optotronics Product Details) and it comes to about $105 with shipping ($27 shipping, would save almost $20 by being in US, but oh well) which is about £60. Seems reasonable but:

-Are there any hidden costs? VAT? Import? Customs? etc
-If it gets inspected by customs, will I get a charge? Will it be taken?
-If it gets taken by customs will they send another one free of charge?

Thanks in advanced.

bump. not sure if this is meant to be in legal or here.

pm bootleg2go or go to the opto website he should reply pretty quick

Hi There,

I've been a long time reader of these forums, but this is my first post that I feel maybe helpful and not pointless.

I recently ordered a RPL-425 from optotronics to the UK. The service you will receive is fantastic. I even had the option to insure the shipping at 1.5% the value of the order.

After shipping it took just over 8 days to arrive here. Delivery is by parcelforce. There were customs charges that I needed to pay before they would deliver. You can pay these online or over the phone when you have had the letter.

Or if you are like me and you cant wait that long you can pay at the delivery depot before the letter arrives.

Customs charges for me were approximately £25. £13.50 of that is what parcelforce charge as a handling fee.

My RPL was declared as something else and at a slightly lower value. Customs had it for literally 2mins to assign VAT then parcelforce sat on it for 3 days as they had a big back log of items coming out of customs. Customs very rarely inspect parcels unless they are on the hunt for fake clothes coming in from China.

Hope you find this useful and for those interested my Laser averaged 452mW and peaked at 507mW on the report.

After finding the right temperature I got it to peak at 525mW on my laserbee. These RPLs are fantastic lasers and I couldn't be happier with mine.

LL you should kick it here and post more often
nice first post BTW

John

Thanks for the info, but I won't be ordering from optotronics (though I really wanted to). I'm looking for a 35-50 and at £35 costs on top of a £40 laser it doesn't seem worth it, despite it being high quality.

I'm thinking of this, for £18 (DealExtreme: $33.49 Focusable 50mW Green Laser Pointer with Safety Key Lock (1*18650 Included)) Any experiences or thoughts?

looks like a good score be sure to get a few 18650 batteries and a charger