Importing PC parts.

[Gin N Rum 5454]

Not sure where to put this post so this will have to do.

 

I live in the UK and without getting political computer prices over here, especially for gaming components, are very expensive, especially when compare to over seas such as the US.

I was wondering, does anyone know the feasibility of buy parts from American retailers and having them imported to the UK. Would I experience any problems such as certain components not working due to regional issues.

 

I am asking all this because I think that I it would be possible to save quite a bit of money if I bought most of my computer parts from American retailers. 
Budget is £3000

 

For example the cheapest RTX 4090 in the UK is around £1600 which is just below $2000 USD so you can see how much of a difference there is. I'd have to seriously compromise on other components of the build such as the CPU and have no money left to spend on cosmetics if I were to go with a 4090 build. 

[Gin N Rum 5454]

I think the cheapest RTX 4090 I could find in America was £1300 ($1600) just for comparison.

[manikyath]

just the shipping costs would be more than whatever you cloud be saving, and you basicly have no way to claim warranty on something if it ends up DOA (unless you want to ship it across the pond again)

 

also - why get a 4090? the value proposition is about as good as ordering a 5-level wedding cake for breakfast.

[IkeaGnome]

5 minutes ago, Gin N Rum 5454 said:

For example the cheapest RTX 4090 in the UK is around £1600 which is just below $2000 USD so you can see how much of a difference there is.

You'll have to pay VAT on import. Our prices don't include sales tax. If there's a 5% sales tax a gpu with a $1600 sticker is actually $1680, then you have ~20% VAT on top to get it from the postal carrier. 20% of 1785 is $336. $2106 is what you'd pay for a properly imported graphics card. That's also before just the shipping cost.

[RONOTHAN##]

If you import, it would work, but you'd have to pay VAT as well, so add 20% of the price of the parts that you'd need to pay to the UK government. That £1300 4090 would end up at just below £1600, and after shipping and everything you'd likely pay more for the American product, not less. 

[AndreiArgeanu]

2

[Lurking]

1 hour ago, IkeaGnome said:

You'll have to pay VAT on import. Our prices don't include sales tax. If there's a 5% sales tax a gpu with a $1600 sticker is actually $1680, then you have ~20% VAT on top to get it from the postal carrier. 20% of 1785 is $336. $2106 is what you'd pay for a properly imported graphics card. That's also before just the shipping cost.

OP wouldn't have to pay the US sales tax. Only VAT, duty, and shipping.

 

A US online vendor will charge sales tax based on the US location they send to.Not based on where that vendor is located. They basically are exporting to outside the US when they sell to OP.

 

Except for very specific examples, usually not worth it and you lose warranty and returns will be a bitch.