I want to buy a 120Gb 7200RPM external firewire harddrive, preferably
IBM.  As a US citizen living in the UK what is the cheapest option?  I
don't need it immediately, so cheap shipping from the US seems to best
way to go.  None of the low price online dealers I saw in the US offer
international shipping, so I'm thinking of shipping it first to a
friend or my parents.  When shipping from the US->UK, who should I
use, how much will it cost, and what kinds of import tariffs should I
expect?  Do I need to pay VAT on the HD? If so, who pays these fees
and how are they collected?

Alternatively, is there a cheaper option for me to buy it locally?  I
couldn't find any online here that are less than $450, more than
double the price in the US.  Is there anything as useful as
pricewatch.com for the UK?  I pricewatch.co.uk didn’t help me much.

Hi Jonathan!

I’ll address your question as several parts so we can be sure to
attend to them all.

1--- As a US citizen living in the UK what is the cheapest option? 

That of course will depend on the cost of the product plus any
shipping or tariffs that get added. The Commenters below have done a
good job at finding you an assortment of sources for comparison
shopping purposes.  Once you decide on the actual source of your
product, then you can weigh the option of having it shipped from
overseas vs buying for perhaps a higher initial cost locally but
saving on the import taxes and shipping.

2---I'm thinking of shipping it first to a friend or my parents.  When
shipping from the US-UK, who should I use, how much will it cost?

This is a REALLY good idea if you decide that the initial price
savings are worth paying shipping first to your relative and then to
you.   I want to make a really strong point here however:

DO NOT follow the advice of  Sagwalla below!  Pretending your new
product is a used product and repackaging it to avoid duty and taxes
is patently against the law.

But simply having your relative put a new label on the box and filling
out a customs declaration form (available at any post office) and
sending it on to you, is perfectly acceptable.

The US postal service offers overseas shipping. You would need to know
the weight of the package to determine cost to ship to you from the
US. That rate can be calculated here:
http://ircalc.usps.gov/

UPS also offers international shipping. Their rate calculator is here:
http://wwwapps.ups.com/servlet/QCCServlet?iso_language=en&iso_country=US

And Fedex:
http://www.fedex.com/servlet/RateFinderServlet?orig_country=US&language=english


3---What kinds of import tariffs should I expect?
“ Goods are classified using the Customs Tariff in order to arrive at
the rate of Duty. TheEU uses a ten digit coding and there are
approximately 14,000 classifications”

It appears the rate will be between 3% and 9% but you’d have to look
up the exact classification.  (I’ll follow up with where to find this
info when I find it)

4--- Do I need to pay VAT on the HD? If so, who pays these fees and
how are they collected?

Yes, you will have to pay VAT on anything you import from the US. 
“…[VAT] is also charged on goods, and some services, that are imported
from places outside the European  Community (EC) and on acquisitions,
and some services, received from the EC.”

The rate is 17.5%
http://www.hmce.gov.uk/forms/notices/misc-leaflet19.htm

You will pay those fees. They are collected at the post office before
the package is  released to you.

Note that product shipped from other EC countries have different rules
that apply. You may do better to order from one of those.

This site has a useful explanation of how VAT and Import duties are
applied (easier to follow than the government sites)
http://www.dhl.co.uk/duty_vat/print.html

As far as your final question regarding cheaper sources, as you can
see by the posts below, there do seem to be quite a number.  I won’t
rehash those for you. I’d suggest shopping around then doing the math
to figure out your best deal.

If shipping from the US, don’t forget to add the initial shipping cost
to your relative and any state sales tax you might have to pay if your
relative lives in the same state as the company you order from.

Also don’t forget to do a currency conversion based on your credit
card’s current exchange rate.

Good luck – 

K~

---

Clarification of Answer by knowledge_seeker-ga on 12 Jun 2002 12:42 PDT

Well, I clicked the "Comment" rather than "Clarify" button, so let me
try that again...  :-)

Here is a link to the UK guide for international post users. It's
comprehensive and should answer all your questions.
 
"This notice seeks to explain in everyday terms what happens when you
import or export goods via the Royal Mail and Parcelforce businesses
of Consignia plc."
 
http://www.hmce.gov.uk/forms/notices/143.htm#P41_1716 
 
Regards,   -K~

Great answer, and also very good comments from other people.  I was
hoping to see some actual numbers, as I gave a very specific product,
but I suppose that is a bit much to ask for $4. Sagwalla advise wasn't
on repacking the hardware and shipping it over used, it was to
actually open it up, use it, and carry it back as personal belongings
on the plane.  This is probably not illegal, but unfortantly I'm not
planning on being back in the US anytime soon.

I like the idea of buying in Germany, I hadn't considered that.

Hi Jonathon,

The cheapest hard drive meeting your specifications which I could find
available in the UK was from

Supplies4U.co.uk
http://www.clic2it.com/Newproddet.cfm?PartID=118086&CFID=464788&CFTOKEN=28037791

for 231 GBP = 340.46 US$.

It may still be cheaper to ship one across from the US, but there are
reasonable options available in the UK.  The price comparison sites
which I found most useful were:

The Price Guide UK
http://www.price-guide.co.uk/index.asp

Computer Prices UK
http://www.computerprices.co.uk

Hope this helps,

mcfly-ga

Check the following URL:

http://www.pricegrabber.com/search_getprod.php/masterid=554503/ut=c7b679920da4a0da/


For the following HD:

120GB (External, Firewire, 7200 RPM)
Manufacturer: Western Digital Corporation
Part Number: WD1200B002RNN
Lowest Price: $305.53


Here's the manufacturer URL:

http://www.wdc.com/products/firewire120gb.asp


And their blurb:

"Western Digital's external FireWire hard drive is perfect for adding
reliable, high- performance storage for your Macintosh or PC. Simply
plug into any OHCI compliant FireWire-enabled computer and within
seconds back up your valuable data. The FireWire interface (IEEE 1394
or i.LINKT) has 30 times more bandwidth than USB 1.1, making it the
ideal technology for devices like the latest high-capacity hard
drives, digital video (DV) camcorders, digital cameras, CD-RW drives,
printers and scanners."

I have both the 120BB and 120JB (2MB & 8MB cache EIDE) and haven't
found a better value.

Good Luck

First off, it doesn't matter if you're US or UK citizen, shipping it
over should theoretically subject you to VAT and duty if you declare
the full value.  The latter runs about 6% (I think), so anything you
ship "new" could come with a bill for about 23.5% of the US purchase
price on it.

I've done something like what you suggest.  Ship to US address (ship
across state lines to avoid US sales tax).  Then I pick things up when
I'm in the US, chuck the box, give them a spin and bring them back
used, actually as part of my kit.  Or have a friend or family member
bring them over.

The cheap UK prices cited on the web are possibly / probably ex VAT
for business customers, so beware of anything that sounds cheap in the
UK and add your 17.5% to get a 'real' price.  YMMV, but I still find I
buy most of my peripherals in the US where comparison shopping web
sites are better populated and more stuff is available.

Hi!

Why are you looking at just the US and UK?  Why not look at German,
French, Dutch sites?

Google Translation is still technically beta, but it works great! 
://www.google.com/help/faq_translation.html

For instance, in 15 seconds I found this page: 
http://www.strixner.de/produkte/produkte.php?type=cd

with the following product:  

Hp IBM IC35L120 120 GB 7200 RPM   244.50 (euro)

244.50 Euro is $218.88 

Not sure if it's a firewire, but I'm sure you could find one if you
broadened your search.

Good luck!

Hi again!

Here is a link to the UK guide for international post users. It's
comprehensive and should answer all your questions.

"This notice seeks to explain in everyday terms what happens when you
import or export goods via the Royal Mail and Parcelforce businesses
of Consignia plc."

http://www.hmce.gov.uk/forms/notices/143.htm#P41_1716

Regards,   -K~

If your requirement can be met with USB 2.0 the 120GB IBM drive is
available.
from www.499pc.com for $299.  www.499pc.com does not ship overseas at
this time but they would ship drive to a US freind or relative who
coud send it on to you.
Good Luck,

Cheap Jim
wwww.499pc.com