importing a mainland uke

bazmaz

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Sorry to repeat my question in the introduce yourself thread - i'm in the UK, and looking to get a Mainland Uke. Anyone else on here in the UK who has experience of international shipping from them - how long did it take, and were there any unexpected charges or hold ups with customs?

Ta
 
Sorry to repeat my question in the introduce yourself thread - i'm in the UK, and looking to get a Mainland Uke. Anyone else on here in the UK who has experience of international shipping from them - how long did it take, and were there any unexpected charges or hold ups with customs?

Ta

Hi and welcome to the UU forum. I'm sure as with most decent companies that their shipping times would be fairly reasonable and mainly dependent on how much you pay to have them shipped.

I believe UkeErol has a mainland uke so hopefully he will respond with unexpected costs. I decided not to ship a Kamaka uke into the UK because the shipping costs, plus VAT at 15% and import tax would have been somewhere in the region of £300.

This website has a calculator that tells you how much duty you'll pay, I think you have to register to get the right info:

http://www.dutycalculator.com/

EDIT: I just registered for the site and it seems pretty accurate to me, it's far faster than using the customs website and doing it that way too.
 
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Im waiting on a uke from Hawaii and have asked this same question, i used the duty calculator mentioned above and found it very helpful. My ukulele is currently in German customs but i believe has a guaranteed delivery date for Monday, I'm not sure if that still stands if it gets held up at customs.

I would go for it though, choice of ukuleles is limited here in the U.K and the Mainland reputation here on the UU is incredible.
 
Im waiting on a uke from Hawaii and have asked this same question, i used the duty calculator mentioned above and found it very helpful. My ukulele is currently in German customs but i believe has a guaranteed delivery date for Monday, I'm not sure if that still stands if it gets held up at customs.

I would go for it though, choice of ukuleles is limited here in the U.K and the Mainland reputation here on the UU is incredible.

It ended up being cheaper for me to go to the US to get mine!

The delivery dates don't hold up if customs get hold of it, the will release it when they are ready but I don't imagine it will take very long. A uke isn't that complicated really.

P.S I don't know if I said thank you for the info on the eleuke but if I didn't: thank you!
 
Mainland ships to the UK alot. We ship via USPS and postage is about $35 for a uke, a little more with a case. Customs dooesn't seem to hold onto them very long, but typically you will have to go to the post office and pay duty when you get your parcel. Also Eagle Music in Huddersfield is now carrying Mainland.

http://www.eaglemusicshop.com/
 
You're welcome! Do you have a Moore Bettah ukulele?

Hey I don't have a Moore Bettah I have a Kamaka HF-3 'special' as they call them which just means it has different wood for the body, fretboard and bridge. I hope to get a Moore Bettah one day though, I saw three when I was on holiday and thought they were incredible!
 
Hey I don't have a Moore Bettah I have a Kamaka HF-3 'special' as they call them which just means it has different wood for the body, fretboard and bridge. I hope to get a Moore Bettah one day though, I saw three when I was on holiday and thought they were incredible!

Kamaka, excellent! I'm waiting on my new KoAloha! I love Chuck Moore and his awesome ukuleles, a custom from him is definately on the cards for me for next year! You're very lucky to have played one!
 
Kamaka, excellent! I'm waiting on my new KoAloha! I love Chuck Moore and his awesome ukuleles, a custom from him is definately on the cards for me for next year! You're very lucky to have played one!

I'm thinking of getting one next year too! I'm lucky enough to be going to Hawaii so might try and check out his shop and work out what's what. They are as light as my Kamaka and the attention to detail is great.

I've never played Koalohas but all of them I've heard on eBay are excellent. It was a tough decision between Kamaka and Koaloha for me, I think you'll have an excellent uke there.

P.S. Sorry for highjacking the original thread!
 
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