Hello all
Has anyone in the UK had to pay various fees in order to get a flute sent over from Ireland? I’m wondering, if I order a flute from Ireland, whether it’ll be taken hostage before I’ve paid HMRC or Royal Mail’s ransom?
Yours
Cliff
You will likely be charged Vat and Import tax so factor this into your budget. I have a Flute on order in Ireland - the maker has kindly agreed to post it from Northern Ireland when he is next there which will of course avoid and customers delay or charges.
Pardon an ignorant American butting in 
but with all those issues why not pick up the flute in person?
The distance from London to Dublin is shorter than the distance I drove from Los Angeles to San Francisco to pick up a flute.
Carbon emissions? 
Moving a flute produces a lot less than a ton of metal, and for most of the distance the vehicles carrying it will be making the journey anyway.
It’s not far in theory, but in practice it’s a long, exasperating trip that really needs an overnight stay. Getting out of London, then driving across England and all the way through Wales, is four hours each way minimum, with at least 60% of it spent at the absolute limits of human blood pressure. Then, if you include check-in, you’ve got a three and a half hour ferry crossing each way, and if the Irish Sea’s behaving as it often does, you’ll spend the entire time wishing desperately that you were still stuck in those interminable roadworks on the outskirts of Birmingham (where you spent a worrying amount of time wondering whether Birmingham could just be removed with a precision missile strike, because nobody really needs it, do they?). After all that, you still have to travel to the maker’s premises and back.
So even if you’re not worried about how much of the planet seems to be on fire, it’s probably cheaper anyway to cough up the duty if it can’t be sent from NI. It’s definitely less hassle. 
I suppose Richard was probably thinking of taking a flight. As I assume he realisses there is a ferry ride en route between the two cities that has no equivalent on the route between SF and LA. And in theory, spending £20 or so each way on a Ryanair flight sounds reasonable enough, if you ignore the carbon footprint. However, you then have the choice of staying in Ireland overnight and incur considerable cost for the overnighter or fly back on the same day and potentially attract the attention of customs officers who will probably want to know about that brandspanking new flute in your bag.
But there’s a difference in perception of distance between Americans and Europeans. For example, some years ago there was a request on thesession.org from a visitor from ‘over there’ who was spending a week in Lahinch for sessions within a radius of a hundred miles or more. That would almost include Dublin. On paper, it may seem doable, negligible even, to some people living in big countries. On Irish roads, it is perhaps less so. In fact it sounded ludicrous (I live in West Clare, I drive into Lahinch five or so times a week and have some sense of the roads here. I also see American tourists drive here and they often seem quite out of their depth ).
Of course if the item is values at 70GBP or less this can be stated on the customs declaration on the outside of the parcel. Then there will be no customs charges or VAT…
But if it gets lost in the post you’re f-ed 
Only if you’ve been dishonest about the value. I would never suggest lying to evade taxes. Never, never.
I’m shocked , shocked I tell you.