# Importing a guitar from USA



## polowonder (Jan 20, 2015)

Hi everybody!

Does anybody know if the Spanish customs will make you pay import tax on a new guitar I would like to have shipped from USA? And if so, how much?

Or, is there a way to avoid that tax?


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

polowonder said:


> Hi everybody!
> 
> Does anybody know if the Spanish customs will make you pay import tax on a new guitar I would like to have shipped from USA? And if so, how much?
> 
> Or, is there a way to avoid that tax?


1 - possibly, depending on its value
2 - buy one in Spain (from where, most of them originate) - why bother to ship one all the way from the states, in the first place.


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## polowonder (Jan 20, 2015)

It's an electric guitar and it isn't imported in Europe


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## kalohi (May 6, 2012)

polowonder said:


> Hi everybody!
> 
> Does anybody know if the Spanish customs will make you pay import tax on a new guitar I would like to have shipped from USA? And if so, how much?
> 
> Or, is there a way to avoid that tax?


Yes, they will make you pay. And no, there's no way to avoid it.

The amount of the import tariff depends on various factors but between one thing and another it can run up to 15%. Then you will have to pay 21% VAT tax on the value of the guitar plus on the cost of the shipping and the insurance. And then there's the handling fee of about 20€.


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## Tellus (Nov 24, 2013)

polowonder said:


> It's an electric guitar and it isn't imported in Europe


perhaps you' ll get problems by customs if no CE labeled electric device.
But if you look for a high class guitar from Europe, made in Germany, presented in Anaheim:
https://claasguitars.com/


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## chrisnation (Mar 2, 2009)

:rapture:


baldilocks said:


> 1 - possibly, depending on its value
> 2 - buy one in Spain (from where, most of them originate) - why bother to ship one all the way from the states, in the first place.


Baldy has clearly not noticed that 99% of the popular music recorded since_ 'Rock Around The Clock'_ features electric guitars, with Gibson and Fender, of the USA, making the vast majority of them. The bass guitar was invented by Leo Fender in CA. USA.

Even the minor manufacturers, Gretch [George Harrison's favourite guitar was a Gretch Country Gentleman and I have had the thrill of playing it], Rickenbacker [Pete Townshend has smashed up plenty of those] and others are from the US. Japanese manufacturers are also prominent. 

The true flamenco guitar of Spain, which is probably what Baldy has in mind, is a very particular instrument. Due to the highly percussive nature of flamenco guitar music, it has very fast 'attack' - it 'speaks' very quickly, with a great deal less resonance of the acoustic 'classical' guitar. Those are made all over.

I have had a guitars shipped in from the US to UK. You pay 1] Import duty. It's a very modest 2%. 2] You pay VAT on the combined cost of the guitar, shipping AND the duty [a classic case of taxing a tax! Like the VAT on the excise duty charged on alcoholic drink in UK]. In Spain,IVA will add 21%.

Shipping could be expensive. Shipping costs vary wildly for guitars, from US$70-80 to US$300 for expedited shipping by UPS/DHL or similar. 

You are taking a grave risk of receiving a pile of matchwood tangled with wiring if the guitar is not shipped in a hard shell case. And you'd still have to pay all the import dues!

If buying from a dealer, the guitar will be packed as for international shipping. Establish with the dealer before it is sent that he is liable for losses of damage due to inadequate packaging.

If buying from a private individual and the deal does not involve a HSC, you're going to need one anyway, so buy one in the US and have it shipped to the seller. Excellent HSCs can be had for US$50-60. Check out The Flight Case Company. If the guitar is a real gem, with some history or just age - a '59 LP Gold Top, for eg, you really can't spend too much on the case.

Do the sums before you buy from the US. If the [guitar x 2% + a case + shipping] x 21% is within a few 10s of € of the same thing bought anywhere in the EU, buy in the EU. The shipping cost will be lower. There will be not IVA if IVA has already been paid in the country where the seller is based - the original sales receipt would help but sometimes the serial number can be traced back by Fender, Gibson or whoever and shown to be an export from the US to an EU country.

In my experience there are very few electric guitars that are not available from the UK. I have had 3 fabulous Strat Plus's and a Strat Deluxe FSR [awful thing!] from UK sellers at prices that were about the same as the US prices - but without all the cost of shipping and import. 

To sooth any possible injured feelings of Baldy, another guitar featured in the movie 'Back To The Future' - the battle of the bands sequence - was an Ibanez Roadstar. I have one of those, too. Another UK purchase.

Ibanez sounds Spanish and it once was. A Japanese company going into the guitar making biz bought a small Spanish guitar maker called Ibanez because they thought it would sound better than selling Strat clones named Kawasaki or Ichikawa or somesuch.

So, in my opinion, unless the guitar has some feature that makes it unique, buy within the EU.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

chrisnation said:


> :rapture:
> 
> Baldy has clearly not noticed that 99% of the popular music recorded since_ 'Rock Around The Clock'_ features electric guitars, with Gibson and Fender, of the USA, making the vast majority of them. The bass guitar was invented by Leo Fender in CA. USA.


Sorry but I am not into popular music. I discovered Classical music in 1953 so anything since then has passed me by. My only encounter with a guitar was a couple of strums on one i was holding for somebody at about the same time.


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## chrisnation (Mar 2, 2009)

_Pace _Baldy, there is a strong Spanish connection with Fender guitars. Most of the production line workers in the factory at Corona, CA and at the Fender factory at Ensanada, MX speak Spanish - because they are Mexican!

One of my Stratocasters was made in 1988 in Corona, CA with the neck stamped 'Hector Montes'. Sr Montes was still churning out necks in '93 because his stamp appears on another of the same model. A Sr. O. Murillo also has his name stamped in the '93.


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## chrisnation (Mar 2, 2009)

baldilocks said:


> Sorry but I am not into popular music. I discovered Classical music in 1953 so anything since then has passed me by. My only encounter with a guitar was a couple of strums on one i was holding for somebody at about the same time.


Well, Baldy, take a walk on the wild side. You have a lot of catching up to do. 

I was introduced to classical music in 1963. My school was mustard for it. Our concerts were clearly organised by a booking agent who could see the next great virtuoso just before he/she became world famous. 

We had concerts by Clifford Curzon, Julian Bream, Moira Lympany, Leon Goossens, Steven Bishop [Kovasovich], Ian Wallace - [and he did sing The Hippopotamus Song (Flanders & Swan)] and many wonderful musicians.

As an intro to 'popular music' you might dip a toe into some wonderful guitar playing, mostly flamenco-based, by Paco de Lucia, John McLoughlin and Al di Meola. "Live In San Fransisco". Acoustic guitar playing with a deeply Spanish flavour, of sublime virtuosity.


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

chrisnation said:


> Well, Baldy, take a walk on the wild side. You have a lot of catching up to do.
> 
> I was introduced to classical music in 1963. My school was mustard for it. Our concerts were clearly organised by a booking agent who could see the next great virtuoso just before he/she became world famous.
> 
> ...


I liked the Shadows


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## chrisnation (Mar 2, 2009)

baldilocks said:


> I liked the Shadows


The Shads? Good choice. Listening to the Shads made almost every teenage boy of that era want to be a rock and roll star. It did me. Not you? Not least because of the guitars they played - Fender Stratocasters. You only have to look at one to see why.

Getting back to the OP's query, Cliff Richard imported the first Stratocaster to land in UK, in Fiesta Red, which Hank Marvin always believed was Flamingo Pink, perhaps an unconscious reflection on Cliff's alleged romantic preferences, a gift to Hank from Cliff.

Hank is so closely associated with this guitar that when Leo Fender bought his company back from CBS, of the first two guitars off the production line, the first went into Fender's museum and the second was gifted to Hank Marvin. 

Bruce Welch, the Shads' rythm guitarist, now owns it. Hank has no idea how Welch came to be the owner but these things happen in R & R. And Welch is not handing it back. He knows what it's worth. Eric Clapton's Stratocaster, 'Blackie', fetched a few cents short of US$1m at auction. George Harrison's Gretch Country Gent is now owned by a friend of mine who got it from the late Screaming Lord Sutch who got it from ...


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

chrisnation said:


> The Shads? Good choice. Listening to the Shads made almost every teenage boy of that era want to be a rock and roll star. It did me. Not you? Not least because of the guitars they played - Fender Stratocasters. You only have to look at one to see why.
> 
> Getting back to the OP's query, Cliff Richard imported the first Stratocaster to land in UK, in Fiesta Red, which Hank Marvin always believed was Flamingo Pink, perhaps an unconscious reflection on Cliff's alleged romantic preferences, a gift to Hank from Cliff.
> 
> ...


For those who have no idea about the group we are talking about:


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

or:


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## chrisnation (Mar 2, 2009)

Apache was the one. As the drummer in our school group, I got to do that tribal drum pattern intro. What a track. As many of them were - _Atlantis_ ... just thinking about them makes me all goose bumpy. [Apparently, according to some medico-boffin research that makes me of superior intelligence].


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## baldilocks (Mar 7, 2010)

chrisnation said:


> Apache was the one. As the drummer in our school group, I got to do that tribal drum pattern intro. What a track. As many of them were - _Atlantis_ ... just thinking about them makes me all goose bumpy. [Apparently, according to some medico-boffin research *that makes me of superior intelligence*].


Can't argue with that.


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## chrisnation (Mar 2, 2009)

polowonder said:


> Hi everybody!
> 
> Does anybody know if the Spanish customs will make you pay import tax on a new guitar I would like to have shipped from USA? And if so, how much?
> 
> Or, is there a way to avoid that tax?


What make and model?

If you have it sent, you will pay. If you walked through customs with it, looking like you're just back from playing Madison Sq Gdn, you might get away with it. 

Your shout.


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## chrisnation (Mar 2, 2009)

I sympathise with the OP. Anyone who owns an electric guitar almost certainly suffers from an incurable condition known as G.A.S. - Guitar Acquisition Syndrome. This can be momentarily relieved on N.G.D. - New Guitar Day. 

But the dreaded GAS will get a grip once again until more unwarranted amounts of money have been spent, to induce another NGD.

There have been others. If you want to see how bad G.A.S. can get, check out the collection of Scott Grove, my guitar guru. He keeps selling them - hundreds of them - but G.A.S. sets in again and in a couple of years he has another several hundred. 

Poor chap.


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## skip o (Aug 1, 2011)

I brought my guitar over on a flight. I was able to check it just like a bag, with no extra fees, and it is MUCH safer than having it shipped and go through the Correos. I have heard too many horror stories about Correos wanting to charge 100%, 200%, 300% of the value of items shipped into Spain.

There is very little that Spain totally stinks at compared to the US, but shipping is one of them. I have dealt with more lost packages and dishonest delivery companies in Spain than I can count.


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## Scottolotolos (Feb 14, 2020)

Hi Polowonder, Did you ever import the guitar from the US? If so, any feedback of the process?


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## Gran Erry-Bredd (Nov 1, 2016)

Sometimes it's not worth it, too many strings attached.


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