# Quick question regarding importing into the UK



## Tekips (Jun 14, 2014)

What are UK customs like when buying flashcarts etc from abroad? Is there a good chance of the package being held back? Will I have to pay tax to release it from customs?

Sorry for the frequent posting. Only just saw this forum section.


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## MindBuddah (Jun 14, 2014)

Ordered a R4i Gold from NDS-Card.com and had no issues! I think that the amount of mail coming from overseas the chances of yours being looked at is non existent. I know there banned in the UK for a number of years now! But like I said i had no issues.


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## Tekips (Jun 14, 2014)

How long ago did you buy it?


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## Armadillo (Jun 14, 2014)

Grabbed a Gateway from nds-card when it came out, came through fine. Most of the stuff I've had stopped and taxed by customs have been either:

Express stuff
Large parcels.

Can't say I've seen a package labelled as flashcard anyway. It's normally nds accessory or something similar on the customs form.

I did have a gamecube modchip stopped and taxed. But that was with fedex 24hour and even then, they just wanted the vat. They never denied it entry.


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## FAST6191 (Jun 14, 2014)

Other than VAT (pay it, make sure you have a receipt from the shop/your bank in case they decide to make up a value) I can not recall a single instance of an individual in the UK (or indeed anywhere else in Europe, in America or in Australia) having something in the flash cart/mod chip world stopped. I would say some shops have but I am going to struggle to provide an example there too -- most of the things you see are customs raids after the fact and even there go see which of those are not basically charged purely for also doing paid piracy ("we will install mod chips and burn a bunch of discs for you"). Basically do not order a palette of the things.

They get a bit iffy for some of the radio stuff (unlicensed transmitters which technically can include low level things like FM rebroadcasters, signal blockers and the like), sometimes for lasers, often enough for weapons (several people have had throwing knives and ninja stars as well as generally illegal knives taken), some say lockpicks but I have not seen that in years (granted most cheap stuff on dealextreme I would not trust to pick a slide bolt you were on the same side as), you can probably run foul of some trademark law somewhere (the most recent one I saw was Australia but I do not pay attention to this field), safety law (things needing CE marks and whatever else) and on the continent there are some other things (France really dislikes a lot of speed camera detection and notification type devices, I am not sure if they still do but there were a few cases of boy racers doing a booze cruise and getting pinged for having such gear in their cars).
I mention most of that mainly because we did occasionally see people discover dealextreme and all they might have and have it all shipped at once, DX have not done flash carts for years but there are still places that do things like DX do and several flash cart shops also have interesting things.


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## MindBuddah (Jun 14, 2014)

About a month or 2 ago!


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## Cartmanuk (Jun 14, 2014)

Customs has seized over 100,000 flash carts since 2009 in the UK alone, and early 2010  a man was handed a 12-month prison sentence for importing R4 cards to the UK.


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## crystalmage (Jun 14, 2014)

There is hardly no chance of the packages being held. I've bought loads, bought 4 everdrives in the past 3 months, xbox modchips from ozmodchips and other 
modding stuff with no issue (recently and in the past).


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## TeamScriptKiddies (Jun 15, 2014)

Cartmanuk said:


> Customs has seized over 100,000 flash carts since 2009 in the UK alone, and early 2010 a man was handed a 12-month prison sentence for importing R4 cards to the UK.


 

This guy was importing over 26,000 of them (clearly for redistribution purposes), hence why he was sentenced to 12 months in the can . There's a HUGE difference between an individual importing a device for their own use and a reseller importing thousands of them.

Besides, most modchip sellers are smart enough to be discreet with their packaging , just in case they inadvertently ship a device to somewhere it shouldn't go....


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## Tekips (Jun 21, 2014)

So if I purchased from America (RHS) or nds-card, I'd have very little problem getting it through customs.

Any idea on the best place out of these two or somewhere different if better?


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## TeamScriptKiddies (Jun 23, 2014)

Tekips said:


> So if I purchased from America (RHS) or nds-card, I'd have very little problem getting it through customs.
> 
> Any idea on the best place out of these two or somewhere different if better?


 

You are correct good sir/madam! . 

As for which place is "better" i've never dealt with either shop unfortunately so I can't help you there...


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## Qtis (Jun 23, 2014)

nds-card is the sponsor of GBAtemp and have been for quite a while now. RHS on the other hand has been around for some time, too. Either one is good, personally I'd go for nds-card (note: I haven't ordered from either store yet). Compare the prices and buy whichever suits you better.


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