Shipping paintball gear to UK ... any thing I should know?

[lopxtc]

Hey all ... got my markers on eBay and one person is interested in buying but wants to know if I will ship to the UK.

So has anyone done this? I have shipped to Canada before and know about the possible fee they face, but want about people in the UK?

Thanks,

Aaron

[MarkM]

Basically the same rules apply...you mark it as a gift and both sides keep their fingers crossed.
You could try warranty repair but that is more likely to set alarm bells ringing at customs. Even if you were to ba able to prove you were say a cousin and were genuinely posting a gift as you knew they were into paintball...the customs rules are so tight that VAT and Import duty would still get applied..this is of course if the item was stopped or opened by customs. shipping overseas is awkward but the cost is all on the person receiving it...a complaint could be made if you marked it as worth $500, $700 whatever and it was a purchase. You can of course mark it as having no value whatsoever but will UPS, Fedex whoever you use still allow you to still insure the package for it's real value I don't know for sure.


If it is a mode capable marker then you could be getting into a deeper hole as technically those are illegal in the UK...5 years jail time for FA capable marker...hasn't happened yet but technically it is possible. If you are selling a bottle as well then more fool the person buying it from you as the DOT bottles are not legal in UK (legal to sell, legal to own, legal to fill but here is the crunch part you invalidate the site insurance by using a DOT tank on the field...and the legal to fill part is only valid if you fill it yourself since a site or air supplier (commercial enterprise) can't legally fill a DOT bottle. Ok a few guesses in there but only saying those things in case someone else has the same question in the future. I own Predator, but the software is a version different to all the other versions due to the laws I am subject to.

[lopxtc]

Yeah I kind of thought there would be similar rules, although I didnt know about the multi-mode issue ... thankfully its just an EBlade, so semi only there.

Thanks for the info Mark ... I will keep that in mind and make sure the person who is wanting to buy understands before they bid on it.

Aaron

[Echo419]

yah, make sure its in a box.

[minimag03]

When I shipped to Germany, the guy told me to include a b-day card. It makes it look like it is more of a gift than bought goods. I don't know if you need to do that with the UK, but Germany's border potrol is strict from what I have heard.

-minimag03

[Athius]

My brother sold his Timmy thru ebay and the buyer was brittish he and the buyer didnt had any problems what so ever. And my brother used USPS.

[Evil1]

Sorry for jacking this thread but, what is the difference between tanks used in the UK and ones used over here in the states? MarkM said our tanks violate insurance at the fields. I never knew different countries had laws on which tanks to use.

[MarkM]

My brother sold his Timmy thru ebay and the buyer was brittish he and the buyer didnt had any problems what so ever. And my brother used USPS.

As I said in my first post both sides keep your fingers crossed. The same thing can happen in Canada as the thread starter said...it doesn't happen every time but UK customs the same as any country has the right to open up a package and see what is inside the box and to check the contents fall under whatever the description says on that customs declaration staes...if they feel it doesn't it is held until further fundds (taxes) are paid


Sorry for jacking this thread but, what is the difference between tanks used in the UK and ones used over here in the states? MarkM said our tanks violate insurance at the fields. I never knew different countries had laws on which tanks to use.

DOT = US standards
TC = Canadian standards, the last Skyball made an annoucement that only TC stamped bottles would be allowed to be used no others...this didn't actually get enforced but they were legally entitled to say they would enforce the countrys law
HSE = Old UK standard still valid but only until the bottles so stamped have run their life
PI = New European standard.

Even though the bottles in most cases come from the same makers the stamps are indicators of the test procedures they have been made under and the different countrys procedures mean that in some cases one test exceeds anothers test numbers so in that countrys eyes the bottle has become stressed in a bad way so no certificate would be issued.
You can't swap tests...ie you can't make a Pi stamped bottle a DOT test and vica versa. The Angel tanks are a good example of this if a botle is out of Hydro and it is tested as a say DOT bottle...it remains a DOT botle even though HSE is on the tank as a UK testing station will simply drill a hole in the bottle as the DOT testing exceeds the HSE in certain areas...in fact the HSE testing also exceeds the DOT numbers in a different section so it works the same way in reverse.

In the US they allow the use of HSE/Pi stamped tanks if in test...unfortunately the UK doesn't allow DOT bottles even when in test. Campaign Cup provided a bank of Scuba tanks for foreign players to use as legally the air station couldn't fill the tanks..this was two years ago..what happened last year I am not too sure as the fill stations were a self serve affair.

The bottle test thing is often talked about on UK forums and until a global standard is created we have to stay with what we have..the often used "excuse" of why it should it be allowed that in aeroplanes use the same tanks in the cabins etc and other places so how come they get refilled in the countrys they land in...this must be in some document somewhere that allows this only because of what the aeroplane is doing so it is excempt but no one from an airline or the department that deals with it plays paintball so we are in the dark as to why this is allowed.


Full Auto rules bottles etc (http://www.ukpsf.com/paintballandthelaw.htm#Check%20your%20bottle) Ignore the pop up log in box that appears it doesn't stop you reading the sections I have linked to.