I just can't stand it any longer!
Here is the gospel!
The HAMMER price is the amount ex-premium and VAT!
If you have the item shpped out of the country (i.e.England) to the USA you do not pay VAT on the HAMMER price of the item. However you do pay VAT on the Premium. Once the item is shipped, you FAX a copy of the the Way Bill to Holts accounting and they will credit your account or refund you a check. Very simple! Holt's presently charges 22.5% premium, and of course the VAT is presently 20%.
Holt's has a shipping department (Gardiner's, Sotheby, Bonhams,
Christies, do not) For overseas shipping of firearms Holts uses
Harry Gordon or you can use PDQ. Costs for guns runs about 250-275 British pounds.
You can buy an English gun from an American dealer who didn't know what an English gun was 10 years ago! He now buys his Englsh guns in England at the same auction that you go to. When the guns cross the ocean they increase by a factor of 4 to 10!
The simple math is, it is cheaper to spend a little time with proxy bidding, VAT refunds, shipping, money transfer, international phone calls, paper work, than buying a gun from a dealer, who rarely knows about bore measurements, minnimum wall thickness, or even what an oak and leather case is.
ALL the people at Holts are very friendly and eager to help! Their web site is the best and easiest to use of all the auction houses, and I have used them all! I paid an English gentlemen of this forum to evaluate a gun I wanted. All I got were colored pictures. Talk to the people in the gun room the information is there, just ask the right questions. Remember, you buy the barrels when you buy an English gun.
