Buying in USA - sales tax

[anonyrat]

I have a "friend" who is travelling to California and is in need of an engagement ring while over there.

He has friends there who he'll visit during his trip, so ordering something to be delivered to their house is no problem.

He had a look at bluenile.co.uk and bluenile.com - the prices come out very close, but then he noticed the VAT - specifically, the .com site had none!
Is this right? I thought they had some sort of state tax or something?

Anyway... Considering the cost of engagement rings, 20% off is a considerable sum. So if he orders it to friends house and picks it up when he arrives, and on the way back his partner is wearing it and the box is in a suitcase, that shouldn't cause any issues should it?

In the very unlikely case that customs at the airport are psychic (and he hasn't declared it), would they just ask for the VAT or would they seize it?

[steveo3002]

so is the .com site based outside of cali ? if thats the case then i think there will be no sales tax

i would post the receipt home , if you was found out you are given the option to pay up , but you wore it on the way out there right?

[Fas1975]

You will never find sales tax included on any US sites. It's always added at checkout based on your local state, or wherever the purchase is being made from. California is currently 7.25%,

[jshell]

Personally I'd be very wary of the quality of diamond. If it's certificated and/or from a major retailer, then fine, but there are a lot of crap stones going around over there which look good on the face of it and turn out worth little.

Apart from that, wear ring, post receipt, chuck box and get a new one in the UK.

[ChrisBMW]

I heared the opposite to that, had a friend buy a diamond ring out in the states recently for about $4000 and when they cam home they had it valued and were told it was worth almost double that.

[GCH]

No VAT here in the US, correct.
Each states sales tax is a different %, and is NEVER shown in the prices in the US, either online or in a store (drives me mad, but its never going to change)

If it is being shipped to ca from another state, then there will be no sales tax. If it is being shipped from within ca to ca then there will be sales tax.

All depends where the company is based

[anonyrat]

Thanks for that .

There was still no tax added on the checkout of the American site, where it asked for credit card details. So hopefully no stealth taxes there...

And Blue Nile will hopefully be decent quality. They seem to have excellent reviews for diamonds, and mixed reviews for their settings (some people say the arrive in poor condition).
They have a 30 day returns policy, so in the worst case my friend can send it back and go shopping for one with his partner.

[Mobile Chicane]

See any item in the flesh before parting with any money.

Jewellery in the US isn't anywhere near as well-made as it is in Europe, and a lot of it - even Tiffany - looks like stamped-out bits of tin.

[DCS01]

OP should be aware that if stopped by Customs on the way back, they will be liable for import duty and VAT based on the full value of the item. If they do not have recipts then Customs can and do get items valued. And base the taxes on that valuation.
If OP has 'intentionaly' attempted to evade tax, then they could be taken to court ( unlikly, unless we are into thousands of pounds tax)but could certenly lose the items in question.