I buy guitars from the USA and if you get one that's worth more than £18 - and surprisingly often they are - then you have to pay duty on them. Curiously, though, loads of them just come straight to me and I don't get charged the duty, so I think customs just peek at the odd one every now and then. I imagine they don't have the manpower to check them all, so they just threaten to instead.
BB
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