In article ,
wrote:
I'm going to Utah for 2wks in March and want to take advantage of the
USD/GBP exchange rate by buying new ski & board gear:

Rossignol B2/Fritschi Diamir £519 at Snow+Rock, £397 at rei.com
K2 Recon/Salomon SP3/Salomon Dialogue £664 at Snow+Rock, £355 at
rei.com!

So I have a couple of questions:

1) I suspect the US stores are pressurised by the European
manufacturers not to sell gear to Europeans. Is this true, and will
paying cash at the store help?


No and no. In fact, I would suggest that you avoid paying cash just
because, in my experience with travels overseas, the credit card companies
tend not to charge large exhange fees and premium exchange rates.

2) If I declare the stuff at customs when I bring it back to the UK,
what will the import duty cost?


You have two issues: (1) Can you avoid paying USA taxes? When non-EU'ers
buy in Europe, we are able to get refunds on VATs for certain purchases.
You might be able to do something similar. (2) What are UK customs
issues? Of course, for that you'll need to check with the British
government (perhaps they have relevant websites). For us USA residents
who buy items outside the country, there is a certain threshhold below
which we do not have to pay customs taxes.

3) If I don't declare it, what are the chances of being caught? And
what happens if you are?


For the latter, there will most likely be penalties. But it's really easy
with skiing gear because you can buy it early enough to use it; then just
tell the customs folks that it was the gear that you took over the pond.
(Note that the process involving detaxing on the USA side is completely
disconnected from that of the British customs process, so you can still
try for that one regardless of what you decide to do on the UK side.)

Finally, if you're shopping in Salt Lake City, I'd suggest dropping by
Black Diamond Equip, Ltd and Kirkham's Outdoor Products in addition to
REI.

cheers,
john