I've bought many items from outside the U.S., both via eBay and other methods, technically subject to import duties. That includes numerous purchases from Japan (shipping from there tends to be very expensive, but items I've bought have typically been in very nice condition and very correctly described by the sellers).
I think it's pretty much up to US customs whether or not to charge an import duty. Often with lower cost items there simply are no charges. I have had to pay occasionally on higher priced items.
There may be an exemption based upon value. I know you used to be able to bring something like $750 worth of goods in without any duties, when travelling. Maybe it's the same with shipped items.
What import duties vary, too, depending upon the type of item. At one time I recall that a lens or camrea body bought separately was subject to something like 15% duty, while a camera AND lens were charged a higher rate.
It also depends upon where items are being shipped from... import duties seem to vary by country. For example, I see this with auto parts purchased internationally. I often get Land Rover parts from Canada and there is no duty charged. If I were to instead purchase them from England, where they are being manufactured (and shipped to Canada without duty), I would have to pay a substantial duty.
If an item is marked "used" on the shipping form, there may not any charge. But even this isn't a hard-and-fast rule. I had to pay a hefty duty on a rebuilt automobile transmission I bought from England and had shipped to me, even though it was originally manufactured in the 1970s.
Out of dozens of photo-related international purchases over the years, I can't recall paying any import duty. But usually the values weren't all that high and I may be forgetting an occasional, small charge.
So, depending upon whether it's new or not... and possibly other factors... you may or may not have to pay a duty. And just how much it will be.... if charged... can vary quite a bit.
Check with US Customs... there is probably info on a website about it.... whether or not a duty is charged at all on photographic gear, specifically a lens sold separately, whether or not there is some value excluded. And, even if a duty is supposed to be charged, in my experience more often than not they don't do so.
BTW: More of concern to me has always been shipping.... Some years ago I bought twenty ex-military cameras from someone in Scotland via eBay.... They were an atypical Japanese camera model that, for some reason, the British Army had purchased and used. No one else bid because the seller decided to sell them as a lot rather than individually. I won bidding $2 US per camera! I think the seller was upset by the low selling price. He charged me $80 US for shipping, dumped them all in a box without any packing what-so-ever and appeared to ship by "slowest & cheapest possible method".
I was about to give up on ever seeing them when two months later a box that looked like more like a soccer ball from shipping damage and tape landed on my doorstep. Fortunately the cameras were a special waterproof, high durability model ("armored glass" over the lens, etc.) and all but a few survived the trip. Several even had exposed film inside (which I had processed... but the shots were boring). I sold two of the good working ones and recouped more than I'd spent.... from there on it was pure profit simply by selling them individually. I kept three or four unique ones for my collection and sent several broken ones to a friend who could use them for spare parts.
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Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif., USA
"Walk softly and carry a big lens."
GEAR: 5DII, 7DII (x2), 7D(x2) some other cameras, various lenses & accessories
FLICKR & ZENFOLIO
