As far as I'm aware VAT is only applicable if he's buying from a business, shouldn't have VAT if its a private seller.
Could be wrong though I'm not sure about this to be honest.
Unfortunately for us all in the EU, you are wrong.
Whatever you buy that is valued over 25€/25$ outside EU will be charged VAT + carrier fees for doing the paperwork when it arrives in EU.
VAT applies on the value of the item and on the value of the shipping, and of course on the fees charged by carrier company (DHL/FedEx,UPS...).
Only if you use Airmail, you can sometimes go through without paying VAT (usually works quite well on smaller packages).
I even had to pay VAT and fees on some of my own breakout boards sent back by Holybitcoin for RMA.
Simple example, you buy an item that is just 25€, with 15€ shipping on top, you will end up paying an extra 23€
8€ VAT on item + shipping, 15€ fees to the carrier company (average value for FedEx/DHL)
And the worst is that if you buy something with free shipping, the carrier company will still make you pay VAT on an arbitrary shipping value they will add over the item value.
So something that is 25€ with free shipping can sometimes translate into an extra 23€ VAT + fees too.
Ok I didn't know that, thanks very much for taking the time to explain it to me .
Could I fly to EU with the miners as carry on as my personal heater, then sell them in the same country I am visiting? VAT is only applied when a sale crosses borders correct?