What a suitcase costs per trip, and what importing one adds

Cost per trip is price divided by trips survived

Set a trip count you believe. Six trips a year is a reasonable working figure for someone who takes two holidays and travels for work occasionally; adjust it and every number below moves in proportion. At 6 trips a year, a case kept 5 years sees 30 trips, and one kept 10 years sees 60.

On those counts a £60 case abandoned after 2 years has covered 12 trips, which is £5.00 a trip. A £140 case kept 5 years has covered 30 trips, which is £4.67 a trip. A £260 case kept 10 years has covered 60 trips, which is £4.33. The most expensive case in that list is the cheapest per trip, and the cheapest is the dearest.

That inversion is not automatic. It holds only if the dearer case genuinely survives longer, which depends on things you can check before paying: replaceable wheels, a handle that is a serviceable assembly rather than a riveted one, and a zip with a reputable gauge of chain rather than a moulded strip.

Repairs are cheap; the absence of repairs is expensive

A set of replacement spinner wheels at an example £18 fitted at home takes about 20 minutes and adds years to a case whose shell is otherwise sound. On the £140 case kept 5 years, that £18 raises the total to £158 and the cost per trip from £4.67 to £5.27 over 30 trips — but if it converts 5 years into 8, the case covers 48 trips at £3.29 a trip.

A telescopic handle is the other common failure and the harder one. Where the handle is a bolted cartridge, a replacement is a job of a similar size; where it is riveted into the shell, the case is finished. Finding out which one you are buying is a 10-second question in a shop and it is the single biggest determinant of the numbers above.

Zips fail third, and rarely gracefully. A separated coil can sometimes be reseated by running the slider back over it; a chain that has lost teeth cannot. Neither failure is predictable from a price tag, which is why the repair question matters more than the warranty wording.

• £18 of wheels on a £140 case taken from 5 to 8 years gives 48 trips at £3.29 a trip
• The same case without replaceable wheels stops at 30 trips and £4.67 a trip
• A bolted handle cartridge is replaceable; a riveted one usually ends the case
• Selling a sound case on for £35 after 5 years cuts the £140 case to £3.50 a trip
• Repairs are worth doing while the shell is sound and not worth doing after a crack

Buying from outside the UK: the £135 line

A case advertised at a lower price by an overseas seller is not necessarily cheaper once it lands. GOV.UK's guidance on goods sent from abroad states that non-excise goods worth £135 or less are not charged Customs Duty, and that import VAT is charged on the value of any goods worth more than £135.

Work an example. A case priced at £160 from a seller outside the UK attracts import VAT at the standard 20%, which is £32, taking the landed figure to £192 before any Customs Duty on the goods and before the courier's own handling fee. Against a £140 case bought in the UK with VAT already inside the shelf price, the imported case is the dearer purchase.

Gifts follow a different line. The same guidance says VAT is not charged on goods that are gifts worth £39 or less. Above that, VAT applies, and the £135 threshold still governs Customs Duty. The landed-cost calculator on this site takes the goods value, the VAT rate and a handling fee so you can see the total before you order rather than when the card is declined at the door.

Putting the lines together

On the figures used throughout this guide, a £140 case bought in the UK, fitted with £18 of wheels at year five and kept 8 years, costs £158 across 48 trips: £3.29 a trip. The same money spent on a £60 case replaced every 2 years buys 4 cases across the same 8 years, £240 across 48 trips, or £5.00 a trip.

The gap is £1.71 a trip, or £82 across those 8 years, and it comes almost entirely from repairability rather than from brand or materials. Change one input at a time in the cost-per-use calculator and that ranking is stable in nearly every household that travels more than twice a year.

What to ask before you pay

Three questions decide the per-trip figure, and all three can be answered in a shop or from a product page: are the wheels bolted or riveted, is the handle a replaceable cartridge, and does the seller list spare parts at all. A maker that sells wheels is telling you something a warranty clause cannot.

The fourth question only applies to imports: is the goods value above £135, and has the seller already charged UK VAT at the point of sale. Where the answer is no, add 20% to the price before comparing it with anything on a UK shelf.

1. Count the trips you really take in a year and divide the price by trips, not by years
2. Ask whether the wheels are bolted and whether replacements are sold
3. Ask whether the telescopic handle is a replaceable cartridge
4. For an overseas seller, check whether the goods value is above £135
5. Add import VAT at 20% to the goods value before comparing with a UK price
6. Leave room in the comparison for a courier handling fee you cannot see in advance

Before you buy

• Count last year's trips and use that number, not an aspirational one
• Divide the price by trips over two, five and ten years and compare the three answers
• Confirm replacement wheels are sold for the model before you buy it
• Check whether the telescopic handle is bolted in or riveted in
• For overseas sellers, note whether the goods value crosses £135
• Add 20% import VAT to the goods value before comparing with a UK price
• Allow for a courier handling fee that is invoiced separately after delivery

Questions readers ask

Is import VAT charged on the shipping as well as the goods?

GOV.UK's guidance states that import VAT is charged on the value of any goods worth more than £135, and that non-excise goods worth £135 or less are not charged Customs Duty. The exact basis the carrier applies, and any handling fee it adds on top, are set out by the carrier when it invoices you, so treat the £32 in the table above as the goods-value element only.

Does a longer guarantee make a case cheaper per trip?

Only if it is a guarantee you will actually use. A ten-year guarantee that requires the case to be shipped at your expense is worth less than a maker that sells a £18 set of wheels. Cost per trip responds to repairs that happen, so the question to ask is whether the part you expect to break is sold separately and whether it is bolted on.

How many trips a year should I assume?

Count last year rather than estimating. Six is used throughout this guide because it suits two holidays plus occasional work travel, but a figure of 2 or of 20 changes every answer proportionally. At 2 trips a year, a £140 case kept 5 years is £14.00 a trip, and a cheaper case becomes the rational purchase.

Is a case sent as a gift from abroad treated differently?

Yes, up to a point. GOV.UK states that VAT is not charged on goods that are gifts worth £39 or less, and that above £39 VAT applies to gift items. The £135 figure still governs Customs Duty on non-excise goods. A suitcase is normally well above both lines, so the gift route rarely changes the arithmetic for luggage.

Does resale value make an expensive case worth it?

It helps but it rarely decides. Selling a sound £140 case for £35 after 5 years leaves £105 across 30 trips, which is £3.50 a trip rather than £4.67. The problem is that luggage resells poorly once it shows handling damage, so treat resale as a bonus rather than as a line you can count on.

Sources

1. GOV.UK — Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad: tax and duty (£135 threshold, import VAT, £39 gift limit) — checked 2026-11-03
2. GOV.UK — VAT rates (standard rate 20%) — checked 2026-11-03
3. UK Civil Aviation Authority — Checking your baggage allowance — checked 2026-11-03