Customs charges

Dibz_2

Hey everyone, just a little (ish!) query about customs charges of stuff from USA to UK (forgive me if it's in the wrong place; cutting tax seemed the most appropriate!).

I'm wanting to buy some fancy dress costumes and the ones I want are only available in America. The prices are really decent, even with the postage, but I reckon I'm gonna get belted with customs charges.

I had a bad experience when buying some shoes and a bag from an American online retailer; they said they forgot to mark 'gift' on the slip and I had to hand over £30 before the Royal Mail man would give me my stuff. I understand that it's fraudulent to mark a package as 'gift' if it isn't under a certain value (£36?) but I'm really reluctant to go through with the sale if I'm going to be taxed accordingly.

The price of the costumes including postage is roughly £80 and they're quite heavy so I've got a feeling the extra charges may be somewhat extortionate.

Is there a way to determine the charges I'll probably have to pay upon arrival? Or better still, a (legal) method of reducing/avoiding the tax?

So, if anyone's got any helpful advice or experience, please let me know, I shall be muchos grateful!

Dibz

c_smith

I got also got stung like this a couple of years ago. I bought a brand new camcorder battery from the USA which was about a third of the price of the same one in this rip-off sh*te hole of a country.

I was most annoyed when I had to hand over a similar amount to yourself to the Royal Mail man. Actually, it wasn't so much the duty and VAT I had to pay that bothered me as the handling fee charged by the Royal Mail. I can't remember the exact figure, but it was around a tenner.

I phoned the Royal Mail to complain about their extortionate fee, telling them that the postage had already been paid by the sender. I was advised that they (Royal Mail) work side by side with Customs at the airport and they (Royal Mail) open up the parcels on behalf of Customs and have to reseal them, hence the reason for the "handling charge". The "resealing" of my package comprised of a bit of sellotape - don't know if it was 24 carot gold plated sellotape, but it must have been bloody expensive stuff.

Basically what the Royal Mail are doing is using the customs charges as an excuse to hold your parcel to ransom unless you pay the all inclusive fee comprising Duty, VAT and "handling charge". You cannot opt to pay the customs fee but tell the Royal Mail to "!!!! off". It's all of it or you don't get your parcel.

If things in this country weren't so extortionately priced compared to nearly everywhere else in the Industrialised world, people wouldn't have the need to import stuff. Of course, the Chancer of the Exchequer knows this, hence the reason for hammering you for even more of your hard earned money.

Never mind though, you can be sure the extra taxes you pay will be well squandered on the bottomless pit of public services like the NHS and handing out money left right and centre in foreign aid. You can sleep easy at night knowing that you have contributed to Mr Brown's (AKA Santa Claus) latest crusade to ensure that every child in the whole world is to receive an education. Although, if you want to send your own child to University, you will have to pay for that separately because there isn't enough money to go around.

*** End of rant ***

Cook_County

The only legal methods for goods of £80 are:
a) to buy them in smaller quantities so that each has a cost below £18,
b) go to the US and collect them in person and bring £80 worth of goods through the green channel.

Anything else is fraudulent and may result in fines, prosecution or imprisonment. This is a money saving site as against a site devoted to fraud. If c_smith is unhappy with the current tax regime than s/he has the same democratic rights as we all do to, which are to vote for a different tax regime or lobby your MP.

Dibz_2

I can understand c_smith's anger towards the ridiculous charges from the Royal Mail - the best part for me was: 'Unfortunately there's a small charge before I can release the package'. Famous last words Can see the funny side of it now, wouldn't want to repeat the experience though.

With regards to Cook_County, does the cost of £18 have to be inclusive of postage rates? If it is, maybe I could get away with haggling a bit on the price . If not, is it illegal for the company to spread out the cost of things (if they're willing, of course) so I could buy them in units of £18 or below? e.g. charge less for a costume and maybe charge more for a cheaper item (shoes perhaps?). It sounds a bit dodgy so I would probably be inclined towards it being illegal.

I presume if £18 isn't inclusive of postage, it would be wise to go for cheaper, slower postage rates.

Who would've thought buying fancy dress would be so complex?!

:cheesy:

Thanks for all of your input!

Cook_County

Please read:

http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageImport_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_001454&propertyType=document