Cheap Parcel Delivery Official Discussion

anon_ymous

I thought the international standard was that if an item is declared for less than $30, then no customs fees will be charged? This makes sense seeing as though our customs allowance is £18, not £20 and not £15

Dont forget, there are duty calculators out there and if you do decide to send to the USA, remember to download a CN22 form or nick one from one of the more modern post office's where they have post and go's

solentb

Hi from another newbie poster (in both senses).

Am sending some Christmas gifts to son in Canada - nothing expensive - and after reading through all the excellent advice here have booked parcelbee for tommorrow.

However having read through all this excellent stuff I am now tired and confused so please bear with me.

I received the label and customs form from parcelbee (for UPS) this morning so looking good so far. They simply say attach the label and fill in 3 copies of the customs form.

Other posts mention invoices - do I need to provide that as well?
Other posts mention 4 - not 3 - copies?
Where do I put the customs forms? (polite replies only please)
If they attach to the parcel = is a freezer bag stuck down with sellotape going to do the trick?
Do I have to get the label and return address and customs forms (and poss invoices) all onto the front of the parcel?

Whew. Thank you all very, very much.

Kayster

waqasahmed wrote: »

I thought the international standard was that if an item is declared for less than $30, then no customs fees will be charged? This makes sense seeing as though our customs allowance is £18, not £20 and not £15

All goods sent from outside the EU into the EU are laible to customs duty and VAT if the value of the goods is over £18 for VAT and £120 for customs duty. This is raised to £36 for VAT if it is a gift. If the value is over £18 (or £36 if a gift) you get charged VAT not only on the goods value but the shipping costs as well - and Parcelforce (or whoever handles the parcel )takes an admin fee on top which is £8 in the case of parcelforce - more for some of the others. As a very rough rule of thumb if you import something over £18 from outside the EU expect to pay around 30% on top of goods value. This is a condensed version of several pages of info.
There is no international standard and the person we were talking about here was exporting to US so you have confused everyone raising EU import duty levels:D

Kayster

solentb wrote: »

Hi from another newbie poster (in both senses).


I received the label and customs form from parcelbee (for UPS) this morning so looking good so far. They simply say attach the label and fill in 3 copies of the customs form.

Other posts mention invoices - do I need to provide that as well?
Other posts mention 4 - not 3 - copies?
Where do I put the customs forms? (polite replies only please)
If they attach to the parcel = is a freezer bag stuck down with sellotape going to do the trick?
Do I have to get the label and return address and customs forms (and poss invoices) all onto the front of the parcel?

Whew. Thank you all very, very much.

Customs form or invoice is the same thing. Just fill out then put as many copies as that carrier asks for (some want 3 some want 4 - too many cannot be bad a thing)
Any envelope will do but a see through envelope is better as it means it can be viewed without opening. It must be stuck very securely to the outside of the parcel as it must no come off in transit. Carreirs have see through envelopes that are self adhesive on one face.. A freezer bag that you the stick down all around 3 edges would be fine - just use plenty of clear tape and leave access to the contents on the fourth edge

ukchriss

I need to send a couple of parcels to Elgin, Morayshire, IV30 6HP

one 12.4 kg. 47cm x 57cm, 39cm deep
and 11.8 kg. 64cm x 41cm, 31cm deep

any ideas who would be the quickest and cheapest?

Thanks

buglawton

I booked via Senditeasy online (to S. Ireland) yesterday mainly cos they were reliable to France last year. Item collected by DHL today as promised.

andyboy190

Hi everybody, just wanted to give anybody thinking of using despatch bay pallet service , (who use the DHL) a warning . I booked an urgent pallet to go to Edinburgh on a next day service , as I had a major trade show booked for the Saturday and Sunday . I booked and paid way in advance and even phoned on the Tuesday before the weekend to ensure that it would make it as I was driving 390 miles and they had all my stock . NO PROBLEM SIR WE DO THIS ALL THE TIME >>STOP WORRYING I WAS TOLD .. you know what's coming now don't you .Friday 4.45 pm no pallet but an email please contact us urgent, sorry sir we have a problem your pallet wont make it .. I was so angry and upset despatch bay phoned and asked DHL for a Saturday delivery , yes ok be there at 10 am ..this was no good as the show started at 10 and I had to set it up ,so all parties agreed 8am ..yes you know what's coming again don't you, they hadn't changed the time slot and 10 am it was due ..so yes 9.30 my pallet arrived half hour before the show ..I didn't ask for compensation , but I thought the least they could do would be to offer a refund on the pallet drop .no just an apology ..so be warned if you need an urgent delivery using despatch bay or DHL. DON'T BECAUSE THEY DON'T CARE ABOUT CUSTOMERS !!

Pete_14

UK Chris
Try GMS Parcels i found them through google got no complaints.

Kayster

ukchriss wrote: »

I need to send a couple of parcels to Elgin, Morayshire, IV30 6HP

one 12.4 kg. 47cm x 57cm, 39cm deep
and 11.8 kg. 64cm x 41cm, 31cm deep

any ideas who would be the quickest and cheapest?

Thanks

Have you read any of the recent posts where recommendations have been made?
Have you tried any of the sites yourself or do you want spoon feeding?

parcelbee would do it for £6.49 each inc vat next day delivery with UPS - how does that sound?

anon_ymous

Well, if you see here you would assume that they use other couriers as well, though I have to admit that every single parcel ordered by them has gone via UPS. Maybe for Europe(Not just Ireland) they might use other couriers. I might use them for Europe postage as RM only insure for £39 lol for a mobile phone