Amazon.com

mummys_little_helpers

Apologies if this is posted in the wrong place but I am in a bit of a panick. My daughters wanted christina pop in kins the elf but only America sell these so I decided to orderer from amazon.com for the very first time. I ordered 3 which came to £32.02 and paid £12.58 shipping and handling and also £8.92 import fees deposit. The problem is my friend said her husband ordered trainers from america before and when the arrived they had to pay over £20 for some kind of tax even although he paid postage and something else. Has anyone else ever ordered from amazon like this before and did you have to pay extra "taxes". Thankyou in advance xx

jenniewb

I've not ordered from Amazon.com but I have ordered from ebay.com.

I had to pay delivery and then import charges and another tax, so 3 things in total. The total came to just over £15 on a £50 order so not cheap (but still made it cheaper then buying from the UK as would have set me back £130 here- hence the order!)
Not all things get the full whack of taxes and charges though it would seem. Some do escape them and it does seem to be luck of the draw rather then anything else.

If your worried maybe call up the post office or Royal Mail (or go via the website) as they will have more information there.

johnnyreggae

If you buy from outside the EU there is VAT (& possibly import duty) to pay on the value just like there is when you buy in a UK shop - it is possible your £ 8.92 deposit may cover it (as it says in the description of this fee - if you read it)

sukysue

I have bought quite a bit from Amazon.com but always do separate orders under 19 pounds . I include the postage in that as well as I have heard a lot of horror stories about ppl being charged a fortune by duty and i DON'T FANCY THAT SO ERR ON THE EDGE OF CAUTION...that could be an epitaph for my whole damn life.

JAG

This is a good website to look at if you are importing http://www.dutycalculator.com

It is not just the import tax but the "handling charge" £8 that the Royal Mail charge you if you have to pay any tax that your friend could be refering to. Since you have prepaid the tax with Amazon then you shouldn't have to pay anything else.

mummys_little_helpers

Just to say thankyou everyone for there information. I contacted the american amazon basically just asking about the taxes and they said every country in the EU receiving parcels charges differently and thats why they take the import fees deposit to try and cover this but it isn't always enough and the receiver of the parcel then has to pay more so there is a possibility I will have to pay but since I was a first time customer amazon are going to give me free postage and package (£12.58) at first I was over the moon with this but now starting to think that they know I will be paying a big amount when collecting my parcel so feeling sorry for me and given me it to put towards that bill:rotfl: Parcel due in 3 weeks time so I will let you all know the outcome x

JAG

mummys_little_helpers wrote: »

now starting to think that they know I will be paying a big amount when collecting my parcel so feeling sorry for me and given me it to put towards that bill:rotfl: Parcel due in 3 weeks time so I will let you all know the outcome x

Using the website above you get the following assuming that they are Books? (Fiction - More than 48 pages each).

Total customs value: £44.60
- Duty: £0.00
- VAT: £0.00
Total import duty & taxes due: £0.00
Total landed cost: £44.60

So no tax due. I always thought it was anything under £18 is import tax free, but perhaps you don't pay any tax on books.

zzzLazyDaisy

It is probably too late now - but for another time, if you keep the entire cost including postage to less than £18, there is no customs charge payable.

So if at all possible it is often worth make smaller separate orders even if it means paying more for postage and packing in total.

Good luck, and let us know how you get on x

mummys_little_helpers

Well just to let everyone know that my parcel arrived tonight after only 7 days and there was no fee to pay so over the moon with that outcome, as it turned out I got all 3 elves for £38 and that was including the delivery so considering I was going to pay £20 each thats a bargain. Thanks for everyones comments xx

studioman

mummys_little_helpers wrote: »

Well just to let everyone know that my parcel arrived tonight after only 7 days and there was no fee to pay so over the moon with that outcome, as it turned out I got all 3 elves for £38 and that was including the delivery so considering I was going to pay £20 each thats a bargain. Thanks for everyones comments xx

See, ELF n Safety not such a bad thing?:rotfl:

barmonkey

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

It is probably too late now - but for another time, if you keep the entire cost including postage to less than £18, there is no customs charge payable.

If its under £18 the postage is not included when the custom / duty is worked out, if its over £18 the postage is added and the duty is worked out on the total
I have bought loads of DVD box sets from amazon.com and as long i keep it under £18 ive never been charged.