Warning re buying sale item from the US

ChrisCar_2

A few days ago I placed a small order with the US branch of the Calendar Club (whom I do NOT recommend).
It's six months into the year and most of their calendars have been discounted.
The bill came to $22.57 plus standard shipping which usually takes 2-3 weeks and is delivered by Royal Mail.
Only they sent it by UPS, without notifying me. All it says on the order details is 'Standard Delivery'.
It has arrived and I had to pay £21.26 as the calendar club had stated that the order was for $80.83 ie the full RRP of all the things I bought.
They weren't even selling them at RRP before Christmas.
According to the grinning UPS delivery gentleman, that is what they are suppose to put on the forms ie the FULL value.

So beware, if you are buying sale items from outside the EU, find out what the declared value is going to be before you place your order, check who it is going to be delivered by and think twice if it's going to be UPS.

I have asked the calendar club for an explanation, apparently they will try and answer me within THREE working days......

mynameistallulah

Royal Mail will also charge you a customs handling fee. In fact, I don't know of any courier that will not.

Azari

ChrisCar wrote: »

According to the grinning UPS delivery gentleman, that is what they are suppose to put on the forms ie the FULL value.

The FULL value of a calender that is 6 months out of date is NOT the same as one sold before the year in which it starts.

System

Don't think its UPS's fault. They will just declare what they are told to declare by the Calander club.

Sounds like you've been screwed here!

ChrisCar_2

mynameistallulah wrote: »

Royal Mail will also charge you a customs handling fee. In fact, I don't know of any courier that will not.

Then I have been lucky.
I run a small business and regularly buy from outside the EU.
This is the first time I have had duty to pay, but then this is the only time I have has sales good declared at full RRP.
Normally my only complaint with UPS is damaged packaging.

Obviously I didn't make myself clear.
I was warning people that something bought at a discount price, from outside the EU, may look like a bargain even with the added shipping costs. However if your seller does as the firm I bought from did, and puts the RRP as the declared value. You will have import duty etc to pay, if that RRP is above UK import limits.

ChrisCar_2

Oh, I know I was screwed.
I've had to pay VAT etc on money I haven't spent.

I'm trying to stop anyone else being in the same boat - especially if they are daft enough to buy from the calendar club.
I did consider refusing to accept the parcel but figured I wouldn't get any cash back from them and I wouldn't have the goods either.

mynameistallulah

ChrisCar wrote: »

Then I have been lucky.
I run a small business and regularly buy from outside the EU.
This is the first time I have had duty to pay, but then this is the only time I have has sales good declared at full RRP.
Normally my only complaint with UPS is damaged packaging.

Obviously I didn't make myself clear.
I was warning people that something bought at a discount price, from outside the EU, may look like a bargain even with the added shipping costs. However if your seller does as the firm I bought from did, and puts the RRP as the declared value. You will have import duty etc to pay, if that RRP is above UK import limits.

Yes, you have been lucky, so put this down to a bit of karma, you've saved a lot by avoiding import taxes before, so now this is just evening it out a bit? Also, more important than reminding people about import duty, the fees charged by the courier can often be even higher, so worth taking them into account also before ordering.

Scarpacci

I have had similar situations before. The UPS guy was wrong, the shipper should put the full price you paid - no more, no less. Coupons/discounts should be included in the price listed for customs, but I have experienced a few sites whose systems do not take any coupons into account.

Hopefully the company in question will refund you. I contacted a company who marked the wrong price (I had a BOGOF, they listed the price for both) and landed me with a customs fee, and they refunded the whole order after I explained I purposely ordered during the BOGOF because I wouldn't have to pay customs fees and though taxes aren't their responsibility, these ones essentially were.

ChrisCar_2

Thanks Scarppacci
I took the UPS man's word as being correct. I'll look into that both UK end and US end, if possible.

As for mynameistallulah
I believe in karma too.
The reason I have never had any importing fees to pay is because I have never incurred any before. I check if any thing would be due before I buy and if it is I either don't buy or I split my order and have more than one parcel sent.
Fortunately with the items I buy, I can do that quite easily.
Think hard about karma, next time you remind someone of it.