Duty on items bought from foreign ebay sellers

katiesam

Hi everyone,

I'm currently interested in buying a couple of items off ebay but the sellers are located in the USA.

I've used https://www.dutycalculator.com to get an idea of the duty and VAT that is applicable but I'm confused about the part that warns "Please note that your shipping provider may add an additional handling fee".

The link takes me to the following page:

http://www.dutycalculator.com/help_center/will-there-be-any-extra-charges-from-the-shipping-provider/

Although there are examples of charges from the Royal Mail, UPS etc., how do I know who will deliver the parcel and how much, if any, the extra fees will be?

Thanks in advance for any help.

kurgon

You should contact the seller to see who they will use. It will most likely be UPS from the States.

jeffuk

I think most charge around £8.

sniggings

most likely Royal mail if smallish or parcelforce is a bit bigger, RM charge £8 and PF the same I think or £13.50 if the item is over £1000.

I doubt they will use DHL or FedEx as they are expensive and would normally not pass the parcel on to RM or PF but deliver it themselves, the fee is about the same anyway.

Most likely they will use USPS which is a good service and cheap and also comes with the added benefit that the item can miss getting custom charges too, as FedEx etc process their parcels different to USPS so nearly always get stopped for custom charges.

Also if no custom charges are made, they are not allowed to charge a handling fee either.

katiesam

Thanks for everyone's replies, to add a bit more info:

The first item is $29.99 with free postage to UK via USPS First Class Mail International.

The second item is $62.95 with a choice of postage options: either $6.00 for USPS First Class Mail International or $17.00 for USPS Priority Mail International Flat Rate Envelope.

Given what sniggings has said (quoted below), is it likely there won't be any additional charges and the item will just be delivered?

sniggings wrote: »

Most likely they will use USPS which is a good service and cheap and also comes with the added benefit that the item can miss getting custom charges too, as FedEx etc process their parcels different to USPS so nearly always get stopped for custom charges.

Also if no custom charges are made, they are not allowed to charge a handling fee either.

sniggings

The amount allowed before custom charges are made is about £40.

The figure is cost of item plus postage.

So you should be OK with the first one and just scrape through with the second.

As for the service, First class and Priority are near enough the same, so not worth paying the extra as the time it takes to get here is about the same and only means you getting nearer to the amount custom charges are payable.

Registered is worth getting though as it is only a dollar or so more but is kept much safer.

soolin

sniggings wrote: »

The amount allowed before custom charges are made is about £40.

The figure is cost of item plus postage.
.

I thought it was £15? It used to be £18 but I know the limit went down

I got fees of around £13.50 on make up totalling just under £30 with postage most of which was the Royal Mail handlign charge.

sniggings

soolin wrote: »

I thought it was £15? It used to be £18 but I know the limit went down

I got fees of around £13.50 on make up totalling just under £30 with postage most of which was the Royal Mail handlign charge.

Not sure to be honest, I think at one time is was £29 for non gift and £39 for gift but charged are normally only made if the custom charge is greater than the handling fee, so you tend to have a little leeway with the amounts before the charges hit.

I'll have a google to see if I can find an updated amount allowed.

soolin

sniggings wrote: »

Not sure to be honest, I think at one time is was £29 for non gift and £39 for gift but charged are normally only made if the custom charge is greater than the handling fee, so you tend to have a little leeway with the amounts before the charges hit.

I'll have a google to see if I can find an updated amount allowed.

I tend to keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best, but I believe it is very very low.

Crowqueen

Yes - the threshhold is a lot lower than £40 and has recently been lowered.

sniggings

just checked and it is £15

The £40 figure I said is when the package is for more than one person, then the allowance is £40

Gift must have been increased it now is £135 :eek: