Importing stuff from the 'far east'.

earthstorm

betterlife wrote: »

i would be careful about importing, last year i decided to buy some wholesale jewellery findings from a site which was really cheap, i purchased about £250 worth and paid an extra £180.00 for shipping, which still made the findings a great price, and a good profit could be made, however about 2wks after i received them i had an invoice from the courier for another £90 customs charges! should of done my homework 1st really.

you wont get hit with custom charges all the time. this will only happen if you are unlucky that your items are in a container they check.

In six years of importing i have only been hit with customs charges once and even paying this the goods still worked out cheaper than buying wholesale in the UK

paddyrg

earthstorm wrote: »

you wont get hit with custom charges all the time. this will only happen if you are unlucky that your items are in a container they check.

In six years of importing i have only been hit with customs charges once and even paying this the goods still worked out cheaper than buying wholesale in the UK

I think that is likely to change if using an expedited courier like FedEx, etc., where pretty much every package will pay its dues. Or if goods are sent by sea but accurately and honestly described on the customs forms as opposed to $5-gift on everything!

martindow

paddyrg wrote: »

I think that is likely to change if using an expedited courier like FedEx, etc., where pretty much every package will pay its dues. Or if goods are sent by sea but accurately and honestly described on the customs forms as opposed to $5-gift on everything!

Agree with this. In my experience small consignments delivered by Royal Mail quite often come through with no charges.

Some companies under declare items to save their customers fees. This could be tricky as the recipient is responsible for ensuring that the correct duty and VAT is paid. They are also coming effectively uninsured as insurance will be the declared value, so if your parcel is damaged or lost you could lose out.

patman99

Depends where they ship through as well. A lot of Chinese use Hong Kong as it is what is known as a free port. This means goods shipped through it are export/import tax exempt.
It is worth having a list of the correct HMRC import duties to hand (different classes of products have different import duties). When the likes of FedEx and UPS bill you for import duties they add on a large sum for sending you the invoice.
In reality, all you need to do is pay the legal import duty only.

I remember there was a thread on here a year or so back about a lady who got a letter from Royal Mail telling her she needed to collect her parcel and pay duty of £56 (the actual import duty was only £20). She rolled-up to collect her parcel and handed-over £20. When Royal Mail told her she was £30 short, she threatened to phone the Police and report them for witholding her mail. They soon gave her her parcel.

earthstorm

most far east containers come through Felixstowe now and customs will only pick a handful of these to check unless they have been tipped off about certain consignments as they dont have resources to check every single container.

paddyrg

patman99 wrote: »

In reality, all you need to do is pay the legal import duty only.

I remember there was a thread on here a year or so back about a lady who got a letter from Royal Mail telling her she needed to collect her parcel and pay duty of £56 (the actual import duty was only £20). She rolled-up to collect her parcel and handed-over £20. When Royal Mail told her she was £30 short, she threatened to phone the Police and report them for witholding her mail. They soon gave her her parcel.

Seeing as the RM charge for landing the incoming taxes is just £8, not really sure on what grounds she did this, HMRC decide and levy duty, not Royal Mail. And if she only paid duty, what about the also applicable VAT?

earthstorm

paddyrg wrote: »

Seeing as the RM charge for landing the incoming taxes is just £8, not really sure on what grounds she did this, HMRC decide and levy duty, not Royal Mail. And if she only paid duty, what about the also applicable VAT?

too many people think it is the couriers who levy these charges

paddyrg

earthstorm wrote: »

too many people think it is the couriers who levy these charges

Personally I think £8 is a pretty decent deal when you consider the forms and paperwork, bonded holding, onward delivery, and fronting the duty and VAT for you. It's more than an hours work's worth of headache solved all in one go!

custardy

patman99 wrote: »

Depends where they ship through as well. A lot of Chinese use Hong Kong as it is what is known as a free port. This means goods shipped through it are export/import tax exempt.
It is worth having a list of the correct HMRC import duties to hand (different classes of products have different import duties). When the likes of FedEx and UPS bill you for import duties they add on a large sum for sending you the invoice.
In reality, all you need to do is pay the legal import duty only.

I remember there was a thread on here a year or so back about a lady who got a letter from Royal Mail telling her she needed to collect her parcel and pay duty of £56 (the actual import duty was only £20). She rolled-up to collect her parcel and handed-over £20. When Royal Mail told her she was £30 short, she threatened to phone the Police and report them for witholding her mail. They soon gave her her parcel.

your figures dont add up,nor does the threat of calling the Police

inmypocketnottheirs

lil.smartie wrote: »

Taobao is part of Alibaba IIRC never had a problem with any seller from there!

Kate

There are counterfeit goods on Alibaba. I have been quoted for goods for a UK manufactured brand. I know, I work for the manufacturer and we have no offshore manufacturing.

Apart from this, I have dealt with China on many occasions. The chance of getting what you want, when you want, at the price that you want, in the colour that you want are extremely slim unless you really know what you are doing.