Royal Mail Customs charge

Cliecost

Hi,

I recently bought something from the US.

They sent it using the US postal service which in-turn passed it to the Royal Mail.

I have to pay a Customs charge which, I may not want to pay, I understand I have to pay. My problem is, out of the £15.42 they want, £8 of it is a handling fee.

Is there any way I can avoid this or is this something that I, also, just have to put up with.

Thanks for any help.

nuttyp

Hi I bought an item from the Disney store in usa. They sent by ups and they charge £11. The thing is the company ie the post office has to pay the custom fees before the parcel is released to them for delivery. Unfortunley there isn't a lot you can do about the fees. Some companies do allow you pay in advance but there anen't many.

Sorry.

Jonboy_1984

You will need to pay it - one of the joys of importing...

WTFH

It costs £8 no matter what the value of the item is. You are paying for the Royal Mail to process the paperwork to import the item.

Next time you import, you could do the paperwork yourself before the goods are shipped and then send it with them.

Renoir77

Not sure but if the item purchased is less than £18 it does not attract Vat or handling charge and comes directly to you via the postie.

My cousin in the USA often sends me wool that she has spun and found out from her end about marking the value of the goods and what it is on the import label that has to be put on the outside. She has very helpful post office lady in her village that told her this :T
I think getting it marked as a gift helps too.

I do think £8 is a little steep for what they have to do though.

flubberyzing

Nope, you just have to pay if you want the item.


I got caught out 3 or 4 years ago when I bought some items from an American shop online. I can't remember exactly how much I had to pay in customs charges, but it was enough to put me off ordering from that shop again!

mardatha

Yep, no way round it other than next time asking the sender to mark it as a gift and dont include a commercial invoice. Pits though taking £8.

monnagran

I have just had the same trouble. Ordered something from US, cost $23 plus their $11 handling and foreign postage fee. Then had to pay £11 customs fee to the PO.

It wasn't worth it anyway. Once bitten.................

custardy

Cliecost wrote: »

Hi,

I recently bought something from the US.

They sent it using the US postal service which in-turn passed it to the Royal Mail.

I have to pay a Customs charge which, I may not want to pay, I understand I have to pay. My problem is, out of the £15.42 they want, £8 of it is a handling fee.

Is there any way I can avoid this or is this something that I, also, just have to put up with.

Thanks for any help.

Well they want paying because you didnt arrange the clearance yourself

custardy

monnagran wrote: »

I have just had the same trouble. Ordered something from US, cost $23 plus their $11 handling and foreign postage fee. Then had to pay £11 customs fee to the PO.

It wasn't worth it anyway. Once bitten.................

No you didnt
You were charged by Parcelforce
while have nothing to do with Post Office Counters

Cliecost

Yeah, I've already read online that I have no choice. Damn!