Fedex - Genuinely didnt know I had to pay Import Duty.

shaun_from_Africa

gik wrote: »

...except no one has been stung!

How do you know?
It might have been something like this:
http://goo.gl/hy78UC
that the OP imported.

Hedgehog99

bris wrote: »

Why is it a racket? Import fees have to be paid this is not the couriers fault, they simply take the pain out of the process.


Without them doing the clearing for you there would be huge delays with the package sitting in customs waiting for you to clear it.

They didn't "take the pain out of the process" for us at work. We're tied in to an online ordering system, but we had some guy from a courier company turning up at reception every day expecting payment in cash, which we cannot do. They withheld our item until we could raise an order to cover the invoice.

No, I don't expect overseas sellers to know what UK tax systems are in place, but, like other posters have said, the info is hard to find if you don't realise you need to look for it. Sellers should at least put "further local taxes could apply - buyers should check before placing their order" or something like that to warn new customers.

halibut2209

shaun_from_Africa wrote: »

How do you know?
It might have been something like this:
http://goo.gl/hy78UC
that the OP imported.

Well as long as they can keep half of them flying all the time, then the weight cost will go right down!

prowla

Anyway, the company pay the taxman on your behalf and then charge you a processing fee of the order of £20.

I got caught by it some years back where I ordered a DVD, intending to save some money, but it ended up costing me more than double what it would have been to buy the UK one in the shops.

George_Michael

prowla wrote: »

Anyway, the company pay the taxman on your behalf and then charge you a processing fee of the order of £20.

Since when has £10.75 been "of the order of £20"?

gik

prowla wrote: »

Anyway, the company pay the taxman on your behalf and then charge you a processing fee of the order of £20.

I got caught by it some years back where I ordered a DVD, intending to save some money, but it ended up costing me more than double what it would have been to buy the UK one in the shops.

Did you not also get 'caught' buying on ebay and asking a question after buying and not paying?

powerful_Rogue

Hedgehog99 wrote: »

Sellers should at least put "further local taxes could apply - buyers should check before placing their order" or something like that to warn new customers.

Then you will have people on here saying "Well it only said could apply, I didnt think it would apply to me. What a con/scam/racket"

George_Michael

Hedgehog99 wrote: »

Sellers should at least put "further local taxes could apply - buyers should check before placing their order" or something like that to warn new customers.

In which case, they should also have to put:
"Buyers should check that the goods are legal in their country"

"Buyers should check that the goods are suitable for what they need"

"Buyers should check that the manufacturer provides support and warranty service for this item in their country"

etc
etc

Generally sellers don't offer too much (if any) advice about the legalities of buying or importing goods into foreign countries and why should they?
Surely this is up to the buyer to investigate before deciding whether to purchase or not.

Computersaysno

just ignore fedex...they go away after a few letters.

paddyrg

visidigi wrote: »

Important Notice: FedEx currently charge an administration fee of 2.5% of the combined
Duty & VAT charge or £10.75 (whichever is greater). Effective date January 6th 2014. (source)

So at least 50% of it isn't FedEx's fee.

Fair enough. Do we know if that includes VAT? I know a lot of their lists give ex-VAT prices. It'd be closer to £13 if it excludes it, but it's still not bad value compared with doing it oneself!