Beauty cheaper in the US than the UK

ttmirror

Hi guys, hope this is the right place to post on the forum i couldn't find the best place for it!

Baseically i want to get more high end make up. I'm a beauty blogger so thats no shock to want more lol but i hear that make up and things as such are much cheaper in US. I looked online at the anastasia beverly hills contour palette which is £40 here and only £28 there and thought to myself why the bloody hell am i over paying for so much lol!

Shipping usually takes 7 days but sometimes you wait 7 days for a package in the UK anyway!!

Baseically what make up items are really easy to find in the US but 100X more harder to get here!

And also what make up is cheaper over there than here?

WantToBeSE

While the actual make up is cheaper, make sure that you check the delivery charges.


The best bet is to find a friend or family member who is going to the US and then give them a list of things that you want. Or maybe if other beauty bloggers/vloggers that you are in touch with are in the US, they could buy them for you if you send them the money (obviously you have to trust them) and it may be cheaper that way.

flutterbyuk25

Also watch out for customs charges too (if they charge on beauty).

Thankfully I have a cousin in the states who lets me know when she is coming to UK (at least twice a year) and I put an order in if I want anything

A.Penny.Saved

VAT is chargeable for anything over £15 and duty could also incur charges from £135 then add the Royalmails [RM] £8+vat for collecting the charges. That adds up and can make any savings fairly small.

http://www.dutycalculator.com/

There is meant to be a way of bypassing the RM and getting Customs & Excise to write to the recipient for payment of any vat etc but only if stated on the parcel declaration. Some US companies don't want to do it as it is not standard practice for them and they don't like the potential risk of causing any delivery difficulties. If done correctly it stops the RM £10 fee.

cherylsurrey

I have in the past ordered cosmetics online from abroad, and I find that it's 50/50 as to whether you get charged VAT and customs, if I order something small and cheap it does tend to slip through, the more expensive items seem to get caught more often. I don't bother anymore as if an item does get charged, it can end up costing more than if I had bought it here. Also a lot of brands that previously sold only in the states are now easy to get here.




Definitely best to find a friend who is making a trip over, it will be much cheaper that way.

ttmirror

when you get charged customs will it go through on your bill on the online store BEFORE you pay or will it just get taken out of my bank with no knowing how much it'll cost?

sunfield91

When it has happened to me I have had a card through the door from the postie saying there was a parcel for me at the local sorting office which was being held until I had paid the customs duty and tha Post office handling fee
HTH

A.Penny.Saved

You will be charged on delivery so it has to be added to the total cost AFTER you pay. It's additional to what you pay at checkout. Plus as I mentioned, RM adds a £10 collection fee on top unless you can get it labelled correctly so that customs and excise send a bill to you for the vat and any duty. If that can be done, RM have to deliver it WITHOUT making any further charges for collecting any payments. RM make nice amounts from charging for doing this.

No one can take it from your bank but if you don't pay it then it will not get delivered and it will be returned to sender.

I must point out that I have never tried to have this done yet but I did read online about it and how it works. I did ask about it at a US company a few days back but the person I spoke to did not sound keen on doing it, in case it affected the delivery. Not that she could make the decision because she was only a telephone support person. They would rather I pay £10 to RM and they don't know what happens when things land in the UK so it's just a case of them fearing the unknown and any adverse consequences to themselves. If done correctly there will not be any negatives except for the RM not getting a fee.

Most places will not handle any customs and Vat fees, it gets left to you when the item(s) arrive. Amazon and eBay have started handling it in some cases which are usually indicated, so that no additional charges are incurred. Instead they charge a large mark up for the service..

You are almost always going to be charged for Vat but customs fees are only chargeable on items valued above £135. Vat gets charged on it as well as delivery!

For duty, classifying the item correctly can affect the duty that is payable, if any. Some items could be classed under different headings and that could affect the amount that is payable. I think that it is open to interpretation.

It might be worth you speaking to someone at customs advice to find out what the level of duty that you should expect. Ask for the classification details so that you know how they are dealing with it.

I have an old customs advice number but I do not know whether it is valid because it has been many years since I used it.
08450109000
0845 numbers might of changed!

1886travel

ttmirror wrote: »

when you get charged customs will it go through on your bill on the online store BEFORE you pay or will it just get taken out of my bank with no knowing how much it'll cost?

there are two options, pay ahead or after. you will see it when clicking through to the payment page.

donnac2558

By the way when you look at the price in the US, the sales taxes is not included. It goes on when you get to the pay part, each state has different sales tax NYC is 13% I know. So that needs to be taken into account.

I know reading MUA, they complain about the price of French brands compared to what we pay. Its the own brand US drugstore brands which really work out cheaper.

lhurley

ttmirror wrote: »

Hi guys, hope this is the right place to post on the forum i couldn't find the best place for it!

Baseically i want to get more high end make up. I'm a beauty blogger so thats no shock to want more lol but i hear that make up and things as such are much cheaper in US. I looked online at the anastasia beverly hills contour palette which is £40 here and only £28 there and thought to myself why the bloody hell am i over paying for so much lol!

Shipping usually takes 7 days but sometimes you wait 7 days for a package in the UK anyway!!

Baseically what make up items are really easy to find in the US but 100X more harder to get here!

And also what make up is cheaper over there than here?

I heard that the Ulta contour palette is a dupe of the Anastasia one and is just as good. Have a look at the Ulta website. If you're not aware of Ulta, it's a really great hair/beauty shop in the States. They have their own brand hair and make up. I wish we had it here! I don't think they ship to the UK but your cousin could help you out.