Being asked to pay customs on my prize win

Phudge · 4 January 2017 at 7:51PM

Hello to you all,

well, a courier turned up this morning with a prize I won months ago, a Zencube . I knew it would be arriving soon so was excited....until he said there was a £16 customs charge!!

The courier took it away and I have a tracking number. I have been in touch with the company I won from and they pointed out a blog post saying that backers (they were crowdfunding) would have to pay customs on delivery as it would be dispatched from the Far East.

I pointed out that I am not a backer but won it as a prize and that other prizes I have won from abroad have been marked 'prize' or 'gift' and therefore were not liable for customs and asked them for help.

They strongly suggested I pay otherwise the courier would return it which would incur further expenses for me :eek: . The tone of the message was don't be ungrateful, it's an expensive prize! It IS a fantastic prize and they will be selling for $299 and I was really looking forward to it.

What should I do?

[Deleted User] · 4 January 2017 at 7:54PM

Hi,

pay the money, sell it, and make a profit.

McKneff · 4 January 2017 at 7:56PM

Pay it, use it. It's still a bargain at £16

Soot2006 · 4 January 2017 at 7:56PM

Would you pay £16 for it?

Either way - sounds the customs charge and either keep it if you want it or sell it on and make profit.

sleepyjones · 4 January 2017 at 8:01PM

Pretty standard practice that a competition winner pays any customs charges. Sometimes they slip through without being checked by customs so you get away with it, not in this case, I guess.

You can't really expect a promoter to state it is a gift, 'cause technically, that would illegal by definition.

Will probably say so in the terms of the competition you entered.

Phudge · 4 January 2017 at 10:57PM

Thanks for your replies!

I intend to keep it and use it so I will pay, just a little peeved at having to pay customs.

It was not stated in the T &C's - that was a later blog post about being sent from abroad after I had already won it.

mjm3346 · 4 January 2017 at 11:24PM

Phudge wrote: »

Thanks for your replies!

I intend to keep it and use it so I will pay, just a little peeved at having to pay customs.

It was not stated in the T &C's - that was a later blog post about being sent from abroad after I had already won it.

With non uk competitions it's not unusual for winners to be responsible for all taxes/duties even if the p&p is free, especially from the USA.

[Deleted User] · 5 January 2017 at 6:43AM

Hi,

Phudge wrote: »

Thanks for your replies!

I intend to keep it and use it so I will pay, just a little peeved at having to pay customs.

It was not stated in the T &C's - that was a later blog post about being sent from abroad after I had already won it.

If it had been stated in T&C's would it have put you off entering the competition, which I presume was free to enter and no purchase necessary?

Just curious, because then the thinking is, should I enter and
a) hope I win and pay duty anyway (good prize),
b) hope I don't win, (nothing to pay),
c) I probably won't win, (nothing to pay).

hamsterfan1 · 5 January 2017 at 10:03AM

I had this with some jewellery - I now look to see where prizes are coming from

One-Eye · 5 January 2017 at 1:03PM

£16 sounds like the admin charge & fee for the courier. If the item is worth £200 I would have expected VAT of £40 as well.

[Deleted User] · 5 January 2017 at 1:07PM

They aren't always 100% truthful with the items value when they put it through customs - I paid a similar amount when I received an expensive camera from a Hong Kong-based website.