DHL duty 9 April 2022 at 4:35PM in Ebay, auctions, car boot sales, post & parcels 6 replies 161 views

Archergirl

Hi not ebay related but I don't know where else to ask.
I bought something from China for $336 plus $120 postage. I paid  duty of £86 on the total of $456 
Is it correct that I pay duty (or customs or whatever it is) on the total which include the postage? I have been contacting DHL to no avail.
Thanks for any help x

soolin

Archergirl said:

Hi not ebay related but I don't know where else to ask.
I bought something from China for $336 plus $120 postage. I paid  duty of £86 on the total of $456 
Is it correct that I pay duty (or customs or whatever it is) on the total which include the postage? I have been contacting DHL to no avail.
Thanks for any help x

Yes that's correct, it is on the whole amount plus any handling charges levied by the company.

Archergirl

Wow, that seems so wrong, but I don't know why DHL couldn't say that they have been avoiding and passing me from pillar to post since January. Thank you x

custardy

Archergirl said:

Wow, that seems so wrong, but I don't know why DHL couldn't say that they have been avoiding and passing me from pillar to post since January. Thank you x

Did it not occur to you that fees maybe payable on such an expensive international purchase?

molerat

custardy said:

Archergirl said:

Wow, that seems so wrong, but I don't know why DHL couldn't say that they have been avoiding and passing me from pillar to post since January. Thank you x

Did it not occur to you that fees maybe payable on such an expensive international purchase?

I suspect they didn't expect taxes to be levied on the postage costs.

Archergirl

molerat said:

custardy said:

Archergirl said:

Wow, that seems so wrong, but I don't know why DHL couldn't say that they have been avoiding and passing me from pillar to post since January. Thank you x

Did it not occur to you that fees maybe payable on such an expensive international purchase?

I suspect they didn't expect taxes to be levied on the postage costs.

Exactly right, fees on the  $120 postage is what surprised me, I fully expected duty on the price of the goods I bought.

soolin

Archergirl said:

molerat said:

custardy said:

Archergirl said:

Wow, that seems so wrong, but I don't know why DHL couldn't say that they have been avoiding and passing me from pillar to post since January. Thank you x

Did it not occur to you that fees maybe payable on such an expensive international purchase?

I suspect they didn't expect taxes to be levied on the postage costs.

Exactly right, fees on the  $120 postage is what surprised me, I fully expected duty on the price of the goods I bought.

I don't know, but I suspect it is to be 'fair' otherwise dodgy companies would be shipping $1 goods with $400 dollar postage.