custom fees sent from Honk Kong warehouse

rolysatch

Hi

I wanted to buy an android head unit (car stereo) for my car on eBay. It would be sent with fedex express from their Hong Kong warehouse. It's significantly cheaper than I can buy in the country £199.00. I contacted the seller querying custom fees, and they said "You don't need to pay custom fees, The package is tax prepaid". Now I'm a little wary of Chinese sellers as they'll tell you what you want to hear to get the sale. Is what they're saying possible? And if that's not true, anyone got any idea how much I'm likely to pay in vat and duty and fedex admin fee?

Any advice appreciated thanks in advance

Brie

I'm always amazed that these sellers all around the world know everything about the current import situation in the UK.  We were told that there was nothing that would need to be paid by someone in Germany and ended up with my OH being sent a bill for over £200.  Nearly as much as the item he was buying and there was no guarantee that even if he paid it he would be allowed to keep the item.  So he refused to pay.  Lost his money of course but at least he didn't lose any more.  

TimeLord1

You will be liable for import tax when it arrives you will just receive a fees to be paid card to release it. 20% vat added so could be around £40 on top of the £199

Hoenir

VAT can also charged on the shipping cost. 

TimeLord1

If they work through online platforms such as Amazon, and eBay they could potentially have a UK storage shipping facility based in the UK. If FedEx is delivering quite possible they do. Myself anything that states UK with a union jack or dirt cheap i check the location and it will be China so anything going wrong with your purchase this is where they will require it to be returned to. So I avoid buying via China now.

PragmaticMoneySaver

In answer to your question, "Is it possible" then yes it absolutely is.  The service  is called DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) and is quite common.  I often purchase large quantities from Chinese factories and always insist on DDP (as it is more predictable what the landed cost will be and it is their problem).

DullGreyGuy

rolysatch said:

I wanted to buy an android head unit (car stereo) for my car on eBay. It would be sent with fedex express from their Hong Kong warehouse. It's significantly cheaper than I can buy in the country £199.00. I contacted the seller querying custom fees, and they said "You don't need to pay custom fees, The package is tax prepaid". Now I'm a little wary of Chinese sellers as they'll tell you what you want to hear to get the sale. Is what they're saying possible? And if that's not true, anyone got any idea how much I'm likely to pay in vat and duty and fedex admin fee?

Any advice appreciated thanks in advance

As the landed cost of the parcel is over £135 then in the normal run of things you would be liable for duty and VAT. Duty is paid on the total price of the package inc P&P and insurance, VAT (20%) is paid on total price plus the duty. 

What duty will apply depends on the commodity code thats entered and the declared country of origin. For prudency I'd suggest adding 2.5% and then VAT on top of everything. 

On top of the above you will have a fee from FedEx to clear customs for you, budget £15. If it's still cheaper than buying in the UK (and sufficiently so to deal with international returns etc if it goes faulty) then go for it. 

It is possible, as mentioned above to use DDP where the seller pays the taxes on your behalf and so the price you buy at is the landed price. Sellers have historically been known to use other tricks too like declaring its under £35 value and a gift but that risks a £35 payout from the courier if it were to go missing or get damaged