Shippinh charges

makemerich12

Hi, I've brought equipment for my gym from china that was under £100,The website stats free stats free shipping etc. But I'm worried I'm going to get a letter in the post saying i need to pay cough up a certain amount in export charges?

What happens then? Can i just refuse?

Devongardener

What do the T&Cs of sale state exactly?   The seller might have prepaid any import duties due, but if not you will be liable and can’t refuse delivery as the charges are already incurred and if any VAT is due that will be paid by the import agent, so owed to them by you.

soolin

makemerich12 said:

Hi, I've brought equipment for my gym from china that was under £100,The website stats free stats free shipping etc. But I'm worried I'm going to get a letter in the post saying i need to pay cough up a certain amount in export charges?

What happens then? Can i just refuse?

Your invoice should show whether you’ve paid VAT and duty up front or not, if not then yes all appropriate fees will be charged on arrival in the UK.

if you refuse to pay and don’t accept the delivery there still a chance that you will be chased legally for the fees by the handling company 

incidentally is this a business or private purchase? 

makemerich12

Cost
We cover the shipping costs ourselves. This means you, as the customer, don’t have to pay for shipping.

Track Your Order

We understand how important it is to stay updated on your order. Once your order has been shipped, you’ll receive a tracking number via email. Stay informed and know exactly when your package will arrive!

Carriers
We primarily use DHL, Royal Mail, and Australia Post. One of these three

then this 

the price, excluding customs clearance costs and import VAT. These additional costs will be for the account and risk of the customer. The post and/or courier service will use the special arrangement for postal and courier services with regard to import. This arrangement applies if the goods are imported into the EU country of destination, which is also the case here. The postal and/or courier service collects the VAT (whether or not together with the invoiced customs clearance costs) from the recipient of the goods;

any costs of shipping;

Edit-On another forum I've been told in the uk Don't think you pay anything unless it's over £130, This item was £89 and clearly stats on the product page "Free Shipping"

soolin

makemerich12 said:

Cost
We cover the shipping costs ourselves. This means you, as the customer, don’t have to pay for shipping.

Track Your Order

We understand how important it is to stay updated on your order. Once your order has been shipped, you’ll receive a tracking number via email. Stay informed and know exactly when your package will arrive!

Carriers
We primarily use DHL, Royal Mail, and Australia Post. One of these three

then this 

the price, excluding customs clearance costs and import VAT. These additional costs will be for the account and risk of the customer. The post and/or courier service will use the special arrangement for postal and courier services with regard to import. This arrangement applies if the goods are imported into the EU country of destination, which is also the case here. The postal and/or courier service collects the VAT (whether or not together with the invoiced customs clearance costs) from the recipient of the goods;

any costs of shipping;

Edit-On another forum I've been told in the uk Don't think you pay anything unless it's over £130, This item was £89 and clearly stats on the product page "Free Shipping"

The £130 is just for one lot of fees, charges start much lower than that and typically also include a handling charge for paying the fees to HMRC in advance. 

A lot of items used to get through without being 'caught' now it's quite rare for goods to get into the country without attracting duty, import fees and other taxes , plus handling. In fairness the company have bene very upfront in advising you of the need to pay fees as you quoted :

'the price, excluding customs clearance costs and import VAT. These additional costs will be for the account and risk of the customer.'

makemerich12

On my invoice it stats 

Subtotal £89.00 Shipping £0.00 Taxes £0.00 Total £89.00 GBP

soolin

makemerich12 said:

On my invoice it stats 

Subtotal £89.00 Shipping £0.00 Taxes £0.00 Total £89.00 GBP

A usual receipt, your charges will be paid on the £89 if that's what they declare on the customs form. handling is usually a fixed charge regardless of duty etc charged. 

A lot of companies now pre pay the import taxes, ebay and Ali express for instance but that is shown clearly when you order as the tax is usually declare dup front and added to your purchase price. If you pre pay the seller for charges then you don't pay the handling charges as there is nothing to handle on your behalf on arrival at the UK, if they aren't pre paid then whatever courier brings the items in charges to make the HMRC declaration and pay the charges on your behalf. 

We have some very knowledgeable regulars on here who can probably give you a very good estimate of what you are likely to be charged, I am not one of them.

makemerich12

soolin said:

makemerich12 said:

On my invoice it stats 

Subtotal £89.00 Shipping £0.00 Taxes £0.00 Total £89.00 GBP

A usual receipt, your charges will be paid on the £89 if that's what they declare on the customs form. handling is usually a fixed charge regardless of duty etc charged. 

A lot of companies now pre pay the import taxes, ebay and Ali express for instance but that is shown clearly when you order as the tax is usually declare dup front and added to your purchase price. If you pre pay the seller for charges then you don't pay the handling charges as there is nothing to handle on your behalf on arrival at the UK, if they aren't pre paid then whatever courier brings the items in charges to make the HMRC declaration and pay the charges on your behalf. 

We have some very knowledgeable regulars on here who can probably give you a very good estimate of what you are likely to be charged, I am not one of them.

it was ordered on the 27th June and its not even the uk yet, I'd like to know if i get a letter before hand. it stats We have a 30-day return policy, which means you have 30 days after receiving your item to request a return.

soolin

makemerich12 said:

soolin said:

makemerich12 said:

On my invoice it stats 

Subtotal £89.00 Shipping £0.00 Taxes £0.00 Total £89.00 GBP

A usual receipt, your charges will be paid on the £89 if that's what they declare on the customs form. handling is usually a fixed charge regardless of duty etc charged. 

A lot of companies now pre pay the import taxes, ebay and Ali express for instance but that is shown clearly when you order as the tax is usually declare dup front and added to your purchase price. If you pre pay the seller for charges then you don't pay the handling charges as there is nothing to handle on your behalf on arrival at the UK, if they aren't pre paid then whatever courier brings the items in charges to make the HMRC declaration and pay the charges on your behalf. 

We have some very knowledgeable regulars on here who can probably give you a very good estimate of what you are likely to be charged, I am not one of them.

it was ordered on the 27th June and its not even the uk yet, I'd like to know if i get a letter before hand. it stats We have a 30-day return policy, which means you have 30 days after receiving your item to request a return.

Depending on where you bought it returning might be an issue. You would have to pay return postage  yourself , unless they say otherwise, and there is an issue with many Far East companies never refunding as tracking fails to show delivery. You would still have to have paid the import taxes so would need to spend time with HMRC trying to recover those as well. 

DullGreyGuy

makemerich12 said:

Hi, I've brought equipment for my gym from china that was under £100,The website stats free stats free shipping etc. But I'm worried I'm going to get a letter in the post saying i need to pay cough up a certain amount in export charges?

What happens then? Can i just refuse?

Importation costs are not "shipping"

Different couriers deal with importation costs differently. Some will charge you before the item has even left the country of origin and at the other extreme they appear a few weeks after the item has been delivered. 

In principle because its under £130 the merchant should have charged the UK VAT up front, there is no Duty so there would be no issues. I've bought items overseas where I am fairly sure no VAT has been paid and to date there has been no issues but there are others who have claimed to have received invoices for VAT. 

Ultimately buy from overseas if you are still happy with the prices with VAT & service added, if you arent happy with that price then dont. The problem with the idea of simply refusing delivery if you'll be paying more is that some couriers dont charge you until after its been delivered at which point its often too late to return it or the cost of return would be more than the charges.

makemerich12

Well guys my order has just come through the letter box in a little envelope that consists of 3 tiny  little bows, so i have been well and truely been had by a shop on Shopify