Sending a package from USA to UK?

Having just bought a car part from the USA, on £250, £51 was added in total this side. Different goods have different rates, I dont know whether clothes would be higher or lower than the (roughly)20% I paid.
TBH, I cant see it being any less.
Little search found the following.
The following is from http://www.outsizeclothes.com/clothing-customs-duty.html
CLOTHES IMPORT DUTY and VAT.
1) Customs Duty. - Customs duty is calculated by Customs on the "END COST" of the clothing. They add together the purchase price, + any insurance, + shipping costs. This gives the END COST figure. They then look at the material the clothes are made from. On the END COST they charge Customs duties of 12% for "fabric" clothing made from cotton, silk, nylon, polyester etc. If the clothes are leather the duty charge is 4%
2) V.A.T. - After adding the customs duty to the total cost of the clothing, they then add V.A.T.@ 17 1/2% on the after Customs duty figure.


$790 total assuming you get postage for $100. Taking the exchange rate just now, thats roughly £533. There will also probably be an £8 customs clearence charge from the post office. You can get this back if you complain to them going by other threads on this forum.

Go to the US Post Office and get a box (theres different sizes) for your goods, it's a fixed price and the only restrictions is that it fits in the box (cannot bulge) and it weighs less than 70lbs.

http://www.usps.com/international/prioritymailinternational.htm

While there get a customs form, you have to list contents and value (don't forget to insure it if you want to).

It's pretty simple if you read the customs form.

discofuel wrote: »

I'll have to give HM Revenue and Customs a call to find out exactly what the import taxes I'll have to pay

If you can get the commodity code and write this on the customs declaration it helps it clear customs at the correct duty rate. Look here for commodity codes

http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/bdotg/action/detail?itemId=1080265718&type=RESOURCES

You will also be charged VAT (at whatever rate that becomes!) on the declared cost plus the postage cost and a clearance fee charged by the UK carrier (typically 8 to 15 pounds). USPS usually is delivered by Parcel Force.

There is a chance that your parcel could slip with no charges being made but don't bank on this. This is most likely using PF. Fedex, UPS, etc. always collect the charge.

Make sure you use a USPS service which is going to adequately insure your parcel.

PurpleSmile wrote: »

Been shopping?
Sounds like me. Weighed by bag before I left and it was 6kg over.
So sent it from the normal post office.
Took 6 days to arrive in uk and cost me just under $50 which is a lot less than my airline would have charged

The disadvantage is that returning from countries outside the EU you can carry in up to 390 pounds worth but charges are added for anything over 18 pounds when posted.