Customs charge

willow · 3 Sep 19, 04:37 PM

I ordered a t-shirt for the US which cost Ł20 plus Ł12 posting. I have not had a card from the post office advising that I need to pay Ł14 custom charge. This seems a really high charge, especially when I’ve paid for postage

**loola30** · 3 Sep 19, 04:39 PM

Ł8(ish) of that will be the Royal Mail handling fee to send you that card :-(

willow · 3 Sep 19, 04:46 PM

Originally Posted by loola30

Ł8(ish) of that will be the Royal Mail handling fee to send you that card :-(

Seems steep! Working out to be an expensive tshirt

Tsoski · 3 Sep 19, 04:47 PM

Originally Posted by loola30

Ł8(ish) of that will be the Royal Mail handling fee to send you that card :-(

Yeah this is the real sting on the customs charge, which tends to be why we order it all in bulk so you only pay that fee once for lots of items

Do5-BaG · 3 Sep 19, 04:48 PM

I order lots of records and other things from US only distros, thats from the RM sounds about right to be honest, thats why bulk ordering is usually the way to go for anything from the US.

Part and parcel of ordering from the US I'm afraid, most people I deal with are from Indie ran labels / stores and they can "usually" find ways of making the custom charges a little more "acceptable".

Button17 · 3 Sep 19, 05:10 PM

Sounds about right. I think it has to be under Ł18 worth to avoid import tax. You paying p+p has nothing to do with government rules.

SMAX · 3 Sep 19, 05:19 PM

You also pay VAT on the postage. So working this out it is...

Ł32 total. So 20% VAT is Ł6.40 + Ł8 Royal Mail fee = Ł14.40

MillyMoo · 3 Sep 19, 05:22 PM

I really wanted to get a couple of tim tracker tshirts but when I added postage and customs to them they were just so expensive!

Nimbus · 3 Sep 19, 05:26 PM

As others have said, Ł14 (Ł6 VAT on the t-shirt/postage plus Ł8 Royal Mail handling fee) is about right. Could've been worse; I think Parcel Force charge a Ł12 handling fee.

It's a pity the US company didn't mark down the price of the item on the declaration form. You only pay VAT on an imported item if the item is declared to be more than Ł15.

willow · 3 Sep 19, 05:51 PM

Thanks all. Hope I like the T-shirt!

3 Sep 19, 04:48 PM	#5
	3 Sep 19, 04:48 PM Do5-BaG Very Serious Dibber
Do5-BaG Very Serious Dibber Join Date: Mar 11	I order lots of records and other things from US only distros, thats from the RM sounds about right to be honest, thats why bulk ordering is usually the way to go for anything from the US. Part and parcel of ordering from the US I'm afraid, most people I deal with are from Indie ran labels / stores and they can "usually" find ways of making the custom charges a little more "acceptable". __________________ "This is the car at the edge of the road, there's nothing disturbed, all the windows are closed, I guess you were right, when we talked in the heat, there's no room for the weak" Edited at 04:50 PM.

3 Sep 19, 05:19 PM	#7
	3 Sep 19, 05:19 PM SMAX Imagineer
SMAX Imagineer Join Date: Mar 02 SMAX's Reviews Hotel Reviews: 4 Restaurant Reviews: 3 theDIBB Guidebook Pages Created: 13 Guidebook Photos: 69	You also pay VAT on the postage. So working this out it is... Ł32 total. So 20% VAT is Ł6.40 + Ł8 Royal Mail fee = Ł14.40

3 Sep 19, 05:22 PM	#8
	3 Sep 19, 05:22 PM MillyMoo Imagineer
MillyMoo Imagineer Join Date: Jul 18	I really wanted to get a couple of tim tracker tshirts but when I added postage and customs to them they were just so expensive!