Customs Charges

[Dennisoul]

Im having a record sent from the USA and is worth a few quid....the seller is determined to declare the full value of the 45....do all parcels incurr charges if the value declared is over £40 or do some not get charged on arrival...any help appreciated

Andy

[Guest john s]

Some do, some don't. A bit of a lottery.

[Dennisoul]

Some do, some don't. A bit of a lottery.

Thanks John

[bri pinch]

got stung just last week for $40 on a $500 record, don't know why this was as the seller did,nt say on the parcel, however the parcel was akin to the size of a juggernaut, this may be the reason why

[Dave Pinch]

got stung just last week for $40 on a $500 record, don't know why this was as the seller did,nt say on the parcel, however the parcel was akin to the size of a juggernaut, this may be the reason why

the packaging was a little excessive..a craig moerer style box and usps tracking would have surficed

[pikeys dog]

I've got a feeling that postage is included in the calculation for customs, so if someone sends you a record that's massively overpacked, the extra postage could tip you over the customs level even if the record is declared low value.

[boba]

I've got a feeling that postage is included in the calculation for customs, so if someone sends you a record that's massively overpacked, the extra postage could tip you over the customs level even if the record is declared low value.

so now you want less packaging?

when i send postage with Endicia (service that lets me print postage online) I can hide the amount from being displayed on the label, it just says "US Postage And Fees Paid". Unless they have some other way of getting postage amounts, it seems arbitrary that they would include the amount in the calculation just for the cases where people printed it without hiding the amount.

[Mark B]

They are really cracking down on it over here, Karen has had last 3 packages incur charges and they were all around $50.00 items

Mark

[sepia]

andy i always ask the seller before hand if he will put a low value on it.

did get a guy last week say no chance,its against the law & i he could go to jail.ok i only asked.

only been stung once.was a £200 45 & customs wanted £37.it was a vg 45 & thought i had wasted money as was no sound file.lucky it played ok.

was lucky one time.bought target / one more chance for £210.was $8 airmail.guy emailed me to say he posted it & he had paid $20 off his own back to have it sent insured,thinking he was doing me a favour.record arrived with huge insured form stuck on the front with value on it & $300 in big writting.didnt get any customs charge thank god.

[Tiberius]

There's a similar thread on here every week now so, although there's still an element of luck/inconsistency call it what you will, clearly Royal Mail and/or HMRC etc are tightening up. All the info is here -

https://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&propertyType=document&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000014#P21_1913

Remember if you get a card through the door to say you owe vat/import duty Royal Mail will charge you £8 on top for the privelege.

[boba]

andy i always ask the seller before hand if he will put a low value on it.

did get a guy last week say no chance,its against the law & i he could go to jail.ok i only asked.

not only can you not go to jail (in the US), it's not clear whether it's even illegal and if it was it's not clear how they could penalize you. US Sellers don't realize a) the lack of risk in them putting a low value and b) the amount of customs other people have to pay as well as how many customers they are losing by not falsifying customs. They think they're being careful but they really are eliminating overseas customers.

[Guest julesp1905]

There's a similar thread on here every week now so, although there's still an element of luck/inconsistency call it what you will, clearly Royal Mail and/or HMRC etc are tightening up. All the info is here -

https://customs.hmrc....000014#P21_1913

Remember if you get a card through the door to say you owe vat/import duty Royal Mail will charge you £8 on top for the privelege.

Royal mail pay customs charges on behalf of the buyer, the fee charged pays for additional staff, facilities and customs charges that are not collected.

What would prefer, it to be left at Heathrow?

[Dennisoul]

andy i always ask the seller before hand if he will put a low value on it.

did get a guy last week say no chance,its against the law & i he could go to jail.ok i only asked.

only been stung once.was a £200 45 & customs wanted £37.it was a vg 45 & thought i had wasted money as was no sound file.lucky it played ok.

was lucky one time.bought target / one more chance for £210.was $8 airmail.guy emailed me to say he posted it & he had paid $20 off his own back to have it sent insured,thinking he was doing me a favour.record arrived with huge insured form stuck on the front with value on it & $300 in big writting.didnt get any customs charge thank god.

Cheers Stevie...hope your good pal, no seen ya in ages.

Thanks everyone for your input

[Tiberius]

Royal mail pay customs charges on behalf of the buyer, the fee charged pays for additional staff, facilities and customs charges that are not collected.

What would prefer, it to be left at Heathrow?

Thank you for giving me the facts. Good to know my 8 quid is being well spent. At the risk of sounding facetious, I'm delighted to hear that for all the additional staff and facilities these fees seemingly pay for, customs charges are still not being collected. Long may it continue.........I've got 4 parcels arriving in the week.

[boba]

the point of customs charges aren't to pay for the postal system, it's just placing a tariff on mail from other countries to encourage people to buy locally. the us doesn't have customs charges, yet regular taxes as well as postal fees, etc. pay for the postal system.

[Tiberius]

the point of customs charges aren't to pay for the postal system, it's just placing a tariff on mail from other countries to encourage people to buy locally. the us doesn't have customs charges, yet regular taxes as well as postal fees, etc. pay for the postal system.

No, just to be clear, the suggestion isn't that the actual customs charges are paying for the postal system. Here in the UK Royal Mail impose an £8 "handling" fee over and above any applicable VAT/customs charges, which the recipient of the parcel must pay to have the parcel released. It's this £8 charge which supposedly goes back into running the postal system. So here in the UK we are (potentially) paying VAT + Customs charges + £8 Royal Mail handling fee depending on the factors discussed elsewhere ie value on customs form, if sent as "gift" or "goods" etc and cost of postage.