Customs B*stards And Good Ebay Sellers

[Pete S]

What a bunch of bastards these people are, you'd think they'd be busy looking for bomb threates and suspicious packages rather than charging innocent collectors £39 for one bloody single. But what I was going to say was, when I pointed out to the seller he'd put the full value of the record ($350) and despite marking it as a gift they'd charged me £39, he offered to pay half of it, so that's pretty good of him I think.

[Guest]

Pete,

You're complaining twice recently on Japanese deliveries the value was wrote in YEN and the customs read it as ££££'s and charged accordingly of course!

[Paul Dunn]

I have just had a charge of £17.83 on a record that I paid $6.26 because the fool I bought from stuck a value of $155.00 on the US customs form. He probably sent out more than one package and must have got the forms mixed up.

Regards

Paul

[Guest moggy]

I have just had a charge of £17.83 on a record that I paid $6.26 because the fool I bought from stuck a value of $155.00 on the US customs form. He probably sent out more than one package and must have got the forms mixed up.

Regards

Paul

Paul,

I have had this happen a couple of times, do you think it may be to do with insured items and claims etc, for instance over here we can claim up £32 back if an item goes missing, and probably teaching me granny to suck eggs here, but you can get your money back, I know its a piss about but if you have the receipts etc from the transaction and send them off to customs with your post office receipt, they will eventualy send you your money back, shame the tossers dont react as quickly with the refunds as they do when sending out the collection cards for the post office :angry:

[Guest NASHEE]

I paid £74 customs a couple of weeks ago for 1 45rpm :angry:

[Guest moggy]

Why so much, did they put an inflated price on the customs form, or was the vinyl in question a heavy duty purchase, please tell

[Paul Dunn]

I paid £74 customs a couple of weeks ago for 1 45rpm :angry:

My record was sent Airmail no Insurance. I have spoken to HM Customs and they have promised a refund providing I can prove the purchase price, they do accept the receipt from PayPal so at least there are advantages to using paypal.

Regards

Paul

[PhilipWard]

I had a package take 3 months to arrive. Well, it was in the UK at customs depo for months before it was finally despatched to me.

... and what's the post office additional charge of £4 added to the customs charge all about? Why does it cost that much for the postman to knock on your door with a package?

I once had a package i had to pay £3.50 customs on and that annoying £4 post office charge. The CD was £20,

(£2 over the £18 limit that customs let items go thru without charging). So, on a £20 CD it ended up costing £27.50

My best advice to all, to avoid customs charges, is contact the seller and ask them to mark package as either Gift or a value no greater than $30. Customs will not charge on anything under $30. Well, the amount is aprox £18, but i use $30 as a rule of thumb.

It's also a good idea to mention your purchase is a birthday gift and you need the item within 6 weeks. If full value is put on customs form, the item can easily be delayed at customs depo for much longer than 6 weeks. Most sellers will listen to your requests. You'll be amazed how many packages sit around gathering dust at customs depos.

If the seller won't co-operate, ask the seller to send your package by express letter mail, as, to the best of my knowledge, this is not subject to a Customs CN22 form so you will not be charged.

The good news, is since i have spoken to sellers with my requirements, most do as i ask and as such i no longer get those horrible fees added to my precious purchases.

I mean, for goodness sake, why should a £20 CD end up costing £27.50 ? It's criminal.

If it works for me, i'm sure it will work for you. Remember, just contact seller before you pay. It works!

If seller refuses to mark package as gift or a lower value, then i guess it's a gamble you take. But in my experience, customs will charge if they can. So, something to bear in mind or that £200 rare record you just tracked down, might have a nasty sting in the tail if customs whack on an additional £35 plus that damn £4 post offfice charge.

[Baz Atkinson]

BUNCH OF KNOB JOCKEYS THAT HAVE NOTHING BETTER TO DO,WHEN YOU THINK OF ALL THE ILLEGAL CONTRABAN THAT GOES THROUGH IT IS RIDICULOUS.

BAZ A.

[Sweeney]

Without wishing to sound like an apologist for HM Revenue and Customs, trying to weedle any spare cash out of the working man IS their primary job, so no they really don't have anything better to do.

I would imagine that most of the mail coming over from the States is people trying to take advantage of the decent exchange rates at the moment. All that has happened is that HMR&C have finally latched on to the fact.

And it's never going to go back to the good old days as they view it as money for old rope. Strangely enough, things coming from the far east don't seem to be subject to the same attention.

[Guest NASHEE]

Why so much, did they put an inflated price on the customs form, or was the vinyl in question a heavy duty purchase, please tell

Moggy....I'd had this record on my wants list for nearly 10yrs....the thought of it going missing in the post forced me to ask for it to be sent fully insured...so all my own fault.

was it heavy duty?...well for someone who thinks a £100 record requires a lottery win...this $550 purchase was shall we say..more millitary strength armour plated than mere heavy duty....lol

And unless you are a lover of beat ballads....you would hate it.

[Guest moggy]

Nashee

Beat ballads love em mate, getting too old for the fast stuff, dancing that is, so go on, tell me what it was please

[Cheapsiderecords]

Canad custome are just the same, opened my copy ot Theres That Beat even though it was in a clear bag???

Last 2 Box Stes I have bought they have opened the boxes and then even ripped the cellophane off?

Then charge me about $20 for the privelege

[soulAdequateNP]

Without wishing to sound like an apologist for HM Revenue and Customs, trying to weedle any spare cash out of the working man IS their primary job, so no they really don't have anything better to do.

Especially true now that things like drug and firearm enforcement have been handed over to Soca - so we can't even make sarcastic comments about how it's nice to know that problems therefrom have obviously been solved

Edited April 4, 2007 by soulAdequate

[Guest NASHEE]

Nashee

Beat ballads love em mate, getting too old for the fast stuff, dancing that is, so go on, tell me what it was please

pm'd you