Customs charges

Not sure if people are aware of these recent charges for customs.

I had a small plastic part delivered in the week from the USA. Part was $20 and the seller marked it as $20 even tho I asked it to be asked as gift or $10.
Customs stopped it and tried to charge me £31.02. The parcel was marked as $71.05 including postage as it arrived with in 36 hours of paying so I guess they used speedy postage which thankfully they didn't charge me other than the cost of item.

Anyway I contacted customs and said that the charges were rediculous for something which only cost $10. They then said anything with a value over £15 now will incure full import worth postage on top.

As a good will gesture they dropped the charges as the parcel was priced incorrectly.


Looks like anything you now get from the USA has to be a value of less than £15 or you will be stung!!!


Edited by bonehead - 13 May 2017 at 8:46am

They didn't say but I wouldn't be surprised. Luckily my part was tiny so didn't look and value but I guess if you was buying say a control panel it would be hard to value at $10.

Makes it hard to buy spares for pinball machines now as most needed parts are in the USA.

It's been like that for a while now, commercial items are subject to VAT if they are over £15, gifts over  £39, customs duty kicks in at £135, and varies depending on what you're importing and where it's coming from. Essentially, it's a license to print money.

EDIT: and aero beat me to it


Edited by cosine - 13 May 2017 at 9:50am

I have had this myself this week.

Got a parcel from the US marked as a gift and $40 (£38)

For some reason the seller sent it by speedy delivery and paid $90.95 so the total invoice value was $140.95

I recevied a bill for £22.66 for VAT, and a £12 admin fee, so at total fee of £34.66

When I queried this, they said that it is based on the total value of the item (value of item + postage + insurance), and also they pay VAT themselves on the transportation, so that's passed onto the recipitent.

Sucks!



Edited by Purity - 13 May 2017 at 11:00am

It's a bit confusing when you read about it online.

The link that Tony shared is what I looked at recently which says:

"You’ll be charged at the VAT rate that applies to your goods. VAT is charged on the total value, including:

    the price paid for the goods
    postage, packaging and insurance
    any duty you owe

Customs Duty

You’ll be charged Customs Duty on gifts and other goods sent from outside the EU if they’re above a certain value.

The value includes:

    the price paid for the goods
    postage, packaging and insurance

So it looks like they add it altogether and then charge you on that, even if the value of the item (on its own) is below the threshold


Edited by Purity - 13 May 2017 at 11:18am

I managed to get a Buck Rogers upright off ebay years ago for $50 but because shipping it to the UK was $500 I still got stung over £100 in charges. I never understood how they could still do you for postage/delivery costs.

Edited by edget2000 - 13 May 2017 at 11:45am

A free trade agreement will not change personal import charges, its only for business!

Just get the seller to mark the parcel $15 or below. You take a chance it doesn't get lost in the post but better than paying customs in my opinion.

Pretty much anything that I've bought from Japan recently (last 12 months) have all been hit with customs charges and 1 item from Hong Kong actually opened as it was marked down low.