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customs charge


fastbob
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Not very happy, I ordered a set of genuine Kawasaki piston rings from a seller in Japan through eBay. Price £69.57 , postage £18 . Fair enough, but what I certainly wasn't expecting was an additional Customs Charge of £ 21.32 ! I've bought loads of items from China with no additional charges so what's going on here ? Have I missed something in the advert ? I can't see anything. I've got to pay it to get Parcel Force to release the goods . Anyone had a similar experience and what did you do about it ?

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That will be VAT plus £8 handling charge

 

Ok but why has this never happened before ? I've bought a lot of stuff from China including a set of replica clock covers and I've only ever paid the asking price with free delivery . I am not very knowledgeable in this area , is it different for goods from Japan then ?

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It's a bit hit and miss......I've had stuff from the States where sometimes I've had to pay it and sometimes not.....never paid it on stuff from China......I think that it's just luck of the draw whether it gets spotted or not..... :shock:

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It's a bit hit and miss......I've had stuff from the States where sometimes I've had to pay it and sometimes not.....never paid it on stuff from China......I think that it's just luck of the draw whether it gets spotted or not..... :shock:

 

I think you are completely right ! The operative word here is " May " So just rotten luck then that effectivly cancels out my £25 Lotto win on Saturday. Bollocks !

WP_20180911_19_26_31_Pro.thumb.jpg.d63891c41e3c388b32d6776912ab31ea.jpg

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I reckon I've worked it out , the package was delivered to the UK by Parcel Force Worldwide and UK Border Force operate at the Coventry Hub therefore I've been stung for Import VAT plus a handling charge . So if the seller had used a different courier the package would have come straight to me without any extra charges . So essentially this is an opportunist mugging .

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I wouldnt be surprised, they have you over a barrel. I wonder if it counts as theft- to hold onto a parcel when the contents dont belong to you. Bet its a bit of a grey area. You dont get to seize assets for monies owed without going through a strict procedure.

 

Same as a letter that has insufficient postage. You get a card telling you to collect from th e post office and pay tbe penalty charge first

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I wouldnt be surprised, they have you over a barrel. I wonder if it counts as theft- to hold onto a parcel when the contents dont belong to you. Bet its a bit of a grey area. You dont get to seize assets for monies owed without going through a strict procedure.

 

Same as a letter that has insufficient postage. You get a card telling you to collect from th e post office and pay tbe penalty charge first

 

Yeah, I know, I've got a card . My point is that I think that this has only happened because there is a Parcel Force Worldwide depot in Coventry that also contains a branch of UK Border Force. If the seller had used another international courier it would have come straight to my door without additional charges like everything else I've ordered from around the world . In future I will avoid Parcel Force Worldwide .

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I reckon I've worked it out , the package was delivered to the UK by Parcel Force Worldwide and UK Border Force operate at the Coventry Hub therefore I've been stung for Import VAT plus a handling charge . So if the seller had used a different courier the package would have come straight to me without any extra charges . So essentially this is an opportunist mugging .

 

Not quite.


Its certainly not a fine art, as sometimes your parcel slips through... I wonder if they have a certain quota to charge, as occasionally my parcels from Oz slip through customs free but other times they get stung.


If the sender uses their national postal services, then the customs charge here is £8 fee plus 20% up to about £120. After that, the percentage jumps up considerably but Im not sure on the number, I usually try to avoid that by separating up purchases.


IF the sender or you decide to use a courier like UPS, Fedex etc then you will 100% get a customs charge, and wont get a grey slip asking you to go collect then pay (30 days to do this) but instead the delivery driver asking for the money on the door. The handling fees and percentage on top vary per courier. Not sure how long they hold the parcel for.


THE ONLY WAY TO DODGE (Royal Mail/parcel force) CUSTOMS

This will only work if you can ask the sender to do this for you (be it an ebay seller etc or a friend based in that country). Also accept this is a risk if the items go missing as you wont receive a full refund. I have a friend in Oz and the US so I send parcels to them first and then just send them the money for posting to me.

Send to the friend in that country after buying your item/ send a message to the seller

Request that they remove the invoice details from the package (you could always have them sent through email instead)

Ask them to send as a gift

Ask them to make the value no more than about £20

If the parcels is devliever in packaging with the brand's name all over it, request something more boring.


Customs arent interested in these kinds of parcels and slip under the net, they also have no way of proving that it came from a business as you removed the invoice and branding, and without an invoice they cant calculate a charge.


The one Ive bolded is where a seller may draw the line as some counties will fine/blacklist them for it if they figure out they do this.

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I reckon I've worked it out , the package was delivered to the UK by Parcel Force Worldwide and UK Border Force operate at the Coventry Hub therefore I've been stung for Import VAT plus a handling charge . So if the seller had used a different courier the package would have come straight to me without any extra charges . So essentially this is an opportunist mugging .

 

Not quite.


Its certainly not a fine art, as sometimes your parcel slips through... I wonder if they have a certain quota to charge, as occasionally my parcels from Oz slip through customs free but other times they get stung.


If the sender uses their national postal services, then the customs charge here is £8 fee plus 20% up to about £120. After that, the percentage jumps up considerably but Im not sure on the number, I usually try to avoid that by separating up purchases.


IF the sender or you decide to use a courier like UPS, Fedex etc then you will 100% get a customs charge, and wont get a grey slip asking you to go collect then pay (30 days to do this) but instead the delivery driver asking for the money on the door. The handling fees and percentage on top vary per courier. Not sure how long they hold the parcel for.


THE ONLY WAY TO DODGE (Royal Mail/parcel force) CUSTOMS

This will only work if you can ask the sender to do this for you (be it an ebay seller etc or a friend based in that country). Also accept this is a risk if the items go missing as you wont receive a full refund. I have a friend in Oz and the US so I send parcels to them first and then just send them the money for posting to me.

Send to the friend in that country after buying your item/ send a message to the seller

Request that they remove the invoice details from the package (you could always have them sent through email instead)

Ask them to send as a gift

Ask them to make the value no more than about £20

If the parcels is devliever in packaging with the brand's name all over it, request something more boring.


Customs arent interested in these kinds of parcels and slip under the net, they also have no way of proving that it came from a business as you removed the invoice and branding, and without an invoice they cant calculate a charge.


The one Ive bolded is where a seller may draw the line as some counties will fine/blacklist them for it if they figure out they do this.

 

Ahem, Elizabeth......... you forgot the "allegedly"........

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An interesting and complex subject.


(a) If you are U.K. based then obviously if you purchase from Europe no additional charges become due.


(b) Buy from elsewhere and the following charges potentially kick in (i) V.A.T., (ii) Import duty, (iii) Duties collection fee.


© China has been mentioned. The Chinese tend to under-declare the value of goods which is illegal. Thus avoiding such charges. But beware as customs officers have the right to allocate their own goods valuation and thus usurp the declared invoice amount.


(d) If you buy from outside Europe expect as a rule of thumb to need to add 40% to the basic price for the above levies plus p. & p. But it could be more or less than such percentage. My 40% is no more than a guideline.


(e) If you buy from overseas using eBay it is usually to your advantage (i.e. cheaper) if your seller has registered for the eBay's own overseas postage scheme. If it has then the sum total of all charges will be displayed to you to chew upon before you commit to buy. This appears within the top half of page 1 of the eBay sale ad. If it has not registered then expect a much higher bill.


(f) Here's where it gets really interesting, and this is now happening a lot: An eBay seller with a U.K. business address states in the sale ad. (or elsewhere in its particulars) that all goods are shipped from his U.K. address. Your new leather coat is then delivered to your door from Pakistan and the courier demands the three add ons set out above. Assuming that you are (quite rightly) unwilling to pay such and run with the scam then here is how to proceed.


..............(i) DO NOT PAY the levy and accept the goods as eBay have no system in place for refunding the levy to you.


.............(ii) Ask the courier to remove the invoice from its plastic cover and take a couple of close up photos. of it. Refuse to accept / sign for the package and send the courier on his way with the parcel


...........(iii) Lodge an eBay claim but DO NOT use their returned goods procedure. If you do then this will throw their system into disarray. Such is likely to result in pandemonium! Telephone eBay and ask which complaint procedure to use and note down the name of your adviser. eBay's number (which it does not like to be made readily available) is 0800- 358 6551.

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I reckon I've worked it out , the package was delivered to the UK by Parcel Force Worldwide and UK Border Force operate at the Coventry Hub therefore I've been stung for Import VAT plus a handling charge . So if the seller had used a different courier the package would have come straight to me without any extra charges . So essentially this is an opportunist mugging .

 

Yep, it's an easy way for them to make more money - disguised as "doing the right thing" by paying taxes.

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