Customs and Postage Fees

[flags_of_war]

I don't order much from the US but I've finally been hit with my first customs and Postage fees today. Ordered from Virtual Armchair General and got charged an extra £13.98.

Now the customes fees i wouldn't have a problem with but £8 postage fee is beyond a joke. Handling fee for what? The Royal mail website can't tell you exactly what or why they are charging for just that they are.

It's put me off ordering from outside the UK sadly 

[Dewbakuk]

Yep, the 'handling fee' is sickening.

[frogimus]

Unfortunately, it is what keeps me from ordering direct from UK and Euro game companies. Global Economy only works when it's Asian imports, it seems.

[Cubs]

Sadly you've gotta box clever when ordering from the US and really enter into a partnership with the seller to try to minimise charges. I've been lucky enough to get some sellers to mark the contents as gifts and to cooperate as regards the weight of parcels, to avoid such nasty stings. But it's a pain in the bum to do and you can't blame a seller who isn't prepared to jump through hoops like that.

[dhtandco]

I think they may also be committing a fraud??!!

[Dewbakuk]

I think they may also be committing a fraud??!!

Yep, also affects insurance etc on packages if it's been taken out.

[Steve63]

Get them to mark the package Toys.
Toys are not subject to import duty.  However they may be subject to VAT, which I think is levied at 16% on imports.
Or keep your purchase less than £15, because they don't bother with less than £15

[Dewbakuk]

Yep, subject to VAT. Anything Customs puts a charge on (no matter how small) incurs the £8 'handling fee'.

[twrchtrwyth]

Isn't it illegal to charge for collecting tax?

[Cubs]

Yep, also affects insurance etc on packages if it's been taken out.

I think they may also be committing a fraud??!!

Yup. Like I say, you've gotta have a good deal of trust!

[Westfalia Chris]

This is straying dangerously close into politics, so please restrain yourselves, folks. Furthermore, I'm not really keen on that whole incitement to commit customs fraud thing, so please watch it.  

[shadowking1957]

I paid 25£ post and pack from iron wind then got a nice 25£ customs charge on the  packet, never again im told there hitting everything now  with this bull shit, no more USA sorry too much  like giving the government money for  nothing but being twats

[zemjw]

For the UK, the relevant paragraph is here

The £15 limit is excluding p&p, so make sure the sender doesn't put the p&p on the customs slip. I very carefully bought stuff under the limit one time, only to be hit with VAT, duty and "handling fee" because the sender had quoted the price with p&p on the slip 

If I do think about buying something from abroad, I generally just convert the dollars to pounds, as by the time duty, VAT etc are added, it's pretty much the case  I then ask myself if I still want it at that price. Sadly, I'm sure we all know the answer to that question

[dijit]

You're lucky in the UK, here in Denmark the handling fee comes to roughly £18! No problems with paying VAT on goods ordered outside the nations boundaries, but the handling fee just seems like extortion. The other problem is if sending through the standard postal services, it come via the national post service, so they have pretty much a monopoly on it.

@Flags of war: As the UK is part of the EU, you don't have to pay extra VAT on posted goods from the EU, so no handling fee, so no worries about ordering from the EU too.

This has stopped me ordering from both Khurasan, Rebel minis, and Splintered Light, even though I'd love some of their stuff.

[Mr. Peabody]

This has stopped me ordering from Khurasan, Rebel minis, and Splintered Light, even though I'd love some of their stuff.

It's in the producer's interest to find out the best (legal) way to identify their product on customs forms and to fill out those forms properly in order to meet the needs of their customers.

A forum like this is the perfect place to discuss and compare best-practices in order to make them available as a resource to benefit everyone.