Large customs charges?

[tokyoracer]

Ok well an apology is due first for it being yet another customs issue thread but it just seems to be an ideal place to discuss it (as I will explain...).

Essentially I have received an item from the US that I suppose is no bigger then the sort of box you would use to post a small DVD box-set in but somehow the charge I am being asked to pay is just over a rather heafty £50.00 GBP (which converts to many many pints i'd rather have from the local!). So why is this? Well your guess is as good as mine, the letter explains very little of it but the only 'excuse' I can find is that it's due to the value of the item that was quoted on the customs sticker.
Even this taken into consideration it still doesn't make sense to me. This is the first time I have been handed a charge of any kind like this, what difference does it make if it is more valuable? I have bought stuff of larger values there and even as far a-drift as Asia but never have I had this problem before.

Also what exactly am I paying for? The postage wasnt exactly cheap so it isn't as if the delivery company is losing out. Also it was insured too so it makes even less sense if it is a value thing. It can't be very big (like I explained), nor very heavy. :shrug:

I'm sure some of you guys have had some issues like this before and i'm just wondering from others point of view's, what you did or what can you do about this? My first thoughts are to call them and see what's what and if they arn't very helpful (which TBH seems likely to me being ParcelFarce), porbably will end up talking to trading standards.

This is certainly something I could do without especially this time of the year.

[/RANT]

 

[slk486]

First of all i dont know your customs regulations, so i cannot comment on the particulars.
What you pay to your government is essentially the same tax you pay on all other goods you buy nationally.The customs is a necessary evil, but the fee the postal service may charge for handling customs can be rediculous


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[tokyoracer]

First of all i dont know your customs regulations, so i cannot comment on the particulars.
What you pay to your government is essentially meant to be what your countrys internal commerce is missing out on because youre sending the money out in the world. If everybody earned money in their own country, but spent the money in another country, then there soon would be no money for salarys, etc. The customs is a necessary evil, but the fee the postal service may charge for handling customs can be rediculous


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I can understand that, but why on this item and no others I had received over the years? If it is just something to do with salarys, it's only 1 small parcel it's not exactly going to be a special job to move the thing about. I don't mind paying something like that if it needs to be paid but for an item like this, it's nothing short of an outrage in my opinion.

Infact this is much more then it cost to post even with tracking and insurance (as far as I know).

 

[slk486]

Ha you caught my post before i changed it to something more appropriate because it happened to get caught in customs. You have been lucky so far just be happy you guys dont have OUR postal service, who leaves no parcel unchecked

The value on the customs slip is the base for the tax, so the higher the value the higher the tax ( vat is part of the customs charge). If what they are charging is more than say 30-40% of the item value, you should cry foul !


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[StrontiumDog]

do what everyone else does ... ask the sender to mark the customs form to a lower amount

you're paying for the post office worker to open the package, assess the value of the contents and print out a bill then send it. You basically have no rights to appeal this charge so you may as well pay it, suck it up and know better next time.

 

[Phipscube]

I have found that when ordering anything from USA and sent express or proprity with a tracking number seems to instantly get grabbed by customs. And if its the same in UK as it is here, they charge tax on the value of the package contents PLUS the shipping you pay, so if it is express or priority, you've paid alot of shipping too.

My advice is to insist on the senders using First Class USPS, its less "secure" but i've had no problems with customs on packages sent this way. Also I find they get here quicker than the express service, which is bizarre.

---------- Post added at 23:53 ---------- Previous post was at 23:44 ----------

do what everyone else does ... ask the sender to mark the customs form to a lower amount

you're paying for the post office worker to open the package, assess the value of the contents and print out a bill then send it. You basically have no rights to appeal this charge so you may as well pay it, suck it up and know better next time.

Does that trick still work in UK? Doesn't here anymore, if they suspect foul on the declared value, they open the package up to find an invoice, if they see no invoice they hold it until either the seller or buyer provides a valid Paypal receipt, then they tax on that (and take their sweet flipping time about it too!). I've given up asking to declare lower value, especially if its an express parcel with insurance, they never believe your receiving a "$20" item that has double postage and insurance.

I once got a package with a PSU in it, the value was $7, it had been sent express mail... it got opened by customs and they saw it, and didn't believe it..... funny thing is, even though they opened it and checked that it was indeed correct, they didn't charge me.... not even the 110kr "handling fee" they normally charge for opening a package. Why? they knew they wouldn't get the money and they'd have to hold the PSU for 2 weeks then spend their own money sending it back.

So basically its got nothing to do with how lucky you are, its about which packages they think they can make an easy buck on, and that is always the ones that are express and/or insured with tracking numbers.

 

[StrontiumDog]

If you mark the customs form in various ways (not discussing in open) you can send a PPC card worth 650 GBP and have it sail through customs with no hassle - I've done that twice, heck I send most sales from here overseas and mark them at a lesser value - it's what you write on the label that counts

 

[slk486]

Phibs youre talking about our own sucky postal service. If tokyo has never had a parcel caught before, he has been lucky. Post danmark opens damn near all packages now. Regardless of shipping and value declaration.


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[DetpaX]

i usually mark everything as "sample" and have yet to lose one or anyone get charged. might be just lucky tho

 

[ShambleS1980]

IMO. just dont use Federal extortion for deliveries. some how no matter what it is they will lump you with chargest that funny enough equate to 50% of the item value.
I'm not sure where they pull this number out of but the fact that it stinks gives me a good idea.

In general though Gifts of £30 or less do not have customs charges, But gifts of £40+ will have a charge.

But honestly Federal express charge more than any 1 els i have ever encounterd when it comes to custom charges.
They failed to ask for the charge's tehy imposed on me last time they deliverd something and then sent me a letter asking for it.
Well im not paying it, they then transferd it over to a debt collection agency. and they can go stuff them selfs too,

if any of them come here wanting the money or any thing els i will make them show me any form of contract or transaction between me and them. And as they dont have one they can go shove it.
If they wanted theier money they should have asked for it before delivery was completed like royalmail do. then i would have told them to take the item back as i did not want it.
So they are trying to charge me for something i did not want ask for or sign any contract agreeing to. they dont even have any payments from me so as far as im concerned they dont have a leg to stand on.

 

[ChrisUnionNJ]

IMO. just dont use Federal extortion for deliveries. some how no matter what it is they will lump you with chargest that funny enough equate to 50% of the item value.
I'm not sure where they pull this number out of but the fact that it stinks gives me a good idea.

In general though Gifts of £30 or less do not have customs charges, But gifts of £40+ will have a charge.

But honestly Federal express charge more than any 1 els i have ever encounterd when it comes to custom charges.
They failed to ask for the charge's tehy imposed on me last time they deliverd something and then sent me a letter asking for it.
Well im not paying it, they then transferd it over to a debt collection agency. and they can go stuff them selfs too,

if any of them come here wanting the money or any thing els i will make them show me any form of contract or transaction between me and them. And as they dont have one they can go shove it.
If they wanted theier money they should have asked for it before delivery was completed like royalmail do. then i would have told them to take the item back as i did not want it.
So they are trying to charge me for something i did not want ask for or sign any contract agreeing to. they dont even have any payments from me so as far as im concerned they dont have a leg to stand on.

But also remember if you have good credit they can ding ya I'm not
sure how credit works in the UK..

 

[ShambleS1980]

I dont work with credit.
hate the idea of living in debt because i wanted something now when i could save up for a couple of months and buy it outright.

And when you have thecash ready you can usualy get it cheaper any way. so credit wont bother me. and they can take me to county court and we will see who wins.
for £20 they can take me to court they arent going to muscle me about.

I am prety darn stuborn.

 

[-Acid-]

You're paying vat. The sender of the goods has a legal obligation to enter the correct value on the customs form, if he doesn't he could be prosecuted as it's tax evasion. I bought my 060 from Australia for £250 (very reasonable i thought at the time) but I got stung for £48 in vat because he wouldn't mark it as a gift or lower the contents value. As has been said suck it up or tell them to send it back to the sender and get a refund (minus postage costs of course).

 

[tokyoracer]

Thanks guys for the responses. Some valid points made too. The thing is I can understand if the item is undervalued and/or under weighed or something and I get the charge for that but it wasn't obviously, neither was there anything imcriminating. What gets me is it is genuinely priced, insured and the suchlike so whats the problem? I don't mind them opening my stuff and they have done that to several items I have received but this fee is a first.

Whatever the case, i'm having words with them tomorrow, even if it means going to the depot in person.

 

[Buzzfuzz]

Like Blankstare said, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Next time prepare to be ass .....

do what everyone else does ... ask the sender to mark the customs form to a lower amount

you're paying for the post office worker to open the package, assess the value of the contents and print out a bill then send it. You basically have no rights to appeal this charge so you may as well pay it, suck it up and know better next time.

 

[tokyoracer]

Like Blankstare said, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't.
Next time prepare to be ass .....

do what everyone else does ... ask the sender to mark the customs form to a lower amount

you're paying for the post office worker to open the package, assess the value of the contents and print out a bill then send it. You basically have no rights to appeal this charge so you may as well pay it, suck it up and know better next time.

There was a mistake on my part of not asking the seller to tick a box to avoid certain issues like this but I don't think it's the problem in this case. I will make it clear though that the seller is not at fault here. The guy (as far as I know) has never sent anything to the UK before, so he wasn't supposed to know.

 

[robinsonb5]

You're paying vat. The sender of the goods has a legal obligation to enter the correct value on the customs form, if he doesn't he could be prosecuted as it's tax evasion.

It's not *just* VAT (or Import Duty, depending on origin) though - if the item's coming through the regular postal channels, then it's luck-of-the-draw whether it gets stopped and customs charges are made, but you'll end up paying a handling fee too. (About £8 last time it happened to me - though that was a while ago.)

International couriers, on the other hand, charge a "brokerage fee" (on top of any duty of course!) for getting the item through customs - and that's when the numbers can start getting silly.

 

[slk486]

@acid: actually it's your responsibility that the parcel is marked correctly, not the senders. Its "tax evation" on your part. Not his.

In denmark all our couriers are cheaper with their handling fee than our postal service! Go figure:/ sometimes our postal service will reevaluate for you, if they dont believe the marked value. How nice of them

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[Phipscube]

Phibs youre talking about our own sucky postal service. If tokyo has never had a parcel caught before, he has been lucky. Post danmark opens damn near all packages now. Regardless of shipping and value declaration.


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@acid: actually it's your responsibility that the parcel is marked correctly, not the senders. Its "tax evation" on your part. Not his.

In denmark all our couriers are cheaper with their handling fee than our postal service! Go figure:/ sometimes our postal service will reevaluate for you, if they dont believe the marked value. How nice of them

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Yes this is true, you guys in UK thank your lucky stars, well, for now at least. Over the last year or so, Post Danmark has gone nuts with customs. heck even the price of a regular stamp rose dramatically (normally ½ kr per year or so, this year it was 3kr, thats like having your first class stamp rise 35p instantly).

I've even started getting smaller things like games sent seperately. I got 3 PC Engine games from Japan a few months back, together they valued around £35 It was sent express as that's the only way he'd let them go. I asked the guy to mark as a gift, and then no fees for me I thought. Wrong. They caught it (being express and all) And of course the guy didn't put any papers in the pack....they waited 3 days for some reason to send me a letter asking for the proof of purchase. I was convinced everything would be fine, so sent the papers. 1 week later I get a bill for 270kr (about £30, yes basically the value of items again) and told I can pick the parcel up at the post office. I was like WTF!!??

When I got there fuming, the lady calmly told me that the value includes shipping which cost around £10. So it just tipped it into the charge zone. so I Was like "why this much? the games are individually worth peanuts!" "its the whole package that's valued sir regardless of how many pieces" she said. 110kr was just for opening it (We should charge THEM for invading our bleeding packages!!) and the rest was "tax" at 25% bearing in mind I paid tax on the shipping too. Its a joke.

Since then i've had games sent separately, this costs me about £2 more per package than if I had them combined, but I end up saving a fortune. I mentioned this later to a cashier. "So, how do you justify the toll prices on packages with multiple contents, that when sent separately hold no customs value? I'm still receiving the exact same items!"

"and why when I had a "valueless" item opened that just happened to be sent express mail, and it was actually as valueless as the label declared... why then did I not get a 110kr "handling charge"? Hmmmm...? Is it maybe because you realised you'd never in a million years have someone pay 110kr for an item that ACTUALLY was valued correctly at 2/3 the price of the handling fee? So you select you packages according to presumed value, its not at all random, its a big organised money making farce" She said she couldn't comment as she doesn't work in customs and i'd have to take it up with them and gave me a card with a number to call. I didn't bother.

Suffice to say, I try my best to make sure I buy big things from Europe!

 

[slk486]

Yes that is the only eu thing I personally appreciate. No tax on import

Just remember post danmark only gets the handling fee, not the actual vat and tax, which is presumably why the handling fee is so high

You learn how to avoid it though, mostly by not buying from outside the eu zone unless the item is actually low value. It is often better to pay the eu premium on something, to avoid tax and hassle.


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