Topic: Reminder on Customs Charges

[daveweight]

Hi All
I recently saw a nice Jim Hart scrambled paperweight on ebay and liked it as it was a true scramble with some of the canes standing upright and 16 silhouette canes were included in the setup. I won it for £50 plus postage but then got a letter saying I had to pay £10 VAT plus £8 handling charges.
I rang HMRC and it seems VAT is payable on any imported package valued over £15 but if it is marked as a gift VAT is payable when the value is over £35 so with postage and the extra charges I paid almost £90 for my weight which I think is more than it is probably worth.
I gather from some other collectors that some weights do get through without charges but it certainly makes you wary of buying from abroad so I thought I would like post a note as a warning.
Picture of the weight I won is attached as a matter of interest and I hope this may help others to avoid possible heavy additional payments
Dave

[Roger H]

Thank you for the update. This is the main reason I search only in the EU.
   Very rare that I purchase further afield unless I cannot resist the temptation and extras for buying.
      Regards from Roger.

[paperweights]

You might be seeing the result of automating the customs forms.  Up to a couple of years ago, the customs forms could be hand written.  Now they are almost all created on line.  Even if someone goes to the post office with a hand written form, the postal clerk has to create an electronic copy.  This makes it easier for your customs offices to do their work.  As you mentioned, it was VAT that they collected, but it could have been VAT plus customs fees.

The other big change is that USPS no longer has a low cost method to ship international mail.  The smallest package pays the two pound rate.  There is no package rate for one pound anymore.  That means it costs about $22.50 to ship the smallest package first class package to the UK.  Priority mail is more expensive and starts at $48.50.

[chopin-liszt]

I came unstuck about 3-4 years ago, with a parcel that came to the uk from the states.
The postman arrived with it, but wouldn't hand it over until I'd paid him about £50 - something to do with customs handling and charges the courier had paid for me, although I wasn't actually liable for them.
I was told I had to claim them back. I didn't have the first clue how and just decided I'm not buying from the states again. Ever.

[tropdevin]

***

Hi.  Oddly, I only ever 'buy' gifts from abroad, and none are valued more than US $40 or equivalent...which seems to cause no problem.  No one wants to charge me any taxes / duties.   But it does mean you carry your own insurance, so if the piece goes missing...tough!

Alan

[chopin-liszt]

Honest and reputable sellers don't tend to like selling "gifts" with such low values.

[tropdevin]

***

Indeed.  But they are usually happy to post internally within the US to one of my friends or relatives...

Alan

[chopin-liszt]

That's very good.  Convenient and maintains your integrity too.