Stung by Royal Mail

[cropwell]

Here's a cautionary tale.

My 3D printer was leaking plastic from one of the hotend heating blocks and when I dismantled for the clean and refit, I damaged the bit stuck in the ali block.
It was a three piece all metal upgrade. As the nozzle was OK, I thought I would just buy the other bits. The cost was about £25 including shipping from USA, which was about £10 cheaper than the new kit from these guys :-

https://www.technologyoutlet.co.uk/collections/parts-supplies/products/micro-swiss-mk10-all-metal-hotend-kit

However UK Customs added £7.39 and Royal Mail topped it up with a further £8 handling charge. Thus completely f***ing up the saving.

I am justifiably mad with myself for being so daft, but it is a lesson learnt.

I, of course, realised that this will be the case for all EU imports very soon, but it will be the least of the problems Brexit will bring.

Have a better day tomorrow !

Cheers,

Rob

[John S]

I no longer buy ANYTHING from the US because of this.
Add to the fact that I have found that it takes just as long to get from the US as it does from China.

[m_c]

£8 is one of the cheaper handling charges.
Some are over £20. I'm pretty sure my last big shipment from China was a £25 handling charge, plus the customs fees.

I'm sure at some point there will be a big crackdown on China mis-declaring customs forms.

[Gary]

There is already a big crackdown on mis declaring costs and the EU is already pushing for this and threatened the UK with a large fine because of this.
It will not be long before goods are impounded if found to be mis declaring the actual costs.
At the end of the day it your obligation to pay VAT and duty on purchases in and outside of the EU, if you get away with it its a bonus, but dont complain if you dont.

[cropwell]

There is already a big crackdown on mis declaring costs and the EU is already pushing for this and threatened the UK with a large fine because of this.
It will not be long before goods are impounded if found to be mis declaring the actual costs.
At the end of the day it your obligation to pay VAT and duty on purchases in and outside of the EU, if you get away with it its a bonus, but dont complain if you dont.

I am aware of this Gary, but I am still annoyed that Royal Mail add a handling charge amounting to about 50% of the cost of the goods. The whole conversion kit costs around £35 to £40 if bought in UK and I have ended up paying just over £40 for the heat transfer tube.

Most of the bits I buy from China are low value electronics components, so don't attract customs attention as being under the small package limit. If Chinese exporters mis-declare goods, then it is not at my behest, and seized goods would become delivery failures and therefore eligible for refund.


This printer bit could have been sent as a warranty replacement, as, even though I paid for it, that's what it should have been.

[cropwell]

£8 is one of the cheaper handling charges.
Some are over £20. I'm pretty sure my last big shipment from China was a £25 handling charge, plus the customs fees.

I'm sure at some point there will be a big crackdown on China mis-declaring customs forms.

m_c You mention BIG shipment, what percentage of the initial cost of the goods was the handling charge, I bet it wasn't 45% as in my case.

[Gary]

The way i look at it is i should expect to get a bill for the VAT and Duty, and if i do, then there will be a fee for the shipper to clear it though customs on my behalf.

I had a bill for £25 the other day and only £9 of that was the VAT and Duty the rest was royalmails fee, but if i were to try and clear it though customs myself, it would have cost me a lot more in time, and its a big headache doing it.
The upside of this is that you may end up buying from a UK company in the future?




I am aware of this Gary, but I am still annoyed that Royal Mail add a handling charge amounting to about 50% of the cost of the goods. The whole conversion kit costs around £35 to £40 if bought in UK and I have ended up paying just over £40 for the heat transfer tube.

Most of the bits I buy from China are low value electronics components, so don't attract customs attention as being under the small package limit. If Chinese exporters mis-declare goods, then it is not at my behest, and seized goods would become delivery failures and therefore eligible for refund.


This printer bit could have been sent as a warranty replacement, as, even though I paid for it, that's what it should have been.

[m_c]

The handling fee is always the same, regardless of the actual customs cost. I think my last DHL one was about £20, of which £15 was their handling fee. I don't mind the fees, but some of them in no way reflect the true cost of the involved processing.

I've noticed customs getting a bit more thorough in their checks, as I had a couple parcels opened and resealed by customs last year, which I'd never seen before.
And I'm aware of somebody who got a revised customs bill for a shipment for the full RRP of an item, despite the fact he got it at a discount, however the CN22 (customs declaration) was for an even lower value. He never appealed it, as it would cost him more in time and effort for all the money he'd of gotten back.

It just shows customs are using their brains a bit more. Pick some random parcels, find out what's in them, google the contents, and see if the stated value is realistic. They won't impound any parcels, unless there's something illegal in them (i.e. counterfeit goods), just revise the customs charges.

[magicniner]

And I'm aware of somebody who got a revised customs bill for a shipment for the full RRP of an item

It's based on value as assessed by customs, not cost.

[m_c]

It's based on value as assessed by customs, not cost.

RRP was maybe the wrong term, as it was the full price if buying it as an individual from the company's website.

[Robin Hewitt]

I had 20 boxes arrive from China via Royal Mail. All from the same place, all together, all to me at one address. They treated it as 20 separate imports and charged me £10 per box. Luckily they graciously allowed me to pay in one installment of £200 so I didn't have to give my card details 20 times.

[cropwell]

It's based on value as assessed by customs, not cost.

HM C&E have a high handed approach, at least they did when I worked for them in Southend in the 70's. I can't imagine their attitude changing much !

On a gratifying note, I got this email from Micro-Swiss :-

Rob,
Oh wow, this is how much Customs and even Royal Mail added to the cost??? I never knew that Royal Mail adds their charges on the top.
I can offer to split the extra cost. Let me know if you would like that.

Thanks

I won't be taking up the offer, it would amount to less than £8.

Gary, About your comment - I do buy from British businesses, but if a company rooks me, then I am no longer a customer. I will give you some examples -

A 3D printer company that sold me a 'special heated bed tape' for £17 that turned out to be £6 of Scotch blue masking tape.
A company in Devon that sells high priced, poorly engineered CNC machines and then give no worthwhile customer support.

On the other hand, some companies go beyond expectations, like Amadeal, who just put the small part I needed in the post FOC.
There is another company in Dorset, that has given me good advice and I have only spent about £400 with them, but they are on my major purchase suppliers list, should the need arise.