Stung by Royal Mail

[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.

[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.

[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.