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?



Quote Originally Posted by cropwell View Post
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.