Triumphrat

Bonniescrew · 11-13-2007

I ordered parts from Newbonneville for my Bonnie who quickly sent me my order. Exactly three weeks later i was asked to pay £16.12 pence (33.41 Dollars, just converted it so it is correct) by the Post Office before they would release my package to me. I have been charged UK tax and handling charges on top of the purchase price and they delayed it themselves for over a week. I thought postal services had an agreement on delivering postal items from other countries free of charge, perhaps this does not apply to parcels. UK purchasers should be aware of this. This in no way detracts from the service received from Newbonneville, i just think it discourages international purchases.

matsmith · 11-13-2007

This is very common when shipping into the UK. After importing a few things (ok.... lots

) I found that when you use Fedex you ALWAYS get stung, UPS about half the time, USPS almost never.

The fee is a small amount of VAT / import duty, plus another £12 or so as an inspection charge. Depending on the value of the item this may be a big deal or no problem - to be honest the delay in delivery is usually more annoying than anything else.

It may be woth noting that when shipping within Europe there are no charges ever, & from more exotic destinations (Hong Kong, Japan) I have also never been charged fees - no matter which courier.

At least the exchange rate is good at the moment!

M

matsmith · 11-13-2007

Hang on a sec, 'she who giveth permission' has just pointed out to me that no charges are levied from countries within the European Union. Apparently there are countries within Europe that are not in the EU... go figure

Only EU countries have an agreement on customs charges - best to check!

M

ps.... I love my wife. Really I do

AceT100 · 11-13-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bonniescrew

I ordered parts from Newbonneville for my Bonnie who quickly sent me my order. Exactly three weeks later i was asked to pay £16.12 pence (33.41 Dollars, just converted it so it is correct) by the Post Office before they would release my package to me. I have been charged UK tax and handling charges on top of the purchase price and they delayed it themselves for over a week.

You have a PM....

TB-T100 · 11-14-2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by matsmith

Hang on a sec, 'she who giveth permission' has just pointed out to me that no charges are levied from countries within the European Union. Apparently there are countries within Europe that are not in the EU... go figure

Only EU countries have an agreement on customs charges - best to check!

You are correct. Even those countries that are EEC (European Economic Area), can be hit by customs when importing. One reason to join, if you ask me.

barneys · 11-14-2007

I believe provided the item value is less than £18 GBP you don't get stung with VAT & Import duty, over that you do. This is why when you order CDs from websites like CDWOW (based in Hong Kong) they send the order in multiple packages to keep the value down.