Duty charges from the US - have I just been unlucky?

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Cheeky Monkey
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Re: Duty charges from the US - have I just been unlucky?

Post by Cheeky Monkey »

Same here (VAT only, not Duty).

Seems odd as clearly the package got caught by the relevant people (Border Agency / Customs) as it came into the UK and I thought Duty was applicable. Can't see an agent of HMRC not adding a percentage where they're entitiled to :roll:

Then again, I don't know much about Duty and how it works so maybe I've missed something.
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rufus748
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Re: Duty charges from the US - have I just been unlucky?

Post by rufus748 »

Having brought in a bit from the US I think it depends on the value and category of the item. Different items attract different duty rates at different thresholds.
This is helpful:

http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-impor ... lculation/
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aidster
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Re: Duty charges from the US - have I just been unlucky?

Post by aidster »

I've recently ordered some items direct from Revelate (a sweet-roll & tangle), stung for an extra £46 for VAT and Parcel Force handling charges, on top of delivery changes.

A couple of month earlier i order a Revelate Varachha from Veloista in Switzerland, no problems there.

Not Eric's fault but I guess its hard to avoid when it comes from the US.
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d45yth
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Re: Duty charges from the US - have I just been unlucky?

Post by d45yth »

Aidster - Do you know that you can now buy Revelate gear here in the UK? I realise it probably doesn't matter now.

Regarding buying out of the EU though, I'd only ever buy things that I can't get here in the UK. When I do buy things though, I always plan for the maximum amount of tax and anything less is a bonus. Parcel Farce are the worst though as they hold the item until you've paid the handling fee...with any other couriers I've either had no charge, have been able to pay at time of delivery or billed at a later date.
Last edited by d45yth on Fri Apr 05, 2013 6:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Duty charges from the US - have I just been unlucky?

Post by Dan_K »

I got caught for duty ordeing from Tarptent but then not from Enlightened Equipment. I got my Lunar Solo sent to my mate on holiday in Vegas to avoid the duty. 8-)
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Mart
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Re: Duty charges from the US - have I just been unlucky?

Post by Mart »

aidster wrote: A couple of month earlier i order a Revelate Varachha from Veloista in Switzerland, no problems there.
Same here Veloista = no taxes as posted from within the EU
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Re: Duty charges from the US - have I just been unlucky?

Post by InspiredRamblings »

Mart wrote:
aidster wrote: A couple of month earlier i order a Revelate Varachha from Veloista in Switzerland, no problems there.
Same here Veloista = no taxes as posted from within the EU
Unfortunately thats not the case as Switzerland isn't in the EU... I think people have been lucky getting stuff from Veloista and not being charged - I've just been charged £16 VAT plus £8 handling charge by Royal Mail on three Mountain Feedbags that Veolista sent.

Image

I was surprised as I had it in my mind that they were in Germany (contact address is Koblenz but it turns out there is one in Switzerland as well!). I asked Veloista about the charges and got a very quick reply from Annette saying that they have had some customers say they haven't been hit by a customs charge but that she thinks that is probably the exception. She said they might update their website to make it clearer that its a risk when ordering from them...
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aidster
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Re: Duty charges from the US - have I just been unlucky?

Post by aidster »

d45yth wrote:Aidster - Do you know that you can now buy Revelate gear here in the UK? I realise it probably doesn't matter now..
Hi, yes I do now but as you say bit late now. I did check out the UK site but at the time there was no stock and i was impatient one thing led to another and 'hello custom charge' :-)
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aidster
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Re: Duty charges from the US - have I just been unlucky?

Post by aidster »

Mart wrote:
aidster wrote: A couple of month earlier i order a Revelate Varachha from Veloista in Switzerland, no problems there.
Same here Veloista = no taxes as posted from within the EU
Agreed took about a week to prepare order and another week to confirm delivery. Issue was when i checked site there was no stock - again impatient me!
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aidster
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Re: Duty charges from the US - have I just been unlucky?

Post by aidster »

InspiredRambings - that's annoying but thank you for me feedbag anyway!
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