Lookout for import / tax / fees when buying from the USA !!!

Message

Falco Frank · #1 Post by **Falco Frank** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:20 pm

Seen a few threads about buying from the States and thought I'd add a recent experience into the mix.

I just bought an item from the usa at a cost of $250 with $25 carriage via the standard US Postal Service, USPS.

A week later I started getting nervous that it might not arrive when a nice letter comes in from those lovely people at ParceForce (or farce as it might be).

Cant remember the exact amounts OWED by me except the PF Clearance Fee of £13.50 but the total they wanted for doing nothing at all with my parcel?

£49.50 OMFG !!!

Yes, GBP Not $

Advice I was given since is either to use a direct courier like UPS or if possible get the seller to mark the item as either "Gift" or "Replacement part under warranty"

Good Luck - Frank

D-Rider · #2 Post by **D-Rider** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 4:36 pm

Marking as "Gift" etc changes nothing - you can still be charged.

There is a thread on here that covers the ins and outs of this - I'll dig it out if I get a bit of time later on .... it's getting dark and the Falco is in bits ....

joecrx · #3 Post by **joecrx** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 6:13 pm

if its a gift i think it has to be under 100 pound ,
i was charged 25 pound for my belly pan from the states , from someone on the af1 forum , cost £150 i think and i paid paypall ,
so i dont know how they new the value and it was second hand , ,,,barstuards

D-Rider · #4 Post by **D-Rider** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 10:02 pm

I can't find the info that we posted up before ..... maybe it was on the old (archived) forum that is down at the moment.

Anyway, here are some links I've found to the rules:

HM Customs: Shopping on the Internet

HM Customs: A guide for international post users

Samray · #5 Post by **Samray** » Sat Nov 07, 2009 10:32 pm

D-Rider wrote:I can't find the info that we posted up before ..... maybe it was on the old (archived) forum that is down at the moment.

Probably, which means that, like this thread, it was posted in the wrong place last time.

The general archive is still there.

Falco Frank · #6 Post by **Falco Frank** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:39 pm

Samray wrote:
Probably, which means that, like this thread, it was posted in the wrong place last time. The general archive is still there.

Don't quite follow this as its a thread in response to comments in the Falco forum; if its wrong - then feel free to copy it to the correct forum....

Lots of info and ranting here about Import fees:

http://www.volkszone.com/VZi/showthread.php?t=351900

Cheers - Frank

Samray · #7 Post by **Samray** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 9:17 pm

Oh believe me I do feel quite free to move threads, however I'd far rather people had more consideration for others and posted them in a suitable forum themselves in the first place.

This thread was certainly in no way Falco specific.