Customs charge

Hootsmon

Got my 3 Ty Tabor CDs in today from the USA (well they are at the PO) the 3 CDs cost me 44.94 dollars before postage and packing costs

I have a Royal mail note through the door requesting £16.31 for a customs charge and handling fee

As I understand things I have incurred an £8 handling fee because item(s)  were liable for a customs charge

Is this correct...? appears quite high for some CDs and I have never been charged before for similar packages from the USA

Modulus_Amps

Honestly, as someone that ships a lot I think this customs handling fee is a con and should be outlawed... or just build it into the shipping cost.

Unfortunately you don't have much choice, if the three CD had been shipped separately to a value lower than £15 IIRC then you would not have to pay the handling fee .

Hootsmon

and the other times when there was no charge.........they just slipped through?

Dopesick

I had to pay a bloody great big £49 custom charge for a distortion pedal I got earlier this year (cost around $200) and my friend got the latest Sleep vinyl and had to pay £11 or so ($30ish I think cost).

Other times it has gone right through without fuss. It's a pain in the fucking arse and from now on I'll only order from the States if it's absolutely 100% necessary or under fifty quid or so.

Modulus_Amps

I don't know how t

hootsmon said:

and the other times when there was no charge.........they just slipped through?

Maybe the value was not declared correctly the last time or was missed. I don't know

Try read this

https://www.royalmail.com/sites/default/files/International-customs-charges-leaflet-Jan-2017.pdf

earwighoney

hootsmon said:

Got my 3 Ty Tabor CDs in today from the USA (well they are at the PO) the 3 CDs cost me 44.94 dollars before postage and packing costs

I have a Royal mail note through the door requesting £16.31 for a customs charge and handling fee

As I understand things I have incurred an £8 handling fee because item(s)  were liable for a customs charge

Is this correct...? appears quite high for some CDs and I have never been charged before for similar packages from the USA

Yes.  It seems about right.

Purchases are exempt for VAT under £15, so you should be paying 20% of the entire cost of your package of contents + postage with the £8 handling fee. 

I imagine you weren't charged before as the sender did not declare the full value of the goods that were sent.

stickyfiddle

The handling isn't for the effort in physically moving the CDs around the depot, it's for the form-filling and paying HMRC in advance on your behalf. The cost of that doesn't change dramatically whether you're looking at a couple of CDs or a crate full of them

ESBlonde

It's a standard fixed fee.

HMRC will not deal with Joe Public, so when goods arrive they need documentry clearance above a small nominal value. HMRC do not accept cheques and it's not practical for the clearance agent (in this case the post office) to run to each different customs house with cash for each package. So a system exists where the clearance agent gets a large sum of money and thier bank bonds this to HMRC against which Customs can draw immediatly and automatically for all items entered by that agent, It's called a DAN or Duty Deferment account. the Clearance agent no longer has access to thier money! The process runs 24/7 and the agent has this cost of Tied up money all the time, in addition the bankers will charge them a lump for the guarantee each year. Rather than charge it Prorata to the value of the clearance each time they make a fixed charge to everyone irrispective. So for your little amount they still had to have the paperwork and submit it as well as have a 'cash' facility £8.00, For XY Multinational Ltd importing a ship load of cars £8.00
Fair? probably not, but your not being victimised.

gavin_axecaster

The handling charge is Royal Mail/Parcelforce's fee for clearing the item through customs on your behalf. You are making use of their HMRC deferment account, and they are charging you for that service.
The only way to (legally) avoid paying it is to have your goods shipped DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) which requires the seller/sender to fill out the necessary paperwork to prove that the VAT and duty has been collected. The chances of smaller sellers having the facility to actually pay VAT to HMRC for the buyer is extremely small.

The actual amount of the fee is different for different clearing agents - I get charged a percentage from some shippers and fixed fee from others.
Royal Mail charge £8 for "economy" shipments and £13 for "express" - interestingly they seem to have a flexible definition as to the requirements of each as I've been charged both £8 and £13 on different shipments using the same service.

mart

hootsmon said:

and the other times when there was no charge.........they just slipped through?

Did those CDs come in a slipcase?

Hootsmon