Shipping from USA only retailers

[diamonds2002]

I am looking to get a couple of small value items which are only available for delivery in the US. Has anyone used any the shipping sites to get stuff delivered from the states? Any recommendations or tips would be greatly appreciated.

[stawner upper]

We get stuff delivered to my wife's family from there (NYC) and then they forward it to us,jobs a good yin.

So if you know anybody there, that is an option for you.

[BFTD]

Couple of important things: watch for import duty. You'll be charged VAT if the value is over £15, and they include the cost of shipping in that total. Anything over £135 and you'll have to pay Customs Duty, and you'll get charged VAT on the Customs Duty too. It adds up pretty fast, so do the calculation and make sure the import's worthwhile compared to UK prices.

Courier firms are, it's fair to say, absolute chancers, and will pay any fees due on your behalf, before sending you a bill for the total, including additional fees that they've pulled out of their arse. You have to pay the fees, but you do not legally have to pay these additional handling/administration charges; it's all covered by the shipping that was paid by the sender, and you have no contract with the courier firm. Send them an email similar to the one at the bottom of this post, and they'll back down immediately.

Also, when your import duty bill arrives, check it carefully, because the courier firms don't. Federal Express recently tried to charge me over £100 in import duties and fees on a parcel with a declared value of $5 US and a shipping cost of around $20. When I queried it, I ended up having to pay nothing at all, because whoever filled out the declaration of value had made such a spectacular c**t of it, and this is not uncommon.

You can avoid all this nonsense by instructing the sender to clearly mark the parcel with 'GOODS TO BE CUSTOMS CLEARED BY IMPORTER'. The courier will inform the UK Border Agency and send you out a C88 form. You complete and return it, they'll tell you how much you owe in VAT/Customs Duty, and will release the parcel once you've paid. Takes a bit longer to get your stuff, but you won't have to go through the rigamarole with FedEx/UPS/DHL/etc. Worth pointing out that Parcelforce hold onto your parcel until they're paid anyway, so it's definitely worth doing if they're involved.

Anyway, good luck, and be prepared!

--------email to courier firm-----------

Dear Sir/Madam,

Earlier this year, I received a package from <country>, delivered via one of your services. On the <date>, we received an invoice from you, requesting that we pay you a total of <fee charge> in relation to this delivery. <duty cost> appears to be for import duty and tax charges owed to Revenue & Customs, while another <admin fee> seems to have been attached by <courier firm> for an internal administrative charge.

I’m writing to advise you that I will be paying the <duty cost> owed to HMRC via <BACS/cheque/carrier pigeon/whatever> later today, but I’ve received advice that the <admin fee> does not need to be paid by us, as we have no contract with <courier firm> and at no time agreed to any terms that would require this payment to be made. If an agreement for additional charges was made with the sender, please take up your claim with them.

I understand that the payment of <duty cost> should appear in your account within a few hours, but please let me know if you haven’t received it by the end of the week.

Yours faithfully,

diamonds2002.

[BFTD]

I didn't know there were firms that ship from US-only sites, BTW. How does it work? They give you a US address to have the parcel sent to, then they forward it on to you for an additional cost? Sounds risky for them, as they'd be liable for anything illegal that was in the parcel, so I presume they must open and inspect the contents. You'd also be in all sorts of trouble if the company you buy from mess up your order, as they'd likely want any erroneous items returned to them before sending you the correct thing, and there's no way they'd pay for return international shipping.

Will also be interested to read how anyone else has got along with using such a service.

[BFTD]

What about if you import something that you've had in the US, say a guitar that you kept there, surely shouldn't need to pay duty on that? What I'm getting at is if I send a parcel from a residential address to another in the UK?

You'll need to check the "Import Duty" link in my post above, but I think that counts as a gift (to yourself), and you have to pay if the value is over £36 (or thereabouts). Sounds daft, but everyone would be claiming that they were being sent their own stuff otherwise

I had to send a dozen large boxes of my own stuff back from the States at one point, and thankfully the postal shop we used very kindly put a negligible value on each, so we didn't have to pay any duty.

Wait, you're a copper...that never happened!

[killiepiemuncher]

Would I have to pay duty if I sent some "items" in a banana box to my local Tesco, to be picked up by a "friend".

[BFTD]

Would I have to pay duty if I sent some "items" in a banana box to my local Tesco, to be picked up by a "friend".

^^^ Drug Smuggling thread for this pish

[Andy Dufresne]

UPS charge an £11 broker fee if they pay customs fees for you.

[BFTD]

UPS charge an £11 broker fee if they pay customs fees for you.

Think it's about £15 for FedEx these days.

Is it UPS you work for, Keef? Do they hold onto your parcel until the admin fee is paid? I know Parcelforce do, but FedEx just deliver and bill you afterwards.

[Andy Dufresne]

Yes I work for UPS and we do not hand over the parcel until the fee is paid,we try 3 times to collect it then the office take over.

[BFTD]

All the more reason to go down the "GOODS TO BE CUSTOMS CLEARED BY IMPORTER" route, folks. I've no idea what UPS/Parcelforce/etc do if you query the charge once you've paid it, but I'd imagine it's much harder to get the money back once they've already taken it from you.