Has anyone ever imported anything from the USA?

[gsfrontera]

Ive bought some gloves from an American website, and have been told that there may be taxes which I will have to pay to British customs. Does anyone know anything about this or what im likely to have to pay.

Thanks

[turbobloke]

Import Duty? I remember paying something on some car parts from the USA, which were delivered to my home address by the post Office.

[gsfrontera]

turbobloke said:

Import Duty? I remember paying something on some car parts from the USA, which were delivered to my home address by the post Office.

How much do you think this will be?

[NiceCupOfTea]

Get them sent to somebody you know over there who then sends it on to you marked "gift"

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

If they're in a small(ish) packet and normal post it's 50/50 that you'll get away with it. (else expect VAT & duty)

[MitchT]

I don't remember exactly what rate the tax is charged at, but generally you pay it to the guy who comes to the door with the parcel, or you pay it at the sorting office if you go there to collect the parcel. I've had a few things from the USA where this happened. Unless you're spending a lot of money it'll be a few pounds.

[Truckosaurus]

If they are coming from a professional organisation such as FedEx, UPS etc. then they will charge you all the taxes, fees and charges (10% duty, 17.5% VAT + a bit extra for their effort) automatically.

If it's coming in via the USPS and the Royal Mail and doesn't come in a obvious box saying 'Amazon' or 'Play.com' you will probably get it shoved through your letterbox without the Postie bothering you for the tax.

[gsfrontera]

MitchT said:

I don't remember exactly what rate the tax is charged at, but generally you pay it to the guy who comes to the door with the parcel, or you pay it at the sorting office if you go there to collect the parcel. I've had a few things from the USA where this happened. Unless you're spending a lot of money it'll be a few pounds.

it is 2 items and the combined cost was about 50 dollars, if its only a few quid i dont mind. does anyone kno how long goods from the US take to arrive?

[turbobloke]

gsfrontera said:

turbobloke said:

Import Duty? I remember paying something on some car parts from the USA, which were delivered to my home address by the post Office.

How much do you think this will be?

I think the answer to that is "it depends"

Click

[Albert Bridge]

We ordered some headphones for our dogs from the States. A couple of weeks after they'd arrived we had a letter from C&E demanding payment of tax. This was about £30. Our original purchase was about £100 IIRC.
Oh and before anyone asks, the headphones were to block out the noise of fireworks as our dogs are petrified of them.

ETA Actually, thinking about it, not sure if letter was from Customs and Excise. It may have been Fed Ex. DUH!!

Edited by Albert Bridge on Wednesday 17th September 21:26

[dave_s13]

I've bouht 4 items of clothing from Ebay US - all North Face jackets. I didn't get stung for any extra duty but think I was just lucky....saved a fortune!!

[darronwall]

see if they will mark it as a gift

[Maxf]

About 20% seems to be the average (from many US purchases). You pay VAT and duty on the purchase price AND the shipping value, plus if parcelfarce/FEDEX/UPS deliver it you will have to pay a clearance fee.

[Shaolin]

Can't remember the exact numbers, but I've paid 30 - 40% in the past - they also charge the taxes on the postage! which seems very unfair. Depends on size of package, small ones slip through cleanly, big ones seem to say "look money!"

Edited by Shaolin on Wednesday 17th September 22:12

[BB-Q]

Try to get them to ship USPS. It's by far the cheapest, especially if they use flat rate boxes. a friend of mine shipped a Ford Mustang ring and pinion (about 25lbs of steel gears nine inches across) for $37 in a flat rate box!

[Dover Nige]

gsfrontera said:

it is 2 items and the combined cost was about 50 dollars, if its only a few quid i dont mind. does anyone kno how long goods from the US take to arrive?

It's quite unlikely that you'll be charged anything for that sort of value. Worst case scenario (and I doubt this very much) is that they come in with UPS/DHL/FedEx and they may charge you a few percent duty on top of the value & shipping costs, then VAT at 17.5% on all of that, then anywhere between £10 and £20 to cover (EFA: make more profit) their clearance fees. As a few have said, if it comes in via USPS, the likelihood of charges is less for some unkown reason.

Incidentally, I love reading some of the estimates of what you'll be charged.

Here's some enlightening reading: HMRC - Shopping on the internet

[crackthatoff]

darronwall said:

see if they will mark it as a gift

spot on!!!!! I got a top of the range leatherman knife for 50 quid, they sent it as a gift worth 10 dollars..... sorted !

[Busamav]

dave_s13 said:

I've bouht 4 items of clothing from Ebay US - all North Face jackets. I didn't get stung for any extra duty but think I was just lucky....saved a fortune!!

out of interest how did you go about finding out how genuine they were,

There is big business in Beijing fakes ( about a tenner in the silk market ) , particularly on "North Face" clothing

[Carpie]

I ordered a thermostat and housing off US ebay, came yesterday, didnt have to pay anything on it, although I worked out how much it would cost if they charged it. It was sent USPS.

IIRC its roughly 23% of item value.

[RossMac]

I got quite a few specialist DVDs from the US and they kindly labelled them as software, value $10.00. Nice porn-pendling chaps