The Great Imported Goods Europe / Courier / Customs ££ Scam…
Discussion
Very recently bought 2 items from flea bay.
1/ The first was from Italy from a private seller and cost Euros 255 inc free postage.
Today, someone from UPS banged on the door and demanded a staggering £69.28 so £70 bloody quid before he would hand over the parcel ( which the person paid to the UPS bod by Card )
2/ The second item bought, about 2 weeks ago, was from Germany & cost Euros 244 inc postage. A few days ago, a non descript looking letter ( which was almost binned due to it looking like junk mail ) arrives from Royal Mail stating “ You owe us £49.84 otherwise your parcel will be sent back to the sender, so pay it online and your parcel will then be delivered within a few days “
Their letter ALSO stated words to the effect of “ We cannot answer any questions as to why you are being charged this £ amount “ so in other words, “DO ONE”…..
Am I missing something here or is anyone who buys goods from Europe now, due to bloody Brexs
te, being regally shafted up the jacksie by courier companies who are making the £££ rules up as to just how much they charge / as they go along ??
1/ The first was from Italy from a private seller and cost Euros 255 inc free postage.
Today, someone from UPS banged on the door and demanded a staggering £69.28 so £70 bloody quid before he would hand over the parcel ( which the person paid to the UPS bod by Card )
2/ The second item bought, about 2 weeks ago, was from Germany & cost Euros 244 inc postage. A few days ago, a non descript looking letter ( which was almost binned due to it looking like junk mail ) arrives from Royal Mail stating “ You owe us £49.84 otherwise your parcel will be sent back to the sender, so pay it online and your parcel will then be delivered within a few days “
Their letter ALSO stated words to the effect of “ We cannot answer any questions as to why you are being charged this £ amount “ so in other words, “DO ONE”…..
Am I missing something here or is anyone who buys goods from Europe now, due to bloody Brexs
te, being regally shafted up the jacksie by courier companies who are making the £££ rules up as to just how much they charge / as they go along ?? Edited by SS427 Camaro on Monday 31st March 23:52
Amazon seem to be well set up for this, if you buy from Amazon US, for example, they’ll quote a price including all customs duties and apparently will refund the difference if it’s less when the item is landed. Oddly it seems to be a third party that handles sending the item between East Midlands Airport and your house, so it arrives via Evri rather than Amazon Logistics.
I could have had the same item from a German seller, but once you’d paid VAT, customs duty and Royal Mail’s admin charge, it was cheaper ordering all-in from Amazon.
I could have had the same item from a German seller, but once you’d paid VAT, customs duty and Royal Mail’s admin charge, it was cheaper ordering all-in from Amazon.
Edited by alangla on Tuesday 1st April 06:38
essayer said:
Due to Brexit, you now pay duties on imports from European countries.
The fees will be customs duties, VAT and then administration fees from the shipping companies
This. Every now and again you get lucky and the courier doesn’t charge it. Some sellers will take care of the charges too, but it has made buying from Europe a bit of a minefield. The fees will be customs duties, VAT and then administration fees from the shipping companies
IIRC there is a small value exemption, but it’s only about £15.
LooneyTunes said:
This. Every now and again you get lucky and the courier doesn’t charge it. Some sellers will take care of the charges too, but it has made buying from Europe a bit of a minefield.
IIRC there is a small value exemption, but it’s only about £15.
You missed the 3 out. As above, £135IIRC there is a small value exemption, but it’s only about £15.
Chris Stott said:
It’s the same getting stuff from the Uk here in Spain… gets held until you pay some made up fee in customs duty.
Brexit… the gift that keeps on giving.
As long as that gift is worth less than £39Brexit… the gift that keeps on giving.
This seems to be chapter & verse on ordering items from abroad
https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-...
Careful chap, any minute now a poster called Sway will turn up to tell you this doesn't happen, and that even if it looks like it's going to happen you just have to speak with the seller and explain to them how it's all in their imagination or something, and they'll laugh, say "silly me, thank you", O Gracious and Mighty British Consumer, whatt-a mistake-a to make-a, no need to pay it's all been taken care of with a leeetle teensy bit of paperwork.
Over here in the real world though, no this isn't a scam, it's what we voted for and what we asked the European Union to apply to us. And of course it's so worth it for all the benefits it's unleashed all over the place...isn't it, oh look a squirrel isn't it lovely.
We've just gone back in time to the days before the Customs Union and Single Market, and indeed this situation is one of the main reasons those things were set up in the first place, mainly at the behest of...the United Kingdom.
Over here in the real world though, no this isn't a scam, it's what we voted for and what we asked the European Union to apply to us. And of course it's so worth it for all the benefits it's unleashed all over the place...isn't it, oh look a squirrel isn't it lovely.
We've just gone back in time to the days before the Customs Union and Single Market, and indeed this situation is one of the main reasons those things were set up in the first place, mainly at the behest of...the United Kingdom.
Chris Stott said:
It’s the same getting stuff from the Uk here in Spain… gets held until you pay some made up fee in customs duty.
Brexit… the gift that keeps on giving.
Exactly Chris.Brexit… the gift that keeps on giving.
And which idiot in the then Tory party, with obviously zero negotiating skills, “negotiated” that a UK resident can visit Europe for a maximum of 3 months, yet say a Frenchman can come to Blighty and stay here for 6 months, ffs.
Ruined my and many others dream of living in Europe.
SS427 Camaro said:
Exactly Chris.
And which idiot in the then Tory party, with obviously zero negotiating skills, “negotiated” that a UK resident can visit Europe for a maximum of 3 months, yet say a Frenchman can come to Blighty and stay here for 6 months, ffs.
Ruined my and many others dream of living in Europe.
The days thing is an irritant to those that want to winter in southern Spain as you’re only allowed 90 days in every 180. But the overall days are the same (no more than 180 in a 12 month period). And which idiot in the then Tory party, with obviously zero negotiating skills, “negotiated” that a UK resident can visit Europe for a maximum of 3 months, yet say a Frenchman can come to Blighty and stay here for 6 months, ffs.
Ruined my and many others dream of living in Europe.
Doesn’t affect me as I moved here pre Brexit and took residency as part of the withdrawal agreement. But I have quite a few friends down here who would love to come for 4-5 months over the winter but can’t.
You can still get a ViSA to retire here… you just need to be able to show you have enough money to live on and health insurance. In Spain it’s called a non lucrative visa.
Nothing like as easy as pre Brexit though.
This happens the world over.
I live in Luxembourg. The local POST didn't care about collecting duty until Covid hit, and there was a stload more stuff being delivered by POST and Couriers - then Customs & Excise stepped in and slapped duty on stuff. This now includes goods from the UK, as a result of Brexit.
My nephew sent a bluray from the U.S. to my eldest daughter recently. It had been signed to her by one of her favourite actors. I had to pay EUR26 (admin and tax) to UPS online before they delivered it - more than the cost of the Bluray.
I live in Luxembourg. The local POST didn't care about collecting duty until Covid hit, and there was a s
tload more stuff being delivered by POST and Couriers - then Customs & Excise stepped in and slapped duty on stuff. This now includes goods from the UK, as a result of Brexit.My nephew sent a bluray from the U.S. to my eldest daughter recently. It had been signed to her by one of her favourite actors. I had to pay EUR26 (admin and tax) to UPS online before they delivered it - more than the cost of the Bluray.
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