Comments | seperis: right, this didn't happen

seperis

right, this didn't happen

Nov 04, 2011 20:49

Totes hypothetical, of course.

If one was--no reason--buying some sort of stuffed animal from a company in London--let's say Harrods--how does one discover what the everloving hell the duty and customs will be? I have found out for Canada, New Zealand, and possibly, Mars, but google is not cutting it--yes, I said it--and God, I don't even know ( Read more... )

christmas, crosspost

Comments 13

averzierlia November 5 2011, 01:59:34 UTC

Hypothetically speaking of course - I would find the 'contact us' button on the website you ordered from?

seperis November 5 2011, 02:01:33 UTC

*glum* From the website:
All items are sold on a Delivery Duty Unpaid basis, so recipients outside of the EU may have to pay import duty or other taxes. Harrods cannot be held liable for any import duties payable on orders made and recommends that all customers make themselves aware of such local charges before ordering.

Harrods can also not be held liable should local customs officials decide to hold or confiscate items for any reason.

*blank look*

averzierlia November 5 2011, 02:02:37 UTC

...they don't have a way to contact an actual person to ask these sorts of questions?

Um, maybe the actual post office website? I have no idea :(

reginagiraffe November 5 2011, 02:31:10 UTC

The last time I had something shipped from the UK, I got a duty bill from FedEx (the shipping company) a month or two later.

It was about 30 bucks on an order of $5000.

Dunno if it scales down or not.

ms_nerd November 5 2011, 03:47:52 UTC

It's a flat rate from the customs broker who clears the FedEx/DHL etc. packages. However, the charge depends on which customs broker the courier company uses. This is how I ended up spending about $100 on a t-shirt worth $30 and won't buy anything from the US that can't be shipped to Canada through the post office.

reginagiraffe November 5 2011, 18:01:15 UTC

*wince*

Yeesh, that's gotta hurt!

ms_nerd November 5 2011, 22:42:42 UTC

The kicker is the shirt was on the small side and I couldn't really fit into it but could not return it.

viggofest November 5 2011, 03:12:51 UTC

No, go ahead and blame Christmas outright.

Now, this can either be a sign to discourgae you from the purchase, or a sign you just have to get creative. For instance, could you hypothetically order said bears through Amazon? Or is there a similar bear on the Amazon UK site that might have such info included? Because I have often found Amazon to be more helpful than, say, Google, in hypothetical matters.

:-)

frog4 November 5 2011, 03:59:56 UTC

I'm not sure on Harrods, but I ordered some gifts from Marks and Spencer a couple of Christmases ago, and not only was their delivery remarkably prompt, I didn't have to pay any additional duty and customs. But then, I didn't spend a whole ton either - probably less than fifty quid.

Hypothetically, Harrods Christmas bears are totally adorable, though.

clo November 5 2011, 11:07:37 UTC

Speaking for things going US -> UK, there seems no way to be certain what will get Customs charged. I just had to pay £20 for a $100 birthday gift from a friend and I've paid £20+ on orders of $50 t-shirts before (why I no longer buy stuff from Threadless over $20) but I've had DVDs from Amazon worth about $35-40 that have had no charges at all. Some stuff's been dropped off at the Post Office and I've paid & collected in person, while last week I had to pay online & they wouldn't deliver until after the weekend.

So if it's anything like US-mail inbound to the UK, there's no way to tell for sure if you'll get charged, although it seems to be at least £20/$30 when stuff does get charged. I've decided it depends to an extent on how nice/lazy the Customs worker is feeling on the day with whether or not they let something pass (most of mine have not been feeling nice/lazy this year. I've spent close to £100 in Customs charges by now. ;_; )

loriel_eris November 5 2011, 12:07:46 UTC

To add to this. My experience / research as a UK citizen buying stuff from places that aren't UK/Europe. (My figures may be out of date, but the general principle is, I'm pretty sure, still the same.)

Any under £18* gets ignored by customs people. For parcels with a value over that, you pay (I think/assume) a percentage of the value (maybe 20%? Given that that's what VAT is in the UK?). Not sure if it's a percentage of total value, or if it's percentage of the value less £18*.

You also pay a (flat rate?) handling fee to the Post Office / Royal Mail for, y'know' having to handle your parcels and charge you customs ( ... )