Internationl help again, need advice!

[mskittylovesrobin]

mskittylovesrobin  ..yep unfortunately if the seller marks the value on the customs form correctly then you are going to get hit hard on the $150 purchase    .  I've had it happen to me quite a lot of times as well... had to pay out over £100 in customs fees for one dolly purchase last year   A few times I've ended up paying more on fees than the item was actually worth too!  * @ UK Customs and the PO handling charge*
 You'll just have to wait and see how the person marked the customs form- sometimes they get through , it just depends on how they valued and described it.

OMG! £100! Can they actually charge over 20% of a the items value? Such an expensive experience and lesson to learn eh. I am going to be super careful now before purchasing really sucks cause a lot of stuff I "need" is from the US. Thank for replying Ringlets 

[Taffeta]

Hello everyone, I bought a $25 pony from the US and was given a customs fees to pay which is £11.50 I forgot all about this and been buying a load of stuff from the US last week... Bye bye money  anyway... one of the items I purchased is $150  which means I would have to pay 20% of that value + £8 right?! Sigh I have to definitely stop buying for awhile until my pockets recover  lol xxx

I cannot see in any circumstances how $25 incurs a customs fee, even with the crappy exchange rate at present. Someone must've misread a form as £ instead of $...because I just checked and it's under the threshold. Unless it was sent via a particular postage method that incurs fees...because you know, sometimes they add the price of the postage you paid to get your item into the country onto the value to charge you more customs...

Also the worst custom fee I ever had to pay was on a lot of MIP items which came to a total of around $600USD value. My custom fee was £90.something. So even given the exchange rate, you'd have to spend quite a lot to hit that kind of high rate. You just do have to take into consideration when buying, though - everything is add international postage add international import add delivery people handling.

Unless you buy from Europe - for the time being, anyway - since there are no customs charges due on European items, and therefore whatever the value of it, you won't pay a charge for importing from the continent (though if we leave the EU that may change).

[mskittylovesrobin]

I cannot see in any circumstances how $25 incurs a customs fee, even with the crappy exchange rate at present. Someone must've misread a form as £ instead of $...because I just checked and it's under the threshold. Unless it was sent via a particular postage method that incurs fees...because you know, sometimes they add the price of the postage you paid to get your item into the country onto the value to charge you more customs...

Thanks Taffeta. I will totally be careful now when purchasing. And note what you said. I am collecting it tomorrow morning from the post office and will let you know what was written on the declaration form. But the price £11.50 minus the £8 "handling" fees is about 20% of the $25? Just a thought. As far as I know it's by international first class I paid $13 or something for the postage. But yeah seriously it's just one baby pony which looks totally used though I totally love her but so painful to pay such high fees but I guess I'm not alone on this xx

[Taffeta]

I cannot see in any circumstances how $25 incurs a customs fee, even with the crappy exchange rate at present. Someone must've misread a form as £ instead of $...because I just checked and it's under the threshold. Unless it was sent via a particular postage method that incurs fees...because you know, sometimes they add the price of the postage you paid to get your item into the country onto the value to charge you more customs...

Thanks Taffeta. I will totally be careful now when purchasing. And note what you said. I am collecting it tomorrow morning from the post office and will let you know what was written on the declaration form. But the price £11.50 minus the £8 "handling" fees is about 20% of the $25? Just a thought. But yeah seriously it's just one baby pony which looks totally used though I totally love her but so painful to pay such high fees but I guess I'm not alone on this xx

I just checked and it looks like they moved the thresholds down a bit, so it's now £15 instead of £18 (which is what it's been for the longest time). That explains your charge, and it figures that they'd do that right when the exchange rate is worst. It's so inconsistent, though. I bought some DVDs from Japan a while back which were £60 and clearly marked on the form in value and they got through without a problem...

And yeah, whoever did that charge was clearly having a grumpy day at the office, because it's still negligible.

[mskittylovesrobin]

I cannot see in any circumstances how $25 incurs a customs fee, even with the crappy exchange rate at present. Someone must've misread a form as £ instead of $...because I just checked and it's under the threshold. Unless it was sent via a particular postage method that incurs fees...because you know, sometimes they add the price of the postage you paid to get your item into the country onto the value to charge you more customs...

Thanks Taffeta. I will totally be careful now when purchasing. And note what you said. I am collecting it tomorrow morning from the post office and will let you know what was written on the declaration form. But the price £11.50 minus the £8 "handling" fees is about 20% of the $25? Just a thought. But yeah seriously it's just one baby pony which looks totally used though I totally love her but so painful to pay such high fees but I guess I'm not alone on this xx

I just checked and it looks like they moved the thresholds down a bit, so it's now £15 instead of £18 (which is what it's been for the longest time). That explains your charge, and it figures that they'd do that right when the exchange rate is worst. It's so inconsistent, though. I bought some DVDs from Japan a while back which were £60 and clearly marked on the form in value and they got through without a problem...

And yeah, whoever did that charge was clearly having a grumpy day at the office, because it's still negligible.

I know it's so annoying but yeah I guess sometimes they just put stuff through maybe in a hurry for a ciggy break or something lol xxx

[Taffeta]

HMRC's guidelines say about used items the following:

Used goods are still liable to the same duty and VAT charges as if they were new. However, this may vary depending on their age and condition.

If you can prove to HMRC that you bought a used toy which is 30 years old and not in perfect shape then maybe they'll be more sympathetic. I can understand charges on importing sealed items in original package, but loose toys are at a sporadic value that depends on individual auctions and the import of them has zero impact on the country as a whole...they are no longer commercially worth anything, and are only worth something to someone who collects. I really think second hand toys ought to be struck off the bar if the value is below £50, but meh.

[mskittylovesrobin]

HMRC's guidelines say about used items the following:

Used goods are still liable to the same duty and VAT charges as if they were new. However, this may vary depending on their age and condition.

If you can prove to HMRC that you bought a used toy which is 30 years old and not in perfect shape then maybe they'll be more sympathetic. I can understand charges on importing sealed items in original package, but loose toys are at a sporadic value that depends on individual auctions and the import of them has zero impact on the country as a whole...they are no longer commercially worth anything, and are only worth something to someone who collects. I really think second hand toys ought to be struck off the bar if the value is below £50, but meh.

I totally agree with you on the below £50 thing. Indeed it's not MOC MIB. I will ask the collection office tomorrow if there's any contact I can use but heaven knows how many people I have to go through lol will let you know what they say. Thanks so much Hun xx

Post Merge: March 05, 2016, 02:17:21 AM

HMRC's guidelines say about used items the following:

Used goods are still liable to the same duty and VAT charges as if they were new. However, this may vary depending on their age and condition.

If you can prove to HMRC that you bought a used toy which is 30 years old and not in perfect shape then maybe they'll be more sympathetic. I can understand charges on importing sealed items in original package, but loose toys are at a sporadic value that depends on individual auctions and the import of them has zero impact on the country as a whole...they are no longer commercially worth anything, and are only worth something to someone who collects. I really think second hand toys ought to be struck off the bar if the value is below £50, but meh.

Hi Taffeta, I just collected the pony and it was first class post in a small box and the form states vintage my little pony G1 $25 but it shows it's Parcel Force. The vat is £3.49 and handling £8. There's a number I can call to check on it so I will do so on Monday. Have a good weekend xx

[Ringlets]

Anything not marked as a "gift" and has a value over £15 will get hit by those charges..and then the £8 royal mail "handling fee" on top. It changed from £18 a few years back. Parcel force is the same .
  Even if your item *is* marked as a gift these days I believe if its worth more than £40 (it may be less than that now, I'll have to check) then you will still get hit with those high fees, regardless of what it is   Still, its worth checking on it
I feel your pain BTW - a lot of what I buy is from the US too  

[mskittylovesrobin]

Anything not marked as a "gift" and has a value over £15 will get hit by those charges..and then the £8 royal mail "handling fee" on top. It changed from £18 a few years back. Parcel force is the same .
  Even if your item *is* marked as a gift these days I believe if its worth more than £40 (it may be less than that now, I'll have to check) then you will still get hit with those high fees, regardless of what it is   Still, its worth checking on it
I feel your pain BTW - a lot of what I buy is from the US too

Hi Ringlets. Thank you for the info. Makes sense. It's ridiculous but typical "it's the rules/ system". Atleast I am aware now. Thank you all. Hugs xxx

[hathorcat]

HMRC's guidelines say about used items the following:

Used goods are still liable to the same duty and VAT charges as if they were new. However, this may vary depending on their age and condition.

If you can prove to HMRC that you bought a used toy which is 30 years old and not in perfect shape then maybe they'll be more sympathetic. I can understand charges on importing sealed items in original package, but loose toys are at a sporadic value that depends on individual auctions and the import of them has zero impact on the country as a whole...they are no longer commercially worth anything, and are only worth something to someone who collects. I really think second hand toys ought to be struck off the bar if the value is below £50, but meh.

Unfortunately as soon as you pay for something it has a commercial value...a commercial value that the Government did not get their tax on. This loop hole only works on things which dont have further resale value...unfortunately ponies do.

[mskittylovesrobin]

HMRC's guidelines say about used items the following:

Used goods are still liable to the same duty and VAT charges as if they were new. However, this may vary depending on their age and condition.

If you can prove to HMRC that you bought a used toy which is 30 years old and not in perfect shape then maybe they'll be more sympathetic. I can understand charges on importing sealed items in original package, but loose toys are at a sporadic value that depends on individual auctions and the import of them has zero impact on the country as a whole...they are no longer commercially worth anything, and are only worth something to someone who collects. I really think second hand toys ought to be struck off the bar if the value is below £50, but meh.

Unfortunately as soon as you pay for something it has a commercial value...a commercial value that the Government did not get their tax on. This loop hole only works on things which dont have further resale value...unfortunately ponies do.

yes sounds about right xx