UK members that have bought from USA... Import duties ect?

[Starshinescustoms]

Hello everyone,
Hope I'm posting in the right place.
I'm hoping to buy a couple of ponies from another member on here. I've never bought any ponies from outside the UK before. I was just wondering if anyone knew if I had to pay any import duties/customs/taxes ect on them when they arrive?
Sorry, I'm just completely clueless on things like this 
Thank you so much 

[Icecrystalline]

Yes. Customs. If it's not a gift, you can get a RM customs charge for items of £18 or more. Marked as a gift, £25 or more.
Otherwise, no fees as far as I am aware. I have had an £11 customs charge once, it was for 4 MIB G4s, that were worth about £20.

[Starshinescustoms]

Yes. Customs. If it's not a gift, you can get a RM customs charge for items of £18 or more. Marked as a gift, £25 or more.
Otherwise, no fees as far as I am aware. I have had an £11 customs charge once, it was for 4 MIB G4s, that were worth about £20.

Ouch! That's over half their value! That's ridiculous for four ponies.
The two ponies I am hopefully buying come to $10 total (excluding P+P). That is under £18, so will there still be a charge? Any idea where I can go to calculate the fee if so?
Thank you so much for replying, Icecrystalline. I really appreciate it

[Icecrystalline]

Yes. Customs. If it's not a gift, you can get a RM customs charge for items of £18 or more. Marked as a gift, £25 or more.
Otherwise, no fees as far as I am aware. I have had an £11 customs charge once, it was for 4 MIB G4s, that were worth about £20.

Ouch! That's over half their value! That's ridiculous for four ponies.
The two ponies I am hopefully buying come to $10 total (excluding P+P). That is under £18, so will there still be a charge? Any idea where I can go to calculate the fee if so?
Thank you so much for replying, Icecrystalline. I really appreciate it

Nope, shouldn't be, but don't rely on me please, incase they decide to catch you out I would ask your local PO, my local explain it completely and are very patient, so they would be your best bet x

[Rhubarbpie]

I have bought ponies from all over the world, USA, Canada, mainland Europe, China, and Hong Kong and have only been charged customs fee's once.  This was from a purchase from Toywiz.com, an American online toy shop which carries an excellent (but pricey) stock of pony. They shipped through UPS (different from USPS) and its their policy to pay all customs fee's themselves.  Then when they deliver, the costs are passed onto you. They will hold the delivery until it is paid, either cash on the door or over the phone with a bank card.  I paid about $40 for the ponies, $35 for shipping and then an additional £15 UPS customs fee's. 

You must always be honest about the value of the goods you are shipping.  If you ship a package worth $100 but only put a value of $20 on the customs declaration and it gets lost, you can only expect a compensation of $20 or less.  Marking it as a gift is also ambiguous and could lead to your package being confiscated, especially if a number of "gifts" are noted as coming/going to and from your address.

Buying ponies from here is the best way to get started, its one of the best ways to make friends here    I have bought many ponies from sellers here on the Arena both Uk and International and the only problem has been 1 case where it took ages to be delivered, totally not the sellers fault, she was so cool about it.  Welcome to the wonderful world of Arena buying 

[Starshinescustoms]

Nope, shouldn't be, but don't rely on me please, incase they decide to catch you out I would ask your local PO, my local explain it completely and are very patient, so they would be your best bet x

Don't worry, I won't hold you responsible!  I'm just kidding, I really appreciate the help. I know how they like to change rules all the time and add charges where there weren't any before, so I wouldn't be surprised if they do charge me for it.
I would ask the post office, but the truth is offline, I am terrified of people. I can barely manage to take the ponies I sell down there to send them. I'm usually standing there wishing I could just run away

Rhubarbpie:
Thank you so much! That helps a lot.
I almost don't want to start buying on here. I know once I do, I probably won't stop! 
But everyone on here is so friendly and it's very, very rare to see anyone complaining of a dishonest member, so I feel more secure buying on here than ebay (especially after a recent, ongoing experience..), so chances are I'll be buying a lot more of my ponies on here in the future 

I think I'll take it that there probably will be a charge - that way I can be pleasantly surprised if there is none 
Thank you both so much for taking the time to answer me. I really appreciate it 

[DaffyDilly]

The charges are made up of the customs fee, and an £8 Royal Mail handling fee that they charge you for paying customs on your behalf.

The customs fees themselves aren't actually too bad, but the handling fee grates!

Make sure that your sellers clearly mark the customs form; I once got charged £12 on a $0.50 item, because the seller wrote .50 and they missed the dot at customs. Unfortunately it was going to be so much hassle to dispute the charges that I didn't bother.

[Artemesia's Garden]

I'm wondering do people in the USA get the same extra charges and things if we ship to them?

I got charged the £8 fee for three ponies from the USA on top of an order totalling £29.80. I got Glory, Windy and Parasol, none of which I owned at the time but for relatively common ponies £36.80 is pretty steep. They were in a disgusting state... Windy is restored OK no problems, Parasol is pretty good but Glory has a tail rust stain that won 't shift. Has been a lot of effort and money so I've decided just not to buy from the US any more. The sellers are just as canny as anywhere else so with the shipping and charges it's almost impossible to get a bargain. I really want the Year 3 rainbows with sparkle symbols (Tickle, Flutterbye, Star Flower, Trickles) but I think I'm going to give up for now and concentrate on the Euro ponies. I picked up Sweetheart and Music Time for just under £20 inc postage this week and I'm happy with that. Ebay is OK if you're careful but I want to get started on the Arena soon instead!

[hathorcat]

Some times mail will not go via Royal Mail when it reaches the UK but will be dispatched to you via a courier [including Royal Mails own Parcelforce] - they have an even higher handling fee if it is stopped by Customs, sometimes as much as £25 which is ludicrous. I am reasonably certain however that post is only passed to Parcelforce rather than the Royal Mail if the parcel has been sent with a signed for service - hopefully someone can confirm or correct that one.