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Quote:

Originally Posted by Darren Boyle (Post 745422)

That is only what they are supposed to do by law though....

VAT and Duty etc is added to the whole value which includes shipping (not saying it is right or wrong, but it is what we all have to deal with in the UK, whther it is an individual, shop or distributor)

It is added to the total value including shipping, but only if the value EXCLUDING shipping is over the threshold.

If AMain incorrectly mark the value and you get stung, you can protest it with customs and get your fees back (I've done this once before when someone on ebay overstated the value of something, putting it over the threshold).

I ordered between $100 and $200 worth of parts from amain hobbies, can't remember exact ammount, it was about 4 years ago and this end had a sticker on the box that said tax / duty £11 and £8 post office handling fee, luckily enough I'd purchased items that had a reduction of between 50% and 75% so it still worked out good value, but I've only ever purchased items from them since when the have a free postage to uk day, and they are very rare,

It does suck I admit, lucky for me I travel to washinton DC a lot so I load up on parts and get them deliver to my hotel.

Spe passion seems to be cheap out there, anybody recommend any other usa parts that we pay a premium for in the uk?

I had an A main order come through last week for $111, it took 3 weeks to arrive but the "UPS - Post Office" shipping option I used cost me $0.79! yes thats about 50p and the box wasnt small, a few hopups and a body shell for an 8th buggy. I was lucky on this occasion to slip through customs.

A rule of thumb is you will pay about 20% on the value of the goods, shipping fees are not and have never been included so long as you use a standard shipping method. So if you spend $150 on good (£100) you should budget to give another £20 to the people who have your parcel.

Something else worth noting, Tower hobbies dont have the very cheap shipping rates but they do offer very high discounts to international customers (only). These are coupons that can only be used if you are outside the USA, they are always about 20% off your order. They also mark the value of your order AFTER the discount (as that is what you have spent) so this way even if you do have to pay customs charges it ends up at what you would have paid before the discount.