Import Duties

[chewie]

What are the chances of getting stung if i buy a ezrun combo from hong kong?

[DCM]

Depends where you buy it from, but very little chance...... if you do it will be

8% duty on the goods, then VAT on the goods value+duty, then Parcelfarce charges you to.

[rondoolaa]

most of the rc parts and other items i buy are from hong kong, i've never paid any duty yet

[Rob_B]

Is this the same for the states too?

[Timee80]

ive not been stung myself but from talking to lots of people you are fairly safe to order from HK, but theres a good chance of facing some taxes when buying from america. I always order from HK and have never paid any additional charges yet

[SMHAINES]

hi
i have had a few items from usa and each time i have had to pay inport taxes and the postoffice handle charges + vat.
stephen

[GRIFF55]

I get stung all the time!!! and have twice this week
Both parcels at about £45 each..........

[Whiskers]

How about from Canada? Anyone know?

[Paul Field]

I got stung big time from Canada about 3 years ago. Bought a secondhand RC10 for £120 and had to pay £50 duty. If its secondhand make sure your seller marks the parcel as gift. My seller put the value + the shipping costs on the label.

[dale]

Contrary to a lot of statements, marking it as a gift doesn't avoid customs charges.

For commercial items, the maximum item value before you have to pay VAT is £18. For gifts, it is doubled to £36. So for a £120 car you get stung either way.

If the seller sends it regular mail, the parcelforce handling fee is £8. If they send it ETS the fee is £13.50.

I've never had to pay import duty on anything I've imported, but usually have to pay VAT, particularly on stuff from USA/Canada.

[DCM]

Other thing, as a private seller, I would always put the full value of the goods on the label, so when the parcel goes missing, and you got to claim the money back.... they give you what is on the label, so if the label is £0 thats how much you get.

[destroyed]

Don't pay for fast del,thats what I did first time,cost me 20 quid and had to collect it from them.rip off force

[MRD]

Only time ive been stung is when I paid for tracking, then it picked up charges. Touch wood Its been fine since.

[tymill]

If I order items from the US, I always make sure the total comes up under £18 with some leeway. The hassle involved in doing it any other way just doesn't justify the savings you'd get ordering it from overseas anyway. Been stung one time for an order for 20 pounds worth of stuff - and had to pay about 12 pounds to pick it up!

I really wish there was an easy way you could pay the VAT ahead of time w/o all the delays and extra charges etc. In principle I don't really have a problem paying the appropriate taxes - fair's fair. But to have to kick over the 8 pounds extra handling and wait an extra week and mission to get to the local sorting office during business hours.....

[DanW]

I paid $36 extra for express postage on an order i got from the states...

Parcelforce sent me a second class letter telling me I had to collect the item from the depot (17miles away) as it had incurred charges.

Funnily enough it took two days from point of order for the goods to get from California to the UK parcel force depot. Then took parcel force a day or so to send out the letter, which then took a further three days to get to me!

Parcel force really sucks if you have charges to pay. UPS will deliver you to your door and you can pay the charges to the driver and also arrange re-delivery if your out.