Anyone ever imported from the US to the UK?

[damselfly]

Hi,

I ordered a parcel off eBay on the 12/4/11 from the USA (New York). The item was sent first class international usps and still hasn't arrived. Track and trace on both the usps site & Royal mail/parcel force url's have also proven fruitless. The usps site only shows that the parcel was accepted on the 13/4.

Anyone with previous knowledge got any idea on roughly how long i'll be waiting? This is very poor service in my estimation and would be just about acceptable if the mode of transport was a rowing boat or similar.

Cheers.

[mattJT]

I've only ever bought once from the US, equally off of ebay, an that was actually my last ebay purchase.

I ordered it on the 18/04/11 and it arrived to my door on 28/04/11.

Is your item a packet or a parcel tho? Mine was only a bumper so came in a smallish jiffy bag.

Sure I've read stuff on here from people who have bought larger items and consequently have to then pay customs on the item, when me Mrs bought some make uppy stuff from the US it got held up via customs/post office as an extra fee had to be paid before she could collect it.

Hope that helps

[tisher]

I have just had the same problem ordered some bumpes for me and a freinds kyoshos from usa price was 46 quid posted take nearly a month to turn up got a note posted by the postman and had to pick the parcel up from the post office and pay 16 quid customs most companys in the usa will not mark your parcel as a gift so customs can nail your ass for seems to be for any thing they want to charge

[B&H Racing]

I've ordered about 5 orders from Losi Associated part warehouse a few years back.
Aslong as the invoice is lower than a certain amount the chance is you wont have to pay import charges.

Think we worked it out to be about £36 at the time but dont quote me on it.

We also ordered some cells which were a lot more value, you then have to wait for customs to do there thing.
The courier company then pay the customs fees and charge you a silly amount for the privilage.

How much value did you order ?

[DCM]

If you haven't had it shipped via EMS then it can take a while, especially once it hits the UK shore and has to go through UK Customs for clearance.

[mattJT]

......and equally re the tracking number they give.....the parcel me mrs ordered had a tracking number and that only ever said...posted from texas on......even when I had the parcel in my hand

[SlowOne]

USPS is US Parcel Service, the equivalent of our Post Office, are not a door-to-door service, and they take quite a while to get through. My experience is that if your seller used the International service, then it could take up to four weeks to get here. USPS say clearly that the tracking number is only inside the US, and that usually means 'collected' since they don't track overseas. The parcel is basically sent to the UK Post Office for delivery to you.

UPS is a different ball game, as they have an international service door-to-door including customs clearance. They take anything from a few days to something under two weeks, depending on how long it takes to clear customs.

Expect to pay VAT and duty, and also an admin fee from the Post Office for doing it all for you - although you don't get the choice to do it yourself! That's one reason it's cheap for the seller, whereas the UPS cost includes all the admin for clearing through customs and is more expensive for the seller. If you have the choice in the future, make the seller end UPS, not USPS.

Once you get the parcel and have to pay the bill, check it. Mark Christopher posted on here that he had been overcharged for VAT, and I think he said he got it reduced when he challenged it. You should pay VAT on what they value the package at and the duty - tax on a tax!!

Patience is a virtue, but do check with the seller when they have to lodge a claim for a lost parcel. If you wait too long then it is likely you will have gone outside the claim cut-off date. HTH

PS - making a false declaration on the value of the packet is a criminal offence, and the declarer is liable to go to court. Some do, most won't.

[brian s]

parcels from the states can take up to a month to get here.whenever i`ve bought anything from the states that were liable to duty charges,they get passed to parcelforce,who send you a letter explaining that they have your parcel and you need to collect it from them and pay the customs charges.

[Getpip]

USPS = United States Postal Service.

I find it depends on size.

I have had all sorts form the US from complete kits to single parts. It can take as little as 5 days or as much as a month. Usually the bigger it is the longer it takes... the big stuff also gets caught up at customs. (as already has been said)

I have never had anything go missing.

Remember also to factor in the Easter holidays and possibly the bad storms they have been enduring in some parts.

[MRD]

Stuff from LiquidRC generally take about a week to get here but if you put customs into the equation you can add two weeks to that.


General rule for importing rc stuff is: (pasted from HMR&C)

All goods imported into the UK from countries outside the EU are subject to Import Duty and VAT at the rates applicable.
However, import VAT is not payable on commercial consignments if the total value of the goods in the consignment does not exceed £18 (£15 with effect from 1 November 2011). If this tax was not applied, there would clearly be an unfair advantage to foreign businesses over UK trade. This limit is raised to £40 for personal gifts between private individuals.
Where the value of gifts is below £630 per consignment, a flat rate of Customs Duty of 2.5 per cent will be applied – but only if it is to your advantage.
Customs Duty becomes payable if the value of the goods is over £135 but duty is waived if the amount of duty calculated is less than £9.
Please note if your goods are subject to customs charges, there may also

If your item does get caught in customs then royal mail willl want £8 to do the paperwork + any charges that apply.


Ive just noticed that the allowance is getting dropped from £18 to £15. Bugger.

[damselfly]

Thanks for all the informative replies.
I guess it'll be stuck at customs then. The value of the package is $88 and there was a $25 shipping fee which equates to about £70 iirc. The package is an esc/motor combo which is probably somewhere around 8x5x2" in dimensions.
Anyone know roughly what duty i'll need to pay based on this price?
Cheers.

[mark christopher]

take off the postage which is not taxable ( unless they try it on like me)
if its over £28 pounds i think was the value, you pay vat so your looking at vat on £50 ish.
then there is the famous handling charge which can be around £13

[damselfly]

I feel a little less worried now, so thanks for all the positive replies.
I'll give it another week or so and then start pursuing enquiries.
Cheers

[rondoolaa]

i purchased just under $200 worth of parts from a main hobbies in the states,

when it came there was £11 tax / vat and £8 post office handling charges,

took approx 5 - 6 weeks for items to arrive

[damselfly]

Originally Posted by rondoolaa

i purchased just under $200 worth of parts from a main hobbies in the states,

when it came there was £11 tax / vat and £8 post office handling charges,

took approx 5 - 6 weeks for items to arrive

Thanks for that. Seems i'm not on my own with these substantial waiting times then.
As long as the warranty hasn't expired when I receive it job's a good un. Lol.

[SlowOne]

Originally Posted by Getpip

USPS = United States Postal Service.

Thank you, my mistake.

[damselfly]

Coincidentally, a card arrived from Royal mail this morning requesting a customs/handling charge of £18.
I paid it and now have what i've been waiting for. Even at the price I paid I guess it would still be about £40 cheaper than what it would cost from a UK retailer, if they stocked them that is.