Customs........

[SoulKiss]

Ok so I had a rant on the thread on Importing a Gel seat, went something like

F***ing Bl**dy Customs......

Well my stuff from the US arrived in the UK on the 3rd.

Started chasing it on the 10th, was told it would go to customs on the 12th.

It did, but now customs want to see a Certificate of Origin as its clothing thats in the shipment.

So a delay based on that while I have to sort that out......

Also based on £1500 of stuff I am going to have to fork out about £400, tho figure is still unknown.

Thats 25% of the value of the goods !!!

This is based on a 10%-15% duty as its clothes, THEN another 17.5% VAT.

Then because of the way the shipping company has it all fiddled, erm sorted out with the taxman, I have to pay THEM a surcharge due to them paying the Duty, then me having to pass that on.

I can see full well why people just take empty/buy new suitcases and just stick stuff into it.

So today I get a call, telling me it should be delivered tomorrow (so 1 week in transit, 2 weeks in customs).

The "good" news - I had to pay £517 in duty and handling fees.

WTF !!!!

Thats 33% of the value.

Lyn - do you know if its possible to appeal this?

Seems a lot of duty

Looks like its big empty suitcases in future for me.

David

[Viney]

You are paying £517 for a gel seat!!

Blimey, that beats Ebay hands down.

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by Viney

You are paying £517 for a gel seat!!

Blimey, that beats Ebay hands down.

LOL!

If you could read (instead of just looking at the pics :P) you would see thats on £1500 of bike gear - 5 jackets, 2 pairs of boots, 5 pairs of jeans, 3 pairs of gloves and other bits.

Better than ebay tho

David

that sucks. i hate the way parcelforce charges a £15 'release fee'. its like wtf?! i've already paid for it to be delivered!

[Viney]

I cant see the pictures and didnt read the rest of the mail, just the gel seat thing!

Always remember, as a rule of thumb, buying stuff from the US, usualy equates to NO saving what so ever, then theres the sending back if it falls apart problem.

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by Viney

I cant see the pictures and didnt read the rest of the mail, just the gel seat thing!

Always remember, as a rule of thumb, buying stuff from the US, usualy equates to NO saving what so ever, then theres the sending back if it falls apart problem.

I didnt buy in the States to make a saving - I bought because its next to impossible to get this stuff over here

Oh well....

David

Originally Posted by gettin2dizzy

that sucks. i hate the way parcelforce charges a £15 'release fee'. its like wtf?! i've already paid for it to be delivered!

Well it would suck if it was part of the delivery charge. The admin fee covers the company storing the parcel, delivering it to Customs, picking it up after inspection, rewrapping and relabelling it before it can then be delivered.

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

F***ing Bl**dy Customs......

sorry... glad Ive left

It did, but now customs want to see a Certificate of Origin as its clothing thats in the shipment.

So you got a mixed shipment? That would complicate things tbh. What sort of clothing btw? Customs require cert of origin mainly because duty can differ sometimes based on the country of origin rather than the item.

The "good" news - I had to pay £517 in duty and handling fees.

WTF !!!! Thats 33% of the value.

Ok any idea of the breakdown and valuation of the goods? Because the duty will vary on the item ie the gel seat will have different duty rate to the clothes. It will also depend on how Customs have valued them and what exchange rate they used. In addition, part of that is the admin fee for the courier.

Can you speak to them and ask for an itemised breakdown of duty, VAT and admin fee?

Lyn - do you know if its possible to appeal this?

Appeal against duty/VAT? not really. And tbh, if duty is set at 15%, with VAT on top then yes youre looking at 35% added on.

Originally Posted by Viney

I cant see the pictures and didnt read the rest of the mail, just the gel seat thing!

Always remember, as a rule of thumb, buying stuff from the US, usualy equates to NO saving what so ever, then theres the sending back if it falls apart problem.

Unfortunately, there are more than a few people out there that still havent worked this out.

Lad was raving on Visordown t'other day how much he was going to save on cans and pipework. Til I did the duty/VAT calculation for him and the rough admin fee. Though I have to say Im impressed with the org'ers... no-ones done the "label it as a gift that will definitely work" routine yet

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by lynw

Well it would suck if it was part of the delivery charge. The admin fee covers the company storing the parcel, delivering it to Customs, picking it up after inspection, rewrapping and relabelling it before it can then be delivered.


[/size][/i]

sorry... glad Ive left

[size=1]

So you got a mixed shipment? That would complicate things tbh. What sort of clothing btw? Customs require cert of origin mainly because duty can differ sometimes based on the country of origin rather than the item.



Ok any idea of the breakdown and valuation of the goods? Because the duty will vary on the item ie the gel seat will have different duty rate to the clothes. It will also depend on how Customs have valued them and what exchange rate they used. In addition, part of that is the admin fee for the courier.

Can you speak to them and ask for an itemised breakdown of duty, VAT and admin fee?



Appeal against duty/VAT? not really. And tbh, if duty is set at 15%, with VAT on top then yes youre looking at 35% added on.

Everything in the package is Motorbike Safety clothing - all has either CE armour or in the case of the jeans, kevlar weave.

Only item that is not of that type is a single tankbag.

Does that make any difference?

There is no Gel Seat in the package - that was from the thread I forked this one from

David

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by lynw

no-ones done the "label it as a gift that will definitely work" routine yet

I believe it was me that debunked that myth

Forgot to say in my earlier reply - thanks for the input Lyn

David