Warning, stung by USA postage

wow!

I probably woulda just sent the $11 to the seller and eatten that $11 off a a lesson learned. I've bought from canada, but not from anyone in the UK yet. I've shipped stuff there as a seller over the years, though not a lot. Small items so it wasnt very much at all extra, just a few bucks.

I hope you at least enjoy the item once you do get it though.

I NEVER, ever bid on an item, unless I know the shipping charges before. I like when the seller includes a flat shipping fee in the auction listing; if there is none, I send an e-mail and ask what the shipping will be to my ZIP (postal) code, BEFORE I bid. Most sellers get back to me ASAP; I will not bid on those items whose sellers do not respond, no matter how much I want the item. I take the lack of response as a warning sign, since I am typically asking this question several days before the auction ends.

Glad you won, susieboxer. Now that you've gotten that under your belt it'll be a lot easier the next time. But I have a question: if $36+$11=$47, how come you had to spend $70? Insurance?

I've been buying things from the UK for a long time and believe me, the postal rates to and from the UK are outrageous. It puts me at a disadvantage in bidding because I have to factor in the shipping costs as well as the currency exchange rate in setting my max bid. I recently bought a book for £31, which translates into $49.60 US. The postage was £11 -- another $17.60 -- which ran the total up to $67.20. That's nearly as much as I'd have had to pay if I bought the same book from a US bookseller.

Yeah, I guess Ive been stung ,the company said that they only send by Fed Ex which for this item (4 silk flowers !!) from the USA to the UK was $34 I couldn't believe that they are that heavy ? But to me they are special so hopefully they will be worth it (or I'll get killed by my husband )LOL!!
Susieboxer

Wow!!
I've bought from Canada, Belgium, and Australia, but their shipping was not nearly that expensive! I just got two CDs from Australia last week and the shipping was $7.50 in US dollars. Part of this may have been because the seller really, really wrapped them up good. Lots of bubble wrap made the package bigger than you would think, but I'm glad he did it that way. Thanks for the heads-up. I'll keep that in mind when looking at items in the UK.

Hi, fordfalcons! The UK Postal System is really high on their international rates, but they don't hold a candle to FedEx international rates. This is the first time I've heard of a UK seller using FedEx exclusively.

Thanks Steve, I'll keep that in mind.

Hi
I live in the UK and I bought an item via A/S and E-bay From the USA not the other way round ,hope this clears things up, sorry for the muddle
Susieboxer

Hi,
I buy most of my items and have them shipped from the US to UK, as long as you e-mail the seller to check costs first then you should not have a problem. The biggest problem with importing stuff from the US is Customs charges. We got stung for a £85 charge on a package because of parcellines handling charges plus VAT on top, there is a limit on how much in value a package can be before customs want their slice, you dont see to pay as much if you do it through the US postal services, fex ex & Global work out very expensive this way.
The other problem is insurance the UK do not do an insured service international for anything over about £30. Even if it is sent registered (requires confirmation of delivery- not necessarly a signature) once it leaves UK shores none of that [which you pay extra for] is guarented - Royal mail class it as beyond their control, the same does not apply when coming from abroad into the UK, we continue to treat them as resistered pacakges.

to give you an example to send to Zone one - [us, canada, south america & middle east]
to send a video cassette in abubble envelope can cost from :
£2.07 international small packet - no insurance takes 5 working days
£4.92 airmail small packet signed for - max insurance £30 trackable until leaves UK shores, cannot see copy of signature, to claim compensation you still need a seperate proof of posting. takes 5 working days
£7.26 same as small packet signed for - but decreases delivery time to 2-3days
£33.10 international datapost- delivery time 2-3days, upto £250 in compensation and you can claim for refund of postage if it is not delviered within 3days

So it is a major mine field when it comes to posting from UK.

Sorry didnt mean to waffle for so long

Toni

First off, no, susieboxer, I don't have things wrong. It's a terrific expense to buy items in the UK and have them shipped to the US. Often the shipping on things I buy that way is greater than what I paid for the items themselves. It's a two-way street, obviously.

Tiggerstitch, thanks for the explication of the "minefield" of varying rates for shipping. I knew that FedEx was awfully high in their international rates but I didn't know about the customs and VAT charges. You say these can be avoided for the most part by using the US Postal Service and not insuring anything for more than £30? Do I have that right?

almost steve,

If people ship from USA to the UK then we get stung with custom and vat charges (17.5%)
it seems worse if the package is shipped by Global, Fex-ex or DHL. Sometimes they add on an admin charge for sorting out how much you have to pay or paying it on your behalf and then claiming it back from you when you pick up the parcel.
If you are shipping a package from the UK to the USA unless you are willing to pay lots ($53! / £33) The value for compensation that you can ship is £30 if the package is worth more than £30 then you would need to pay the more expensive postage charges.
When you fill out the customs declaration and you fill in the value I think there is a limit of about $300 for parcel to count as a gift [thats for packages coming into the UK] everything else, might incur charges.

doesn't get any easier with practise

Toni

Toni, is there any rhyme or reason to the customs and VAT charges for stuff shipped to the UK from the US? Is it for everything across the board, or just packages which are insured or require notice of receipt, or what?

Thanks for staying with me on this.

I'm also interested in this and appreciate your input.

Yes thanks from me too.

Well i live in the Netherlands and quess what???
its cheaper to send lets say one big paperback (stephen king like) to the Usa or other countries then to ppl from my own country!!!

It costs 6,30 dolars to send into the netherlands but much cheaper to send to the Usa.
We have not a middle weight.
if it does not fit in the postmailbox, it will be at least 5,50 euro

I always ask the seller for there shippingprices and i have to agree England which is so near cost me a lot too.

But there are som many different prices from ppl out of the USA
sometimes you pay 9,00 dollars for 2 books. or 7 for one.
so just ask before you bid.same advice as chatter

chaotic

One of the problems with shipping costs is that very often they consist of shipping and handling. Some sellers -- not many, but some -- actually try to make the bulk of their profit from "handling" charges. There's no set scale of charges for "handling" and sometimes the sky's the limit for these bozos. So, as the old Romans used to say, "caveat emptor": let the buyer beware. I echo the cautions of chatter and marlene.

My appologies for not replying sooner,
Family problems

There doesnt seem to be a definative rule, every parcel we have collected from parcelline and DHL has meant we have charges to pay. I think parcelline deal with stuff sent by Global from USA, If it comes to me via regular post office we dont seem to pay extra on charges even if a signature is required.
It can depend on the value for insurance that is marked on the package for customs.
But there is again no definative rule, its back to buyer be aware you might get charges when you place a bid on an item overseas.......

Toni

Importing things from the US to the UK incurs import duty (variable) and VAT (17.5% for almost everything). The import duty varies according to what it actually is - even down to, for example, polyester clothes will have a different rate from cotton - however, usually the total, including the VAT, is around 22%.

If goods are sent through courier services such as UPS, they are contracted on behalf of the UK Customs and Excise to collect the duty and VAT, and they probably add an admin fee to this. The courier will collect the payment from you when the item is delivered to your door. As a private company that does not want to lose this nice little agreement with HMC&E, they are pretty thorough about always collecting the duty.

If the item is sent through the mail, it will be delivered by the Royal Mail. thety aren't a private company so are less concerned about being so thorough. 3 times out of 4 they don't bother to collect the duty from you.

The duty is calculated based on the declared value on the outside. I suppose if they were suspicious that it was under-declared thay might open it up to check.

There we are: my first post here and only a little longwinded

Thanks very much, JohnL. You're excused for being "long-winded" since your wind is blowing a lot of good information our way.

I just got stung for 20 quid (about 30 dollars) for VAT, Import Duty and a 'clearance fee' - but it's only the 2nd time in a year and a half.

The first time, someone decalred the value as $50 on a $10 item so I was able to get a partial refund by sending them a copy of my winning auction! It pays to complain!

I'll see what I can wangle this time...