Buying from the US - BEWARE CUSTOMS!!

[kingshearer]

All,
Got a chance to buy something from the states. last time I did that I bought a sealed AT-AT at a bargain price but I got hammered by customs - still worth the money but I could have done without the hidden charges.
This item would cost £150 is there anyway I could avoid charges, having 'used' or 'gift' on the label etc..
In my early days I used to buy loads of kenner cards off Brians toys and they used to state 'used' or 'gift' and I don't think I ever got done by customs.
There's also a value on the label would having that really low stop the British gov taking even more tax off me?
Just to clarify the item is used and was originally $13.
Cheers Brian

 

[Dark Sith Lord]

Hey Brian

There is some really useful info in this thread to help avoid customs

http://www.starwarsforum.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=8373

They really are cunts mate :roll:

 

[Grant_C]

Ask for the items value to be marked under £50 will help.

 

[threaders]

Last time I checked (early this year) The value had to be under £32 and the label has to be marked gift. You can also mark in the description " personal belongings returning home from overseas" Thats how I was able to send my stuff home from OZ when I moved back to the UK.

 

[kingshearer]

Last time I checked (early this year) The value had to be under £32 and the label has to be marked gift. You can also mark in the description " personal belongings returning home from overseas" Thats how I was able to send my stuff home from OZ when I moved back to the UK.

Cheers I was thinking 'gift' might be the magic word.

 

[threaders]

It needs the value at under £32 as well though. My sister sent me shoes for my birthday and put gift on the label, but as she marked the value at $90, I got cherged £20 customs :shock:

 

[Pomse2001]

Hi Brian, sorry to read about the customs you have paid. It is the same in all EU, it is a stupid EU rule. So if you buy items in a country that is not a member of EU then there is a chance that you have to pay customs. I have contacted some politicians in EU about the problem and every time they just say they did not know about that rule and they will try to change it. But nothing happens

I am not totally sure but as I remember it then you can only buy for £5 if it is not marked as a gift, then you should pay customs, remember they also count the postage as a value. If it is marked as a gift then you can buy a little bit more.

The best way to do it, is to get the seller to mail it as a gift and ask him or her to write a very low value on the packet or just buy your items in EU.

 

[itfciain]

It is still a bit hit and miss but I find that they often stop packages coming through from the States.

The best way to get around it is to ask the seller to mark the item as a gift and to value it at $25.00 - I would also ask them to just write 'toys' in the description rather than anything like 'vintage action figures' or 'collectables'

 

[palitoyjunky]

Back in my Kenner collecting days, all my stuff from the US was marked as gift, toy etc with declared values never more than $20 so I never had any trouble!
Then apparently customs clamped down and companies in the US like Brian's Toys changed policy saying they now have to declare full value of items which I thought stunk :evil:
So my days of buying big from the States were over more or less, though there are a few dealers out there that are willing to help avoid Customs rip offs ie Frank Bray of Final Frontier Toys was v good! Then again he charges top dollar for top graded items so maybe that cancels out no customs :lol:!

 

[søren]

Sorry to hear this mate .

Here are a few things that you might do .

I had a proof sent to me from the states . The sellers grilfriend put on the full value 3-400$

Custums took the box and would have me pay over 100$ . So i went to the post office and said i have gotten this letter from you . I have not brougt any thing . I don't know what it is . And i don't want it .

Signed a paper and now they have to send it back to the sender .

It was chaeper for me to pay the extra shipping about 30$ and have the seller put on a difrent (Lower ) value
and send it back to me . ( remember to remove all stickers , tape etc. from custums from the box )

And the second time it went right though And i saved about 120$

Custums some times wanna make you show a paypal or other form of payment .

So when i do a private deal i always make the payment in two parts one small where i put in my shipping info etc . And whrite thank you for the the deal . Here are x$ for the thing and x$ for the shipping , wich alway are about 25$ in total . Or thanks for the swap mate , here are the money for the shipping of my part of the deal . I'm so happy with the deal that i will ship your stuff for free .

You get the point


And then i make the second paymet to the seller with the rest of the money .

I hope this helps you out . The sending the itim back , might be the only one that's helps you right now.

 

[kingshearer]

Sorry to hear this mate .

Here are a few things that you might do .

I had a proof sent to me from the states . The sellers grilfriend put on the full value 3-400$

Custums took the box and would have me pay over 100$ . So i went to the post office and said i have gotten this letter from you . I have not brougt any thing . I don't know what it is . And i don't want it .

Signed a paper and now they have to send it back to the sender .

It was chaeper for me to pay the extra shipping about 30$ and have the seller put on a difrent (Lower ) value
and send it back to me . ( remember to remove all stickers , tape etc. from custums from the box )



And the second time it went right though And i saved about 120$

Custums some times wanna make you show a paypal or other form of payment .

So when i do a private deal i always make the payment in two parts one small where i put in my shipping info etc . And whrite thank you for the the deal . Here are x$ for the thing and x$ for the shipping , wich alway are about 25$ in total . Or thanks for the swap mate , here are the money for the shipping of my part of the deal . I'm so happy with the deal that i will ship your stuff for free .

You get the point


And then i make the second paymet to the seller with the rest of the money .

I hope this helps you out . The sending the itim back , might be the only one that's helps you right now.

Hey thanks for that. Yes I can see what your saying with the double payment -very clever :wink:
If I do go ahead with the sale I'm going to ask them to put $25 used gift on there - i risk it getting lost since I'll only be covered for that sum but it's worth the risk since I've never lost anything which I've bought over the pond.
Hopefully the US shop seller will be okay with that since some of them insist on doing it properly.

 

[itfciain]

Hopefully the US shop seller will be okay with that since some of them insist on doing it properly.

Yes, it is always worth checking with the seller before you buy. I have to admit I have no idea why some of them are so against it.

 

[tiefighterboy]

Hopefully the US shop seller will be okay with that since some of them insist on doing it properly.

Yes, it is always worth checking with the seller before you buy. I have to admit I have no idea why some of them are so against it.

Over here it is considered mail fraud. That is why so many are against it as the pentalties and jail time are strict. That being said, it would take an inquiry from the UK postal service to start anything and you would have to be moving massive volumes for them to even investigate.

 

[db94]

My biggest gripe is the £8 admin fee for the letter you receive informing you that you have some VAT to pay - last time the VAT was just a couple of quid but letter was £8 :x

 

[theslider]

As a side note, the Mrs' ex-boss (in the states) was sending our Xmas gifts via UPS - we got a call today saying there was a release fee of £88 for customs and admin!

 

[plantman]

ebay sellers in the US take a HUGE risk if they mark as gift and $25 ect, if it gets lost you can claim full whack and they can only claim $25, a lot of ebay sellers do it for me and i thank them after because its such a good thing to do.

if i buy something expensive like say $800 i ask them to mark it as $108 even though i get hit i dont risk them investigating it, its also less likely to go missing when its held for fees ha.