Shipping from USA

[e30318is]

Hi everybody, I buy a few bits and bobs from Ebay.com as the quality and quantity seem better than .co.uk There is one problem though, some sellers refuse to ship to the UK, even though I have perfect feedback.
I was wondering if any of you guys in the USA would be willing to be a forwarding address for small items and every so often ship a load of stuff together? Im not sure how it would work or if any of you guys do this already. I would be willing to do the same for anyone in the US who is buying from the UK. Im not buying huge amounts, its normally between 0-3 items a month.
Any ideas anyone? Thanks, Ed

 

[plantman]

Im sure there is a few guys on here who would help, i wont name anyone just in case they dont want to.

USA is a bugger because good postage is expensive and customs will charge you for anything over £18 in value.

I bought a fett from the US and got a customs bill for £125 i nearly threw up!

 

[aussiejames]

I bought a fett from the US and got a customs bill for £125 i nearly threw up!

:shock: I chuckle with you guys complaining about import/customs tax because we don't have any unless it's over $1000, BUT 125 pounds is crazy (& I'm not laughing now) Ed just bear in mind some sellers may not post to an address not linked to your paypal/ebay account so you may actually have to ask someone in the US to buy stuff for you & post it forward. The Star Wars community is pretty good & I'm sure you can get sorted out

 

[weasel]

I bought a fett from the US and got a customs bill for £125 i nearly threw up!

[/quote]


Yeah, I've had customs bills like that before :twisted: :evil: .
REALLY ****s me off. FFS I pay enough tax as it is, EVERYTHING is taxed in this ****ing country (and has been since before our economy imploded)! It's made even worse by the fact we can't claim the tax back if we sell it on, but do the goverment act to reduce Carousel fraud...............do they ****!

I think the nicest one I ever got was when a seller agreed to put a low value on the parcel (we had discussed/agreed before I bought, indeed I specifically stated it was the deciding factor in my purchase) and then changed his mind when he got to the post office. Bingo one large customs bill for me and an abusive email and shite feedback for him!

 

[**Delboy75**]

Same thing happened to me.
Canadian Guy on ebay said he was more than happy to declare a lower value, then a week or so later i get a import fee for £70.
The prick hadn't lowered the amount, i was not a happy chap that day.

I thought the import fee was for items over £40ish, not £18. I thought it got raised a while back???

 

[**Delboy75**]

Actually Andy you were spot on mate, It is still £18.

you can import up to £36 if 'Gift' has been ticked tho.

 

[burnsy]

They are bang on it at the moment at customs.

I used to get items get through with no problems but I've been stung loads recently.
It's the handling charge that bumps up the bloody cost aswell.

 

[silver grin]

second that burnsy - got charged two weeks ago by Parcelforce £8 for a "handling fee"!

nearly charged them £16 to take it off their hands when I arrived to pick it up :lol:

 

[Caswellbot]

£8 handling on a parcel is a f*cking joke.

What did they do, take it out for dinner? :lol:

 

[ODB]

I got a couple of loose figures from the States the other week, they took nearly three weeks to arrive so it seems that shipping is really slow at the moment.

What pisses me off about customs is that VAT is charged on items (such as second hand toy sales between individuals which is outside of the VAT scope) and postage (which is supposed to follow the type of good it is being supplied on, eg if its books then no VAT but DVDs then 17.5%) even though all the rules and precedents show the exact opposite. If it was the other way round and we were able to reclaim VAT or taxes HMRC would bend us over backwards if we went against all the rules.

 

[e30318is]

It seems unfair, am I right to say the USA have no form of customs? Also the time issue is about to get worse- recent news will make it even harder to import items from the states. I thought toys were zero rated, like kids clothes?
Im not buying Lots of stuff, not particularly high value, but there's a few things like potf coins which make a fair bit less on eBay.com but shipping them one at a time gets expensive! I need a transatlantic buddy to help with shipping!

 

[Imperial nut]

I have had no problems importing things to ireland from the states, mainly ww kayaking gear.
Even with expensive things like carbon kevlar paddles , what we have always done is get them to mark it "returns/repair" which over here makes it exempt from any charge.

UK customs could be different, but it could be similar and would help if you were sending things to AFA cause its a service not an item you are being charged for.
Or import through ireland then,,, hey business idea!!

 

[**Delboy75**]

Well i have a couple of u.s guys that will receive higher $$$ stuff for me and then send it with a low value. Its a risk, but i have been ok so far.

If its something really expensive i use global priority but with a low value.

Getting sellers to put 'return' on the item is a good idea, as i know AFA do similar to stop uk customers having to pay a import fee.