Customs charged and item was £13.37

[Stu123]

Ordered Steelbook from Amazon USA and got charged for an item that was £13.37 .The postage was £4.33 but i heard they're meant to only take into account the item amount not the whole thing.Why would they do this? is it worth trying to get my money back?

[Alex_DeLarge]

You should check that out man. They can't include P&P when it comes to customs charges.

[Sky_Captain]

Fight that, man.

[Villiam Hayes]

Originally Posted by stubiedoo

Ordered Steelbook from Amazon USA and got charged for an item that was £13.37 .The postage was £4.33 but i heard they're meant to only take into account the item amount not the whole thing.Why would they do this? is it worth trying to get my money back?

Yeah it's worth trying to get your money back,In my experience it show's the total price of the contents on the box,did your's and what was the total?
Surely if your total was £13.37 then you shouldn't have been hit with customs.

[TheArcane]

No they take a look at the whole thing (cost) including postage and packaging, even if it's £13 odd Amazon would have declared the total amount (including postage etc.) that's why you've been hit, though i'd still say you're very unlucky because they don't normally bother when it's under £20

[Sky_Captain]

Originally Posted by TheArcane

No they take a look at the whole thing (cost) including postage and packaging, even if it's £13 odd Amazon would have declared the total amount (including postage etc.) that's why you've been hit, though i'd still say you're very unlucky because they don't normally bother when it's under £20

This entire post is incorrect.

[Alex_DeLarge]

Originally Posted by Sky_Captain

This entire post is wrong.

I'll second that..... 'Fabulous bollocks'.

[TheArcane]

Originally Posted by Sky_Captain

This entire post is wrong.

I'm speaking from experience, amazon will include postage costs and provide the carrier (normally DHL in my experience) with a proper invoice of the total amount you've paid and they (the carrier) will then use it to calculate any costs to you the buyer.

[Alex_DeLarge]

Originally Posted by TheArcane

I'm speaking from experience, amazon will include postage costs and provide the carrier (normally DHL in my experience) with a proper invoice of the total amount you've paid and they (the carrier) will then use it to calculate any costs to you the buyer.

Are you a solicitor?

[ricster]

Originally Posted by stubiedoo

Ordered Steelbook from Amazon USA and got charged for an item that was £13.37 .The postage was £4.33 but i heard they're meant to only take into account the item amount not the whole thing.Why would they do this? is it worth trying to get my money back?

I inputted your figures into this website.

http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-im...ils/100743217/

[chip75]

Originally Posted by stubiedoo

Ordered Steelbook from Amazon USA and got charged for an item that was £13.37 .The postage was £4.33 but i heard they're meant to only take into account the item amount not the whole thing.Why would they do this? is it worth trying to get my money back?

As far as I was aware postage and packaging only becomes a percentage of the duty when the parcel is over £15. Amazon do seem to lump the two charges together some times which really doesn't help.

1.What does HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) mean when they refer to the import of low value goods?

Imports of low value goods are any consignments, made up of goods of a negligible value, that are dispatched direct from a third country (non-EU) country to a consignee in the EU which may be admitted free of customs import duty and/or import VAT.

Currently this means that:

• consignments with an intrinsic value of £15 or less are free from both customs duty and import VAT
• import VAT is payable when the intrinsic value of the goods is over £15
• customs duty (and import VAT) is payable when the intrinsic value of the imported goods is over £135

2.What is the intrinsic value?

The intrinsic value is the price paid or payable for the goods excluding postage and packing and insurance costs.

[Stu123]

Even if they've wrote £17.70 on the package (waiting for delivery) i might be able to get my money back if i print out the Amazon invoice to prove the item was under £15.

[Poshteh1]

I can't say I've ever had this problem before. I order from Amazon.com frequently, and try to keep the value of the item below £15 (formely £18). The postage costs would take it above £15, however I haven't been hit by customs if the item was below the value. I would suggest getting in contact with Amazon and who ever else this concerns.

[Stu123]

I recieved a reply from royal mail and all she did was explain why they charge it ,sigh i already know that everyone does.I've told them i can prove the item was £13.37 and is there an address i can send the invoice to.

[DaveSimonH]

Clear as mud. I think I'm going to restrict myself to £15 including postage when ordering from Amazon etc.

[Stu123]

Recieved it this morning it's been crushed and ruined in a padded envelope.I phoned royal mail and they said i had to speak to the border agency because they need confirmation they're going to waiver it.I'm not buying anything from outside EU ever again after this ,complete disaster.Says in bold writing too any queries about contents or handling fee phone royal mail number and they pass me on i feel like it's a wind up.Ok border agency told me to download a form to get the VAT back but they said the royal mail charge isn't up to them so once i get the VAT back i'll tell Royal Mail and hopefully get the £8 handling fee back.Hope no one ends up in same mess as me.Oh and it states the amount of the item and the postage seperately on the envelope not just the whole thing.The item was $19.99usd which is converting on XE.com now as £12.73.I've recieved a refund for the item i've told Amazon i want 60p too for having to send documents to Uk Border Force.

[Rixx]

Originally Posted by stubiedoo

Recieved it this morning it's been crushed and ruined in a padded envelope.I phoned royal mail and they said i had to speak to the border agency because they need confirmation they're going to waiver it.I'm not buying anything from outside EU ever again after this ,complete disaster.Says in bold writing too any queries about contents or handling fee phone royal mail number and they pass me on i feel like it's a wind up.Ok border agency told me to download a form to get the VAT back but they said the royal mail charge isn't up to them so once i get the VAT back i'll tell Royal Mail and hopefully get the £8 handling fee back.Hope no one ends up in same mess as me.Oh and it states the amount of the item and the postage seperately on the envelope not just the whole thing.The item was $19.99usd which is converting on XE.com now as £12.73.I've recieved a refund for the item i've told Amazon i want 60p too for having to send documents to Uk Border Force.

Did Royal Mail or customs show you which figures they used when calculating the vat?
I'm wondering if it was just some numpty entering the USD total value instead of the USD item value.

[Stu123]

Originally Posted by Rixx

Did Royal Mail or customs show you which figures they used when calculating the vat?
I'm wondering if it was just some numpty entering the USD total value instead of the USD item value.

I've wrote on the form to the border agency that i thought it was just the value of the item not the total with postage.

[lgans316]

Intrinsic value is all that counts. The pain is when the converted rate is above 15 GBP.

For a developed country like UK the import limit is very low. Think it is 1,000 or 2,000 AUD in Australia and $200 in Japan.

[Mr. Thomsen]

Originally Posted by lgans316

For a developed country like UK the import limit is very low.

Ha! Try living in Denmark. Here the import limits is a mere 80 DKR ≈ £8.50.