(Possibly) a stupid question on import tax

[NicWhit]

Hi Everyone, hope you all had a good Christmas/New Yr.

I'm wanting import a bunch of Disney Blus from Amazon.com, so far my basket total is about $97 (approx £60) for 5 titles.

Individually each title comes under the £18 cut off. But the whole order is over it...think I'll get stung by customs? - I'm not sure if customs base it on item value or the value of the whole order.

Thanks in advance!

[Judex]

the limit is now £15 so you'll have customs to pay.

[snooloui]

If they are sent together in one package then yes you would get stung. The value of all of the items inside a particular package is declared on the front. So if they were sent together the declared value would be $97 and you would most likely get hit with charges. Your best bet is to order each title separately and make sure that the item price is under £15 (not including postage costs).

[NicWhit]

£15?! When did it drop?

Thanks for the info, going to go do a little cry now
Unless anyone can recommend a site that's custom safe and not stupid expensive (movietyme/dvdworldusa)

[Villiam Hayes]

I think if you choose expedited shipping then amazon will take care of any custom charges,if in the end your package doesn't get stopped amazon will later refund you some of what you paid them.
Once you go over the £15 then the total is liable to vat,IE:shipping also.

Chip know's quite a bit about this topic and he i'm sure could answer any question's.

[Judex]

Originally Posted by NicWhit

£15?! When did it drop?

Thanks for the info, going to go do a little cry now
Unless anyone can recommend a site that's custom safe and not stupid expensive (movietyme/dvdworldusa)

I think it was April or May 2012, if you select expedited shipping you can pay customs and avoid the royal rip off handling fee.

[chip75]

Originally Posted by Villiam Hayes

Chip know's quite a bit about this topic and he i'm sure could answer any question's.

I think I learnt everything from guys on here but thank you for the compliment.

As other guys have mentioned it's £15 for the limit now and HM Revenue & Customs have their own rate of exchange to work out import VAT (I think DaveSimonH taught me that one). For January the US $ is 1.627 to the GB £. So 1.627 x 15 is $24.40 so that's your import limit before you're liable to pay import VAT. If you use something like XE: (GBP/USD) British Pound to US Dollar Rate you'd get less at $24.13 so it's worth checking the HM Revenue & Customs Site. So if you order something that's going to pass through customs in February you need to be aware that the rate may change. As others have pointed out with Amazon.com Expedited Shipping, Amazon will pay the costs on your behalf if your package is stopped so you don't have to involve the Royal Mail and their handling fee.

The other sites apart from Amazon offer similar services (or they ship from within Europe) but will charge a small premium for it. Also I'd check Amazon.co.uk to see if they have the item at a competitive price (if it's under the limit) as postage will be a lot cheaper. Although Disney titles are almost always cheaper from Amazon.com.

As for your order the limit is for your total order not per item, so £60 will have a £12 import VAT charge along with the £8 handling fee, so you need to see if Expedited works out cheaper (it usually does). Also be aware that if you did select Standard Shipping on separate items Amazon might box them all together to save on packaging costs and you'll still be charged import VAT for separate orders (so make sure they are shipped as separate orders!), which would be very annoying!

[Cevolution]

I read these threads often in the UK section, which makes me always think that I'm glad we have a $1000 limit here in Australia before having to pay custom fees. I ordered a Paragon 4oz popcorn machine from the U.S last year (to Australian specs/standards), which cost me $315 for the machine during a half price sale and $330 for the shipping (the same machine costs $1100 plus shipping here in Australia) and I wasn't hit with any type of customs charges or problems.

[Shawn Elestren]

What IS expizitted shipping? (or whatever)

[NicWhit]

Faster shipping with customs fees paid (if needed)
Thanks everyone, you've been a big help. Now to do some shopping!

[richieb1971]

Just find an American agent who will ship them over for you. Thats what I do.

Just find someone in America who wants play.com steelbooks and he will eat out of your hand and do whatever you want.

The difference with someone shipping them over is that its easy to lie about whats inside the package. I always put DVD x 5 ($20). Or something similar.

Amazon.com always put a label on the outside, so you'll likely get hit with charges.

[NicWhit]

Too late now, ordered & shipped! Woo!

[Wes Blu-ray]

Originally Posted by NicWhit

Hi Everyone, hope you all had a good Christmas/New Yr.

I'm wanting import a bunch of Disney Blus from Amazon.com, so far my basket total is about $97 (approx £60) for 5 titles.

Individually each title comes under the £18 cut off. But the whole order is over it...think I'll get stung by customs? - I'm not sure if customs base it on item value or the value of the whole order.

Thanks in advance!

Correct...a stupid question that is.

[Blu Lemmy]

Wow, productive response.....

She had a valid question, it was answered, any need for the above? Nope...

[NicWhit]

She.
But thanks for the backup

I couldn't tell if it was just badly done sarcasm or if he was actually being a dick. So decided to ignore it.

[Sithlord75]

Originally Posted by NicWhit

I couldn't tell if it was just badly done sarcasm or if he was actually being a dick. So decided to ignore it.

The later, you'll find if you read his posts in the majority of threads on here.

[tigertron]

Customs isn't always applied. I managed to escape customs twice now with Blu-rays costing over £15.

[Villiam Hayes]

Originally Posted by tigertron

Customs isn't always applied. I managed to escape customs twice now with Blu-rays costing over £15.

It's not going to cost anything extra if your parcel isn't stopped,if it is then of course charges will apply.

[ricster]

As chipster says, if you ordered all items in one go, did you choose group items together for faster , and which shipping speed did you go for.

If you did group together and choose the fastest or second fastest option then you will have already paid the customs as an import deposit. That deposit is based on the items charge without shipping and without the stupid royal mail, Parcelforce or dhl admin fee.

[Douglas R]

Originally Posted by tigertron

Customs isn't always applied. I managed to escape customs twice now with Blu-rays costing over £15.

Yes, it's only a spot check. Unless you are constantly importing items over £15 it's not worth worrying about because in my experience only a minority of packages over the max value get stopped.