In case people are not aware, there are additional costs if you buy from a US supplier/shop for delivery to the UK.
After reading the great reviews about the BiSaddle I decided to get one. But there are no distributors in the UK.
I asked BiSaddle for an estimate of the shipping and import costs and they wrote that it would show up whilst placing the order but before payment. So I went ahead, and the shipping cost was £42.02 by DHL.
I went for the BiSaddle EXT Sprint + SRT Black Surfaces Combo Kit which was $289 but I claimed my 17% discount as a Slowtwitch user. So it came to $281.89 (£212.09) in total including shipping.
I’ve just had an email from DHL asking for £82.87, which includes £13.17 Custom Duty + £11.00 Deferment Risk + £58.70 VAT
I thought the VAT seemed high as it’s 20% in the UK, but then I noticed that BiSaddle had put the “Declared value” down as $369.02 and it looks like that is what the VAT is calculated on. I don’t know if the higher declared value is based on the full price of the component parts of the bundle or an error (I’m about to ask them).
So take care when buying those super Black Friday deals and check where they are coming from.
The same holds true for those of is in NA who buy from the UK.
I’m not complaining about the fact that this happened, and may well apply to orders between many countries.
The purpose of my post was to draw attention to the issue so that others don’t get caught out with these unknown costs.
I also think that companies could be more transparent about these addition costs to foreign customers. These additional costs are not random, they are fixed, so they could inform customers in advance.
I have been doing this for several years and my post-Brexit experiences have been absolutely random. Ultimately you are and always have been responsible to pay VAT. The current twist is that the VAT charge is calculated according to the value of the items AND the shipping charges AND the Duty AND depending on circumstances a portion of the insurance. Its such a complex system that enforcement seems to have become erratic and difficult to predict.
I had Desoto ship the items to my brother (who lives in the US) and then he shipped to me with the minimal allowable declared value. I then got hit with a VAT bill that charged VAT on value of the items+shipping+ duty+a sorting surcharge. The next shipment I had to total value including shipping off around $250 and arrived at my door without any additional charges or notifications. Absolutely no idea why or how but the Royal Mail brought it to my door without incident. On a third shipment I never did work out the maths they used but they appear to have charged VAT on the shipment plus some kind of hold/sorting surcharge but not on the value of the items. Again I just got a bill with no explanation of how they worked in out.
Get used to it peeps in the UK, this is likely to be the situation for you from 1st Jan 2021 on all stuff you buy from Europe too.
…now who thought Brexit was a good idea???
Not me for one.
Fecjkng STOOOOOOPID idea.
Just wait til the chavs have to pay to 15 euro to pre reg to travel to Benidorm (EU version od ESTA comes soon) + pay 50% more on travel insurance.
And they can forget bringing a crate of fags and shiite booze home too. That’s back to half a litre of Sherry and 200 fags as we’re outside EU limits.
But on a positive note we’ll be able to restart using Asbestos and lead in children’s toys now we have our precious sovereignty back .😖
Technically it shouldn’t though. Because current European pricing includes VAT, which post-Jan 1st you’ll no longer be liable to pay. So the pricing should be reduced to reflect that, in the same way that it should be for current non-EU customers.
Disclaimer: this post in no way suggests I’m pro-Brexit. Genuinely the stupidest thing to happen in the past decade, including Trump…
Declaring false value when shipping is not a good idea for a whole host of reasons.
Right?! Although, I guess, posts like this go some ways towards explaining why so many customers have asked me to do so, as if it’s no big deal at all… and responded as if I was being a d**k for refusing.
Regardless of those reasons, if nothing else it seems rather ill-advised to announce that you make a regular business practice of doing so on a public forum.
Customs Laws.
By placing inaccurate values on packages that are for sale or purchased to avoid duty and taxes you are breaking the law.
Customs can detain, revalue or confiscate shipments where this is done.
… and yes it does happen albeit rarely with mail versus a shipping company it does happen.
I have had WAY to many conversations about this in my 25 years in the shipping business, with people pissed that there shipment got held up because they did not follow the rules.
I have been doing this for several years and my post-Brexit experiences have been absolutely random. Ultimately you are and always have been responsible to pay VAT. The current twist is that the VAT charge is calculated according to the value of the items AND the shipping charges AND the Duty AND depending on circumstances a portion of the insurance. Its such a complex system that enforcement seems to have become erratic and difficult to predict.
I had Desoto ship the items to my brother (who lives in the US) and then he shipped to me with the minimal allowable declared value. I then got hit with a VAT bill that charged VAT on value of the items+shipping+ duty+a sorting surcharge. The next shipment I had to total value including shipping off around $250 and arrived at my door without any additional charges or notifications. Absolutely no idea why or how but the Royal Mail brought it to my door without incident. On a third shipment I never did work out the maths they used but they appear to have charged VAT on the shipment plus some kind of hold/sorting surcharge but not on the value of the items. Again I just got a bill with no explanation of how they worked in out.
Generally speaking, packages sent via USPS / Royal Mail are subject to a random sampling process re duties. Sometimes the package gets charged, but not always
If you ship DHL, FedEx, UPS - 100% of the time they collect duties. If duties are paid upon recipt (instead of prepaid via the shipper) you probably pay 2x higher fees
Any package shipped to the US via a postal service with a declared value under $800 goes through customs clearance in a few seconds and no duty is charged.
I guess US Code Title 19. Or, if you are specifically talking about accurately declaring the value of imported goods, US Code Title 19, Chapter 4, Subtitle III, Part III, Section 1485, (a) (2).
Declaring false value when shipping is not a good idea for a whole host of reasons.
Right?! Although, I guess, posts like this go some ways towards explaining why so many customers have asked me to do so, as if it’s no big deal at all… and responded as if I was being a d**k for refusing.
Regardless of those reasons, if nothing else it seems rather ill-advised to announce that you make a regular business practice of doing so on a public forum.