Custom Duty paid on UK orders exceeding $800?
 

I have searched a few threads and came up short. Hence, starting this thread.

Has anyone paid custom duty on bike goods when ordering from UK sites (Merlin etc) when the order has exceeded $800? I am looking to purchase a wheelset from Melrlin and would like to be informed on how much custom duty I need to pay. And if I need to pay custom duty will it be on the entire purchase price? Or would it be on the remainder that exceeds $800. For e.g, if I purchase something for $1800, will I pay duty on the entire $1800 or the difference -- $1000?

Thanks for the help. It is much appreciated.

also interested, anyone have experience? I think it's the difference but don't know..

From the customs site:

What happens if my mailed goods require duty?
Packages sent internationally through the United States Postal Service (USPS) that do not pass free of duty will have a yellow Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Mail Entry form (CBP 3419A), attached to the outer wrapper.
A CBP Officer will have already filled out this form with the item's tariff classification number, rate of duty, processing fee, and the total amount that must be paid in order to take possession of the shipment.
You should keep the yellow form until you are certain that you intend to keep the merchandise.
CBP then sends the parcel back to the United States Postal Service, (USPS) which sends it to a local post office for delivery.
Note: Most personal shipments worth up to $800, and gift packages worth up to $100, will pass duty-free as long as the recipient does not receive multiple packages in a single day whose cumulative value is more than these amounts.
If you wish to receive automatic updates to this Q&A, select "Subscribe to Updates" on the left side of this screen.

https://help.cbp.gov/app/answers/det...4800/related/1

I just ordered a wheel-set from UK (Probikekit)
They just came today via courier...no duties whatsoever...pleasantly surprised [emoji2][emoji2][emoji2]

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...af68f0c830.jpg


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

oh man...that is good news and not so good news.
good news because, well, no duties paid. :-)
not so good news because i might end up spending money now getting those campy wheels.

may i ask, was it usps who delivered? and how about from the uk side -- royal mail? thanks!

No.

I took the standard free delivery.
The label on the box said EMS, it tracked through Canada Post once it came to Canada.

I imagine the same process in US, just with USPS for final delivery.

Still...I may have just got lucky with no duties.





Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yes, that is exactly what I would like ot find out.
How many people got lucky and did not pay anything. And how many people had to pay duties on $800+ purchases.

But your response is appreciated. Enjoy those wheels! :banana:

Once value exceeds $800 duty is due for the entire amount. Check HTS (https://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/index.htm) to see what the tariff schedule is for your item. Best case it's duty free.

thanks for that 87 and 95 may apply, so 5%-11% I'm guessing..

I’ll tell you an easy way to protect yourself...and I’ve done it before.

When the delivery comes, and the charges exceed what you want to pay...just refuse the delivery.
It goes back and your card will get the credit applied when the transaction is reversed.

This way if you get lucky....great!!
If not, refuse and return.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

here's my duty saga thread:

https://forums.thepaceline.net/showt...highlight=duty

I had a bike shipped to me, I believe I paid right around $1600 for it, and I got slapped with $153.43 worth of import fees. They shipped is UPS.

From limited experience, in the US, duties notice arrives a few weeks after the goods.

Yes. I've made several orders for my Pas Normal Studios. At first, I didn't get any duties/taxes and all my orders were roughly $800- $1000. About 3 months ago I purchased $1600 worth of gear. It got caught up in customs and 2 weeks later I got my goods. 2 weeks after that I received a $365 duties/tax bill. That was the first time PNS decided to ship via Fedex. So my next order I asked them to ship via DHL like they had been doing with my previous orders. After getting my last order which was $500, I still ended up getting a $95 bill from DHL. Stupid fee's! :mad:

That's what happened to me. I ordered a Campagnolo shirt online. Little did i know, it came from Italy.
Later, I got a bill from U.S. Customs that was more than the shirt. You don't want Customs after you. Kind of like the IRS.
I don't wear that shirt. It's too expensive.
I hope you guys get off without duty to pay.

I got hit with fees for my Wittson, but ordered a wheelset over $800 from pbk and didn’t. It’s a crapshoot...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ordered a bike a couple years ago from Poland. $2800 No custom duties. I think its a case by case thing.

The only time I was charged after the fact was with FedEx.

I’ve never had that with Canada Post.



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Thanks for all the replies.
I guess the lesson learned is that many times you have to pay the duties over $800 (on the whole amount). While many times, you pay nada. So, I guess it depends....on....? :banana::p

who knows!

The carriers used is a factor. Using National Postal Services reduces the chances of customs being assessed.

I think the $800 threshold is too high.

Kinda surprised that each package from overseas vendors doesn't go thru more rigor. I guess if you buy new product from overseas you should plan on this as a possibility. They should probably just charge you VAT and call it good, it monkeys with the market a little too much when there's tax free slackness running amuck

I would be willing to bet that new products from vendors in the USA go thru the ringer when shipping to a buyer in the EU. Probably penalizes the buyer enough to consider buying it locally

So does Merlin send a dispatch notice? I ordered a stem from them July 9th and still haven’t received an email saying it’s been sent.

Not from my experience with them. You should be able to go to their site and see the shipping status of any of your orders.

It is good practice to always EXPECT to pay duty and then be able to rejoice when you don't get charged.

The $800 personal allowance has been disastrous to so many merchants and it really doesn't ultimately help the country as a whole. I believe the reason behind it was solely expediency, with the government recognizing that stopping personal small scale importing and charging duty was counterproductive as the income didn't even pay for the manpower to enforce the rules.

When I used to import a line of Italian cycling clothing, I was paying over 30% in import duties and many of the online retailers were selling for my landed cost. It is tough to do business under such circumstances.

What percentage are we talking about for a $1500 Wheelset from the UK? Can’t anyone talk about how much it will cost?

Bought an $1125 group from CRC. Delivered by USPS in a beat-down box, but no duties. Also no housing or chain pin / quick link.

Group was undamaged, but FFS.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...5a2b010cf3.jpg

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk

Wow! Does it depend on vendor if there’s a duty?

If you happen to slip by paying a duty owed, you still owe it. Customs can come back at any time and collect it. If you want to be sure about what you will owe and pay it at the time of importation you should consider hiring a customs broker. Some shippers may require the use of a broker. Or look it up here: https://usitc.gov/tata/hts/index.htm

This and others like it should be a modern art exhibit in a museum.

Handle With Care

What about the shipping costs? Who covers that?

Here is another tip ( I briefly did some importing so figured out some of the ins and outs). Cycling clothing has very high duty, especially base layers as they are taxed as lingerie. Bike parts have very low duties, often zero duty. Customs doesn't itemize your package for duty charge. You get charged the duty percentage of the highest item in your package. For example, if you ordered $2000 worth of components which have zero duty, and threw in a $20 base layer with a 40% duty, your package would be charged $2020 x 40%. Never add clothing to equipment orders if you exceed $800.

I've made multiple purchases from the UK and Germany over the years, several costing over $2K. From the De Rosa Merak frameset (one of your faves), Campy Shamals, Boras, EPS, etc. and was never charged additional duties or fees.
But all were shipped via EMS, which ends up being delivered by the USPS.
When packages are shipped via UPS, FedEx, DHL, these companies will tack on those additional brokerage fees for items purchased outside the USA.

This is playing with fire. We have had a few customers pull this BS in the past and here is what I found out. The delivering country is under no obligation to return it, they have the option to destroy it if it goes unclaimed. Or it could sit in a warehouse for a couple of months waiting to be claimed. If it does go back, it's on the slow boat so it's ~4 weeks to get back to Europe, then another week to get delivered to the shipper. At which point they have to track down who the tight wad is who didn't want to pay the tax man his cut and issue a refund, minus shipping or any extra fees they had to pay to get their goods back.

TLDR, this is a crappy way to do business as a customer. If you're going to order from international suppliers, be prepared and willing to pay the tax man.

No charge if you just refuse delivery, it just goes back.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

So what I’ve gathered is...ordering from Starbike, Chain Reaction, etc...a Wheelset will most likely not carry duties?

If it’s a high dollar item and there are duties that total a few hundred dollars...you might as well order from the US?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Remind me to never sell you anything...ever

yeah. Thats not an okay way to reason imo.

I have ordered a bunch of stuff over the years from overseas. I have only been charged duty on a frameset from Lithuania and that was it, but it is also the only thing I’ve bought from Europe in the past year.

I have also ordered a groupset from PBK some time in the past couple of years and it looked just like the box Clean39t had above. I ordered an Italian threaded bottom bracket and the didn’t get housing or quick link/chain pin in the box either. The boxes that the parts were in were literally flopping around. No damage, but if the order is wrong you will have a hell of a time trying to return anything.

That was the last time I ordered a groupset from overseas. Usually there are folks on here with the same goods lightly used or in some cases new for as good a price or cheaper to buy things from.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Wow...not looking yo be judged....just describing a scenario.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Or else you simply have to itemize everything with their respective code and they will charge you accordingly (or, as even more frequently happens, they will let the whole package in without going through the hassle of determining the duty due as their time is not even covered by any potential duty due).

Your scenario is a poor way to do business.

How would you feel if you were on the other side of that transaction?