Custom Duty paid on UK orders exceeding $800?

[primov8]

Originally Posted by bianchi10

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!

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.

[FriarQuade]

Originally Posted by ntb1001

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.

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.

[ntb1001]

Originally Posted by cinco

What about the shipping costs? Who covers that?

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




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[PNW]

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?


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[peanutgallery]

Remind me to never sell you anything...ever

Originally Posted by ntb1001

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




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[tuscanyswe]

Originally Posted by peanutgallery

remind me to never sell you anything...ever

yeah. Thats not an okay way to reason imo.

[Hilltopperny]

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.


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[ntb1001]

Originally Posted by peanutgallery

Remind me to never sell you anything...ever

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




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[Polyglot]

Originally Posted by fignon's barber

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.

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).

[FriarQuade]

Originally Posted by ntb1001

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




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Your scenario is a poor way to do business.

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

[fignon's barber]

Originally Posted by Polyglot

Or else you simply have to itemize everything with their respective code and they will charge you accordingly

Nope. Not when I imported goods from 2011-2014. You always had to code each item, and it was clearly stated that on mixed shipments, you would be charged the duty of the highest categorized item.

[rain dogs]

Duties and tariffs are what a countries' government imposes on the end consumer in order to deter said consumer from buying overseas and instead buy domestically.

Think Trump. Think Trade Wars. Think Protectionist Politics. Duties are your government.

Import duties (on a specific item) in theory are binding by law and obligatory to pay if they are levied and will have a rate that corresponds with the item - this rate is found in the harmonized import duties and tariffs schedule.

Now, your countries' Customs Dept. can do what they want, and decide to not levy duties because they don't want to bother and they also may have minimums - in the USA it is $800usd (an Obama initiative, so wouldn't be surprised if it changes). In Canada, it is $25. Other countries.... I have no idea.

Canadian Duties and US Duties are NOT the same.

Canada currently has the CETA CDN-EU free-trade agreement on 99% of all goods in provisional effect. Therefore, when a Canadian buys Made in Italy Campagnolo Wheels, they in theory, should not be charged duties. The UK will be/is different because of Brexit and therefore they no longer are part of the EU.

Duties have little to nothing to do with the exporting country, and especially not the vendor. There is no such thing as a vendor that has an inside track to avoiding duties. There is, however, sometimes a difference with the courier, because certain couriers are more dilligent at folowing the law than others, and local posts (USPS, Canada Post, Royal Mail etc) are usually understaffed and just let things through whereas large couriers like DHL, FedEx etc, are more often audited by the US Govy/CdnGovy and pay big fines, so they more often levy the duty.

Lastly, the Courier (especially the big guys) pre-pay the duties to the government on your behalf in order to expedite shipments, which is why you often get billed when it arrives. So, they are very unwilling to f-around and not get their money, because they've already paid it. So, if the duty isn't applicable they may charge you anyway and you'll have to fight to get your money back. Domestic mail (Canada Post, USPS, etc) are slower and often do the paperwork before dispatch.

TL,DR;

Expect to pay duties if applicable, your government implemented and enforces those duties and they are watching you.

Hope that helps

[cash05458]

Originally Posted by Hindmost

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

This ^ IF possible...in 12 years of being a mailman I never once had to ask anyone for duty for anything...

[simonov]

Originally Posted by cash05458

This ^ IF possible...in 12 years of being a mailman I never once had to ask anyone for duty for anything...

I just had to pay duties to the mailman for something purchased from Germany...but I didn't mind because, well, it's the law and I got a deal anyway. In general, though, my experience has also been that USPS is less likely to collect the duties than DHL/FedEx/etc.

[Polyglot]

Originally Posted by fignon's barber

Nope. Not when I imported goods from 2011-2014. You always had to code each item, and it was clearly stated that on mixed shipments, you would be charged the duty of the highest categorized item.

Whoever told you this is either misinformed or lying. I import and have imported products from throughout the world and have never had a mixed shipment of products dutied at the highest element duty rate. Perhaps there might be some new rule by which a private individual is treated differently, but it is most assuredly not the case for businesses. Did you work through a broker or did you handle the documentation yourself?