Since the customs fees are being charged by the UK I think you would be best served by asking your Customs Office directly. The only thing that has changed here in the US is the cost of International shipping ($10 plus for ANY merchandise to ship overseas) and that was, as I understand it, mandated by the UPU due to complaints from other countries that the US was not contributing enough money to move parcels at the destination country.
Thanks, Webpaper.
The bulk of my extra charge is a ridiculous Royal Mail "handling fee", which may not have been applicable had the dealer stated that the package was a "gift". Nevertheless, it's not clear whether all mail from outside the EU is going to warrant this fee, or whether "Border Force" (the tough, masculine, don't-mess-with-us name for UK Customs) just picks on random letters. We shall see soon, as I have a couple more orders coming in from the USA.
There are lots of dealers in the USA, and also in Europe. There appear to be virtually no dealers in the UK. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it just my area of collecting?
Guthrum:-
What size was the package? Was it a Letter or a Large Letter?
Had the shipper put on a customs label with the contents and value listed.
It has been known that a package without a customs label has been inspected, found to contain "goods" and an "Administration Fee" been asked for from the recipient.
Hi Guthrum,
From my experience, I'm guessing the majority of your fee was a Post Office handling fee of some kind.
I had a similar example a couple of years ago.
Edit: I see from your latest post that this was the case!
Brechinite
International shipping is a brave new world. Customs labels can no longer be applied to letter or large letters in the US - only to parcels. Letters and large letters can now only include documents. As Dylan said back in the 60's, "The Times They Are A Changin'".
While it is helpful for the recipient if the sender marks purchased items as gift on the customs form, it is against the law for the sender to mark as such. Whether or not a sender wants to run that particular gauntlet and violate the law would be up to that sender I suppose. I do not think that the government officials would accept an excuse: But the recipient (who paid me) asked me to mark the customs form as gift for the contents.
From my own experience attaching customs forms to packages that make their way to the UK, going back years, some people get dinged and some do not. So, it appears to me that the imposition of extra fees are not consistent so, not fair. But that would be a matter to discuss with UK Customs.
Bruce
Webpaper,
I was using the terms Letter & Large Letter as in The Royal Mails descriptions as Guthrum would be able to relate to these terms better as he is a citizen of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
I do believe that there are major differences of these terms from one Postal Authority to another.
Guthrum:- I do believe there are probably sufficient dealers within the UK. It is just that they are not as good marketers as their American counterparts. (Its probably due to the British reserve and failure to blow their own trumpet!!)
"This seems to be a EU matter"
"
My question is whether all future purchases from outside the EU are going to attract this extra charge (which is frankly too much), or whether for some reason this particular one has attracted the attention of HM Customs."
I'm afraid that the way you put it makes perfect sense.
Apologies if this matter has been discussed elsewhere, but it has affected me only today, despite having bought from several non-EU dealers in the past without trouble.
So, today on a not-especially-expensive ($26) purchase from Colorado, USA, I was mulcted a further £10 ($14) as a "Customs Fee". My question is whether all future purchases from outside the EU are going to attract this extra charge (which is frankly too much), or whether for some reason this particular one has attracted the attention of HM Customs.
Any thoughts? This seems to be a EU matter, so can it be that post-Brexit I will either (a) be charged a fee for every overseas purchase, or (b) be charged no fees at all?
re: Non-EU to UK Customs Charges
Since the customs fees are being charged by the UK I think you would be best served by asking your Customs Office directly. The only thing that has changed here in the US is the cost of International shipping ($10 plus for ANY merchandise to ship overseas) and that was, as I understand it, mandated by the UPU due to complaints from other countries that the US was not contributing enough money to move parcels at the destination country.
re: Non-EU to UK Customs Charges
Thanks, Webpaper.
The bulk of my extra charge is a ridiculous Royal Mail "handling fee", which may not have been applicable had the dealer stated that the package was a "gift". Nevertheless, it's not clear whether all mail from outside the EU is going to warrant this fee, or whether "Border Force" (the tough, masculine, don't-mess-with-us name for UK Customs) just picks on random letters. We shall see soon, as I have a couple more orders coming in from the USA.
There are lots of dealers in the USA, and also in Europe. There appear to be virtually no dealers in the UK. Has anyone else noticed this, or is it just my area of collecting?
re: Non-EU to UK Customs Charges
Guthrum:-
What size was the package? Was it a Letter or a Large Letter?
Had the shipper put on a customs label with the contents and value listed.
It has been known that a package without a customs label has been inspected, found to contain "goods" and an "Administration Fee" been asked for from the recipient.
re: Non-EU to UK Customs Charges
Hi Guthrum,
From my experience, I'm guessing the majority of your fee was a Post Office handling fee of some kind.
I had a similar example a couple of years ago.
Edit: I see from your latest post that this was the case!
re: Non-EU to UK Customs Charges
Brechinite
International shipping is a brave new world. Customs labels can no longer be applied to letter or large letters in the US - only to parcels. Letters and large letters can now only include documents. As Dylan said back in the 60's, "The Times They Are A Changin'".
re: Non-EU to UK Customs Charges
While it is helpful for the recipient if the sender marks purchased items as gift on the customs form, it is against the law for the sender to mark as such. Whether or not a sender wants to run that particular gauntlet and violate the law would be up to that sender I suppose. I do not think that the government officials would accept an excuse: But the recipient (who paid me) asked me to mark the customs form as gift for the contents.
From my own experience attaching customs forms to packages that make their way to the UK, going back years, some people get dinged and some do not. So, it appears to me that the imposition of extra fees are not consistent so, not fair. But that would be a matter to discuss with UK Customs.
Bruce
re: Non-EU to UK Customs Charges
Webpaper,
I was using the terms Letter & Large Letter as in The Royal Mails descriptions as Guthrum would be able to relate to these terms better as he is a citizen of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
I do believe that there are major differences of these terms from one Postal Authority to another.
Guthrum:- I do believe there are probably sufficient dealers within the UK. It is just that they are not as good marketers as their American counterparts. (Its probably due to the British reserve and failure to blow their own trumpet!!)
re: Non-EU to UK Customs Charges
"This seems to be a EU matter"
"
My question is whether all future purchases from outside the EU are going to attract this extra charge (which is frankly too much), or whether for some reason this particular one has attracted the attention of HM Customs."
re: Non-EU to UK Customs Charges
I'm afraid that the way you put it makes perfect sense.