Customs United Kingdom - Customs Fees for imported items?

It's really random, I'm afraid. Some companies, like DOD, mark down the price on the box so it's less likely to be intercepted by customs, but it's really the luck of the draw as to whether they'll decide to make you pay up or not. I was lucky with my Camine and didn't have to pay anything on him when he shipped, but other people have had their dolls seized and held at Customs until they can send the money to make them release them.

 

I import alot of things so i might be able to help.

With the actual exchange rate for GBP to USD $500 is equal to almost £270 http://www.xe.com has a convertor that lists the current exchange rates for the day. Usually if you buy something online if you pay by card they wont charge tax on the order, if you pay by paypal or other means then they'll catch you with a £1.50 exchange rate fee. So it's good to keep some extra money when paying if you dont want to go overdrawn. It really depends on how you choose to pay. Some credit card companies will charge you on the exchange rate tax aswell.

Customs though. It's 50/50 if they catch your parcel. I recently bought something from the US for $124 and they charged me £14 in custom charges. If the company indicates that it's a gift then it will bypass all custom charges and come straight to your house. Even if the price is marked down as Xi-Feng said it's up to the Postal Service whether they choose to charge customs. I think the Post Office website has information on the rates for the custom charges or you could email them about it if your worried.

 

K first doll i got charged £45 she was from luts and my el from a member on here got caught two days ago for £65. He should arrive monday i hate customs

 

I think paypal charges 2.5% commission of foreign exchanges
They have a little converter under the fees section where you can find out how much the transaction will actually be.

If they mark the parcel as a gift with values lower than 38GBP, you should be safe....
Good Luck

 

When I ordered a body for my Seraphiel, the person marked it as $450 for insurance purposes. The tax I paid for him was a whopping 70 something GBP!!!

 

On my latest doll, I got hit with nearly 100 quid in customs. Some doll companies REFUSE to mark down and even if they declare as gift, it doesn't do any good if the value is anything over 38.

Save up your money. If your doll comes and there's no customs to pay, then you've got something saved up for putting towards clothing, etc.

 

wow, you guys got hit for a LOT of money!
My DZ arrived 3 weeks ago (value of £170 i think) and i paid NO import duties! it wasn't marked as a gift, bought Paypal off the DollZoneMart.com ebay sale, so China, Hong Kong?
yet the week before i received a parcel of about the same value from the usa and had to pay £65 !?!?!?!?
Go figure..... who decides these things?

(wow, i've made over 109 posts!....argghhh

 

The funny thing is that the dolls that I receive from Korea and Japan don't even get held up in customs.

The only time I was ever hit by tax was the body I previously mentioned and that came from New York. I guess the people handling parcels from the USA are stricter or something.

 

This is something I'm a little worried about. I hope I'm lucky enough to get her through without being charged. Knowing how things are going with this order I'll get charged and find it's the wrong doll or something lol.
I ordered 2 t shirts from America once and had to pay £8 custom fee, it's ridiculous!

 

I recently got an Iplehouse body and the customs/VAT was £70.00. It's the first time one of my dolls has got caught, so it's possible to get lucky. And he was marked as a gift.

£50.00 of the fee was actually VAT. The rest is customs and excise (which was fairly minimal) and lovely Royal Mail's 'handling fee'.

I asked at the post office once and the postman told me Royal Mail pays the customs charges on your behalf, than you pay them when you go to pick it up. He said they get stuck with the fees fairly often when people don't bother to collect.

 

I've imported shedloads of stuff and so far only been caught in customs once, for a box worth something like $60, I ended up paying £27 in release fees, BUT, that was fed-ex, so I'm not sure how much of it was them charging a "handling fee" and how much was customs.

My doll came direct from Luts and sailed straight through customs without a fee, so it IS possible for them to just let it slide, I think it really depends on how busy they are when they process the parcel to be honest. I've been told by our postman that often they'll let boxes slide just so they don't have to do the associated paperwork!

 

My bf, who is British, goes on about the usual reason of custom tariffs are there to protect domestic industry and business and all that when I complained about the 24 GBP Customs charge on my moon.....
But the rediculous thing is
THERE IS NO BJD MANUFACTURER IN THE UK!!!
They may as well be honest and admit that they're just greedy....

 

Eh, I got £24 in customs charges on my Moon too. It's hillarious, the VAT was less than Parcelforce's fee! XD

£10 to £14. =P

I'm still amused. >_>

But thankfully, I wasn't hit that badly. I've known someone who ended up with over £100 in charges. T_T

 

Grrrr makes me soo angry. I just hate the fact we pay say 300 plus and then get a huge chunk added to that. These charges has even put my nan off wanting me to have any more dolls

 

I've been so lucky and have never had to pay customs on ANY of my boys!

I feel sorry for you guys!

 

If it's shipped through FedEX or EMS then it shouldnt get caught by the Royal Mail apparently~

 

EMS is handled by Parcelforce - the biggest joke of a delivery service I've ever seen. Parcelforce also charges a much higher 'handling fee' for EMS shipments versus other types. But with parcelforce, you're lucky if your EMS package gets delivered within a week, let alone the 2-3 days total the process is supposed to take.

Royal Mail handles standard airmail packages and has a much much lower handling fee for any packages that get customs put on them. And these packages are usually delivered in about the same amount of time as EMS handled by parcelforce.

If I'm given an option between EMS or airmail, I ALWAYS choose airmail. I feel safer with the actual royal mail handling my packages than I do with Parcelfarce.

 

I don't feel safe about both....
But usually I choose registered airmail over airmail parcel or EMS for shipping
Registered airmail get to me from Taiwan in a week whiles it takes the airmail parcel 2 weeks.
My Ching who was sent by EMS from Korea actually arrived at the same time as her outfit from Taiwan which was posted by regular airmail parcel service from Taiwan....
And Ching was posted before the outfit
Sending parcels with Parcelforce is also a bloody joke
Can anyone imagine a 1kg parcel sent via economy delivery(serface parcel) from the U.K. to Taiwan would cost you around 38GBP, which is more than twice the cost of sending a 1 kg parcel via EMS from Taiwan to the U.K.!!!!
And Royalmail only handle small packets (under 2kg and "No single side of any item you send can be longer than 600mm, whilst the length plus depth plus width must not exceed 900mm.
")

Someone should tell watchdog about this!!!!!!
It's bloody disgraceful

 

I've never been hit on any of my dolls...and hope I never do get hit xD

 

Ah thats true =/ EMS is pretty bad but i've never been charged for customs by them. Only when the parcel has come from Hong Kong, otherwise it's never gone through customs for me before and i order ALOT online. But yes Airmail is definatly better but if you can fork out the money for FedEx then thats even better~

 

Yeah I hear they go on size and not weight of packages anymore. Which I don't think is fair, who is ever gonna have a big, light box? Small heavy ones I can understand. What the hell is a handling fee anyway? 'I "handled" your package, give me some money.' ?

 

If you do a qoute on sending a SD-sized doll with its original box which is roughly 70cm X 23cm X 15cm and 3.5kg to Korea, Parcelforce will charge you 53.75GBP for International economy (delivery within 50 days and NOT TRACKED) and 85.70 GBP for International Datapost (similar time with EMS)

Luts shipping cost for one SD-sized doll from Korea to the U.K. is 56~57 USD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This is absolutely Discusting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

I heart you. Can I have your baby?

 

They go on size AND weight now. Cost me £5 to email a large letter to the US -_-;

 

Has anyone ever tried complaining about the VAT charges to customs? I was told that you can get some of your money back, and that you have a high chance if you are a student... but I did not bother doing it anymore.

 

You can be excused from custom charges if you're a student....
But it is a HELL of a hassel
My father sent my computer via Fedex, and my computer was stuck in the custom for almost a WEEK until I managed to find the proof of attendence from my university, send it to them and wait for them to let my computer through.....

I would like to ask BBC Watchdog how the government let Parcelforce to charge so much to send parcels, though

 

Get this guys, yesterday i sent a japanese fan to the USA. i paid £6.21 for international signed for, YET i sent 2 Japanese fans to the USA a couple of days before for £5.16, a heavier parcel of the SAME size!
I am beginning to think that ALL the postal charges in UK are a farce, they have us over a barrel. I wish there was a decent fixed fee, fixed size or fixed box size or something (I post a lot to the USA, Canada and Korea) sometime the postage costs more than the contents!

 

I think Parcelforce has already been featured there some couple of years ago. I got scared when I realised they were the ones to deliver my first doll.

 

This is the problem! They absolutely have us over a barrel and they know it! When the new regulations came in, they made absolutely sure that ANYTHING you couldn't fold into a teeny envelope was making them more money when it travelled. Not only does it make them money, but it makes it more difficult for traders on places like here and ebay to trade sensibly because they're suddenly charging you for the SIZE of the box you're sending, not the weight.

You would've thought they'd be GRATEFUL for the extra trade something like ebay and the general trend towards internet shopping would bring them, but all they seem to be doing is screwing every last penny they can out of us because they know we simply have no choice!

I'm seriously now starting to look into using independent courier services for the bigger stuff I sell on ebay because I suspect I could get a better deal with them than I can just going to the post office. Importing things is become so ridiculously expensive for me now, I've started to have everything delivered to my work address because I've been told by both post office staff and postmen that they actually let a lot more things slide on the customs front when they're addressed to a business premises!

That simply confirms to me the idea that royal mail is out to nail the private sales and trades going on to make themselves a greater profit. It just seems totally pointless to me for them to basically kill off what could for them have still been a nice little earner without getting stupidly greedy.

/rant off

 

I think if I get hit with a big charge I won't be getting any more dolls.
I was only meant to get one anyway, i'm quitting my doll collecting hobby and thought I'd go out with a bang on a dream doll. But I have seen others I like, I might knock that idea on the head. The money is getting ridiculous

 

Is this exclusion from customs charges only if you're an international student (as I assume you are if you had a computer sent internationally), or does it apply to UK students as well?

 

I'm not sure, although I am assuming this is for full-time international students only

 

Oh that's terrible D: and on your own things

blah D: our postal system sucks

 

I can't get into this convo without getting totally cross...I had to pay £65 customs charges for my DIM body....don't get me started.....

 

£65?! That's a disgrace

 

yeah i got charged £65 for my El but he was in a HUGE box so that probably why:P. Luckery my narae made it though without getting hit *does a little happy dance*

 

arghhhh

I just got hit by customs basically £29.00 for a outfit.. Black cat Lucas... nearly £21 VAT and £8 handerling charge,... god was I peed off...

Maz

 

That sucks Kyliebee! I guess my package will get stopped.

I ordered some clothes from Iplehouse and I just read they don't mark down the prices. I guess I'll have the same trouble, Mystical-maz, £30 for a bunch of clothes, disgusting.

 

I don't know why but I seem to be pretty lucky when it comes to avoiding customs charges, my dad sends me stuff from the US all the time (last package was worth $400) and I have yet to be charged, my doll slipped through too

knowing my luck I'll probably get charged the one time I'm totaly skint though

 

my custom fees are horror stories
£160.00 for 2 Unoa
£130 for my white Unoa ...£60.00 for a pocketfairy , £60.00 on a cutie

and that's only a few
I can guarantee , If my parcel arrives at the international Hub on a Saturday ,I will get hit with custom charges , always no exception

I did get real peeved at one point ...now if a company wont send to me marked down
...I wont buy from them ;(

or I try to buy on the secondary

its dreadful ...but there are some EU countries even worse than the UK ,
Italy ,that's a nightmare and Germany too
I hope we never end up like that

 

The only time I got hit by customs was when I bought a HappyDoll body from a private individual from New York, USA. I said the goods were second hand and were marked as a gift, yet I still got charged £70 just because the sender refused to mark it down (and even marked it up for insurance purposes) at $450. ><

 

Well it seems all these charges are insanely random. I thought I&#8217;d been very lucky, for my first three dolls I escaped without any charges at all (which seems strange after reading this and noticing others have been charged loads even though they&#8217;ve ordered from the same places as me) but on my last I had to pay a &#163;65 Fedex bill. Luckily I was all prepared for getting a huge charge but I&#8217;m not sure why it had to be quite that much!

 

Oh my god that's going way to far. I hope it doesn't get any worse as it's bad enough already!

 

This really worries me. ^^;

I have a Dolkot Hara and Dolkot Leaf from Dollmore that'll be shipped this month, plus the Festivous Wishel and an AR Ami I bought from someone in the US on the way - so I have a really bad feeling that I'm going to end up having to pay like half the price of those all over again.

Oh well. :C

The things we do for what we love.

 

Ya, I haven't quite figured out how Fedex manage it, but I try not to buy from companies that use them. I think it's because EVERYTHING they ship goes through customs, plus they add a little extra on - just for them. And even cheap things that have shipped by Fedex get caught. I really don't know why companies use them - I'd only be tempted to if I was shipping something worth a lot of money. It irritates me no end that dickblick.com uses them. £40.00 worth of art supplies and I still end up paying customs/VAT/Fedex special secret charge.

 

If the parcel is shipped by EMS, ParcelForce add a £17.50 handling charge onto whatever the amount is T_T;

Touchwood, I've been lucky with dolls so far, but I've had other things caught by customs before, and it's just ridiculous.

Royal Mail (Airmail, SAL) doesn't have such a pricey handling charge, the thing I REALLY don't get is how ParcelForce slow down your package, make you give them huge amounts of cash and then charge you for the privilege!!

 

Because in so doing, they're helping to 'protect' UK's NONEXISTANT BJD industry?
LOL

 

Oh of course!! Silly me!! Why didn't I think of that!?!? XD; Bah.

 

>D missed out on customs for my elfdolls, huzzah!

 

I've been really lucky with dolls, not once have I been hit with customs fees for anything dolly related. Did get stung &#163;40 for a $20 Emily Strange t-shirt from Hot Topic and I've had charges a few times from Think Geek.com but that's about it.

I am well aware now that I have said this my Moon (who according to the tracking is coming to England via Chicago....scenic route I presume) is going to get the mother of all customs fees >>

 

Okay so I have a Fantasy Doll body incoming and I checked the tracking juts now and it says this:

03-03-2009 09:39 International Hub En route to delivery depot
01-03-2009 19:26 International Hub AWAITING CUSTOMS CHARGING
01-03-2009 19:26 International Hub Arrived in destination country
01-03-2009 11:45 Heathrow Airport Arrived at destination country
27-02-2009 10:58 Delivery Agent - GUANGZHOU - PTT Left origin country
26-02-2009 10:45 Delivery Agent - CHINA Collected from customer

Does this mean I have charges or not? Should I ring ParcelForce and ask them?

 

In my experience it means that it hasnt got customs ^_^

 

Thank you ^___^
I really hope thats the case here too!!!

 

yeah not had that message but as far as I know they hold it until you cough up the fees before they will send it out to the delivery depot. maybe it was under the new fee/import limit?

 

Looks like you don't have charges Congratulations!

If you were getting charges, it would look like this

02-03-2009 08:24 International Hub AWAITING CUSTOMS CHARGING
02-03-2009 08:23 International Hub AWAITING CUSTOMS CHARGES
01-03-2009 23:46 International Hub Arrived in destination country
01-03-2009 16:00 Heathrow Airport Arrived at destination country
01-03-2009 01:42 Delivery Agent - OSAKA - PTT - Left origin country
28-02-2009 18:00 Delivery Agent - JAPAN Collected from customer

 

fingers crossed for you

 

I think you don't get the charges, normally they'll said 'released with charges'.

But I'm not that lucky.....

03-03-2009 13:38 International Hub RELEASED WITH CHARGES
27-02-2009 21:50 International Hub AWAITING CUSTOMS CHARGING
27-02-2009 21:50 International Hub AWAITING CUSTOMS CHARGES
27-02-2009 21:44 International Hub Arrived in destination country
26-02-2009 23:36 Delivery Agent - OSAKA - PTT Left origin country
26-02-2009 18:00 Delivery Agent - JAPAN Collected from customer

 

Mine said the same as yours and it didn't get hit with customs so I think you're safe. It usually tells you if it has been released with charges. It's on the way to your local depot so it should arrive tomorrow or the day after - without charges.

Keep us posted though