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Anybody living in the UK here? Customs question...
mrpotatoheadd
Posts: 7,576 ✭✭✭
I've had two UK buyers write to me in the past week or so complaining about having to pay a customs fee to get their packages. This is a first for me- that's never happened before (the complaints, not the customs fees). Is customs in the UK doing anything differently these days?
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"I believe the coin I brought is stuck in the post office. I have a
customs payment to make, about 25$ have brought many coins from the US and
have never had to pay any money before. Would you have any clue as to why
there is a payment to make."
The other one (I don't have a copy) was far less friendly.
I noticed lately Ebay automatically blocks international bidders if their country isnt among those listed as where you will ship to.I know it's nothing to do with customs but maybe theres been complaints.
One of my most regular dealers is in England , i'll email him and ask , he uses Ebay as well.It doesn't sound right unless it was a quantity of bullion and they want to tax it maybe.
Unless . . . . maybe they are tv license fee dodgers avoiding the post office officials and this is how the post office gets them , that's possible but unlikely,The UK put in a new government recently lib/dems i think , maybe it's them ....it has certainly got me worried as i have a stack of packages all going to the UK this week.
I'll email my buddy in England , he sells on Ebay US as well , if anyone is aware of changes it will be him.It's 3 am there,i'm pretty sure i'll hear back by morning est.
You are not alone. I've had numerous complaints about this. UK Customs seems to have cracked down on collecting duties. Sometimes the buyers feel compelled to blame me for this, but I make it clear that truthful declarations will be made always. They are not allowed to hold you responsible for their customs fees. If they don't like them, then they need to elect a government that will change it (yeah, I know,
and the buyer requested and paid for separate mailings a couple days apart because they said
if over $25 they have to pay customs - not sure if this is a national/regional/local/figment of imagination of buyer thing
<< <i>I remember about 10 months ago sending 2 PEACE dollars both for lower $20ish to UK
and the buyer requested and paid for separate mailings a couple days apart because they said
if over $25 they have to pay customs - not sure if this is a national/regional/local/figment of imagination of buyer thing >>
That's a bit of useful info , thanks.I know what to write in the contents value column now , 24.99 : )
<< <i>They are not allowed to hold you responsible for their customs fees. If they don't like them, then they need to elect a government that will change it (yeah, I know,
I pretty much told the first guy (not the one who I quoted above) that. I wanted to say more (he told me he wanted me to refund the customs charge), but I managed to restrain myself.
Web: www.tonyharmer.org
paying duties is luck of the draw, roughly 95% of the parcels/enveloppes isn't taxed, 5% is.
and it doesn't matter what's inside, everything with a value over $ 50 can be taxed.
In Greece, I've only been caught once at the Customs, almost a decade ago, and the reason was that the parcel had been sent by courier. I've always made clear that I don't want my items to be sent by courier ever since. USPS will 99% of the times go through without a problem. If a registered parcel has a high declared value on the green slip, it is likely to be stopped, so I make clear to the sender that I don't want the value appearing on the slip. If the seller refuses, I'm blessed to have good friends in the US and I end up telling the seller to send the parcel to them, who will forward it to me the way I want it. Of course, nowadays, it's very rare for me to buy from people I haven't dealt with before. It takes mutual understanding, and since I'm asking for something like that, I also assume the risk if the parcel gets lost, which never happened so far, knock on wood.
Still, if something goes wrong and I get a notice from Customs that a parcel is waiting for me, my answer is that I refuse to accept it, and that they send it back to its sender. Recently, a $72 parcel ended up in Customs, and I would have made an exception, if the handling fees hadn't been so extravagant, to the extent that the total fees I was asked to pay were 112 euros.
All this, should give you a clear picture why PCGS Paris is so important to European collectors who wish to grade their collection. There's a huge number of great coins that were never submitted to the US based services, because of fear of losing the coins, or because of the Customs problems.
myEbay
DPOTD 3
Sorry, correction. UK do charge customers fee.
This was from my buyer:
"OK !!! I PAY NOW !!! Please note, mail, when the value of a column, just fill ¥ 50 dollars, because the British Customs and Excise to charge me 17.5% of the tax. THANK YOU VERY MUCH."
I have to laugh at Canada as they not only charge a VAT, they also charge a fee to collect it!
Lou
ANA Life-Member
My sources tell me they do the same thing in the UK.
I'm told this is why i've not had it happen to me as i send parcels almost weekly,but i always mark it as a gift , because it is in my case.In the case of an ebay sale , what does it matter which box is checked, payments made so plain sailing.
<< <i>In the case of an ebay sale , what does it matter which box is checked, payments made so plain sailing. >>
What matters to me is that I send 10-15 international shipments a week, and I doubt the people at the post office would ever believe I give that many gifts. Since I need to deal with them every day and appreaciate their cooperation in helping me to get in and out of there with a minimum amount of hassle, I'm thinking it's probably in my best interest that they don't get the idea that I'm deliberately not filling out the forms properly. But then, that's just me.
I guess everybody has to make their own choice here.
It's slow enough already mailing stuff to destinations outside the US- I don't really care to do anything that might make the wait even longer. I do sympathize with buyers' frustrations with having to pay extra import charges, but the fact of the matter is- I can't do anything about those policies. That's up to the buyers to work out with their government as best they can.
In 36 hours on ebay.uk, since listing, I saw 20% activity / interest compared to my last USA for circulated English coins.
Who in the UK wants to buy @ int'l postage rates, add a VAT tax and custom fee for purchasing a coin from the US?
Answer - No one. At least for circulated, fill the hole in your collection coins. Costs too much for low ball coins.
So much for that ebay.uk option.
Back to ebay usa!
When I sell an item I always list the full value on the customs form and expect others to do the same. Here on the Island the customs dept would soon find out if I bent the rules!
Web: www.tonyharmer.org
Gary