Shipping Supplements from U.S to U.K

[paul80]

I was going to buy some supplements from a U.S website as it seems very good prices, but i'm not sure how much i would have to pay for import duty or customs or whatever you have to pay when it comes in the country.

Has anyone tried this and knows how much you are charged? Say i was to get an order of $100, how much extra would i have to pay?

 

[maryb]

You are allowed to import up to 15s worth and then you pay vat, sometimes stuff gets through but they normally pick it up, on top of the customs charge you then get 8/9 handling charge from the post office, gets pretty expensive, they're out to put us off importing stuff from outside the EU, makes me so angry, prices in the USA are half that of the UK.

 

[paul80]

Ok so if i ordered 100 worth of goods i would pay 20 (VAT 20%) + 8 handling = 28?

Might be still worth it.

Thanks for the reply.

 

[clive powney]

ask the vendor to mark the package as a gift. I didn't do this the first time and was charged - 3 times since , marked as a present it was delivered without additional charges

 

[maryb]

I don't think iherb will do that will they Clive?

 

[paul80]

If i do make an order over 15 i'm not sure how it works. How do i pay the VAT? and the other charge?

 

[iacyi]

I always thought anything below 18 wasn't subject to duty? Perhaps I am just very lucky, but all my shipments under 18 come straight through. Gives me a bit more leeway. Come to think of it my hydroxy-B12 came through also, I didn't check what they marked it as.

Which retailers will ship as a gift? That would be fantastic. Do you add a comment to the order or contact them?

If i do make an order over 15 i'm not sure how it works. How do i pay the VAT? and the other charge?

If I remember correctly you get a note with the charge telling you to go to your local sorting office.

 

[paul80]

I think it has just been lowered to 15.

I don't think it would be worth it to get several smaller orders to avoid paying VAT since the delivery charge from the supplier would be higher anyway.

 

[snowathlete]

As stated by others, the limit is 15. But use the customs published exchange rate which they publish online each month has a different rate. You could be caught out by paying only 15 but customs treating it as say 15.43 or something. The vat is 20% and duty on top, but the post office charge 8 handling fee.

So, either make a large purchase or make lots under 15. I often make several small purchases from iherb - that's what I do as their shipping cost is only $6 each time. Cheaper to do that than pay all the VAT, duty and handling fees, but only pay one shipping charge.

 

[paul80]

From what i've read it seems custom duty is only payed if the value of the import is over 135.

 

[maryb]

Trust me its 15 - I have a postal charge form in my hand as I type
My iherb order was only for 18/19, one got through last week for 18 but they got this one andnow want a payment of 12.08.

 

[iacyi]

:headache: I should have checked this thread earlier because I just made two orders for around 17. I think I might still be able to cancel one of them. Thanks for the warning, I probably wouldn't have found out it had been lowered otherwise.