UK Crack Import Duties?

[lazyhazysparky]

Morning all,

Just a quick question to the UK Crack owners/addicts - how much will I need to pay for UK import duties?

Cheers

mark.. 

 

[JamieMcC]

I think my duty was around £30 last year and that included the post office handling fee. Perhaps some one who has received one recently will comment.

 

[pduk]

I have one on order at the moment (ordered in the recent sale). When it turns up I'll post again to let you know how much I get stung for

Cheers

Paul.

 

[mcandmar]

You guys get off lightly, i had to pay around €100 for my S.E.X. amp

 

[fullheadofnothing]

I'm not sure what duties will be, but I believe both people who posted actual numbers so far purchased their amps through a bulk purchase reseller that does not necessarily use the same shipping methods or policies we do.  Since the OP purchased directly, any data points based on indirect shipping might not be accurate.

 

[mcandmar]

That's true, forgot about that.  Come to think of it my Crackphone kit managed to sneak through when usually anything over $100 in value gets held for duty ransom.

 

[JamieMcC]

That's true, forgot about that.  Come to think of it my Crackphone kit managed to sneak through when usually anything over $100 in value gets held for duty ransom.

There seem to be a couple of oddities in the uk post system a couple of things can really help with fees on the customers end.

For a kit the customs form should read the parts value inside the box which I think is the case when a second party like Massdrop becomes involved they list the full value.

This can be a massive saving

It helps if buying from the US if you can request standard USPS shipping this takes in y experience just a few days longer but has several advantages

1 Items normally sail through customs
2 Is often delivered by your postman
3 Does not attract a handling fee

The more expensive international post options

Arrive quickly but can get stuck in customs for a long time over a week is not uncommon!
Attract a handling fee by the post office of £8 or handling fee of £19 from Parcel Force if sent via USPS Global Express.

It starts to mount up real quick especially once duty and vat/tax are added. I have had no problems with the plain old USPS shipping and always ask for it now.

http://www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation/

 

[Hornet900]

Hello
I had mine delivered a few weeks ago and cost me  £27 I think ,  standard crack no speedball. 
My speedball has shipped today ..thanks ! whoohoo cant wait    . Amp sounds brill as it is.

Saying that I just payed £20.17 for import duty to royal mail for a tube that cost  $80 .....and its taken 3 weeks ! while my other orders arrived much quicker  :'(

You will love this amp 

 

[JamieMcC]

Hello
I had mine delivered a few weeks ago and cost me  £27 I think ,  standard crack no speedball. 
My speedball has shipped today ..thanks ! whoohoo cant wait    . Amp sounds brill as it is.

Saying that I just payed £20.17 for import duty to royal mail for a tube that cost  $80 .....and its taken 3 weeks ! while my other orders arrived much quicker  :'(

You will love this amp 

The ebay global seller program is the absolute worst rip off for this, I will never use it again. If you contact the seller and request usps instead prior to bidding its normally not a problem and will save a lot on shipping costs.

 

[Hornet900]

It wasn't from ebay Jamie but from vacuumtubes.net  ....  a tung sol 5998, Think it was total $100 including shipping. I'm Not happy with the £20 charges but what can you do, I nearly rang royal mail up.  (It says on the piece of paper the handling fee is £8  rest i dunno 

Yeah and the  ebay sellers fees are the worse rip off now... I was fuming once when I sold a motorcycle exhaust and  was charged £30 odd for sellers fees .

 

[mcandmar]

Jamie your turning into an eBay ninja!

Some good tips there, i have recently seen a lot of US auctions listing customs charges which i had never seen before, i assume that is the difference between courier and USPS shipping you are talking about?

The whole customs thing royally ticks me off, paying X percent duty is one thing, but have to pay a "handling charge" for them to screw with your package and hold it to ransom is a bit much. Then they charge you vat on everything.

These days i just ship items to my sisters address in N.Ireland as its within the UK and roughly 50-60% less for shipping.  Crazy really when its only 100miles up the road, its actually cheaper to drive there once a month than to ship them here directly.

And dont get me started on banking fees, any payment to a UK bank account is €30.  I can send the damn payment using online banking so its entirly automated, but no €30 for that. /rant off

 

[JamieMcC]

Mark here is an example take a look at the import charge on the one below for me it shows US $13.54 on a tube price of US $24.99 wtf!

Its way below the chargeable limit and its actually the UK handling charge plus a little extra because its sent via USPS International Priority Mail Shipping so the post office or Parcel force add a handling fee to process it speedily cough cough, the reality is it gets held up in customs then goes to a holding depot while they send you a letter/card that demands payment of charges before they will release it to you. The sad thing is the extra charge scales as the product increase in the auction despite dispite the handling chage remaining the same my end and no duty due to I think its over $199.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-NOS-RCA-6AS7G-Tube-Black-Plates-Top-Getter-Tested-/390804137464?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item5afdbde5f8

If sent via USPS First Class mail it will sail through customs and will be delivered just as a letter or amazon parcel would with no handling fee.

 

[mcandmar]

Mark here is an example take a look at the import charge on the one below for me it shows US $13.54 on a tube price of US $24.99 wtf!

Its way below the chargeable limit and its actually the UK handling charge plus a little extra because its sent via USPS International Priority Mail Shipping so the post office or Parcel force add a handling fee to process it speedily cough cough, the reality is it gets held up in customs then goes to a holding depot while they send you a letter/card that demands payment of charges before they will release it to you. The sad thing is the extra charge scales as the product increase in the auction despite dispite the handling chage remaining the same my end and no duty due to I think its over $199.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-NOS-RCA-6AS7G-Tube-Black-Plates-Top-Getter-Tested-/390804137464?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item5afdbde5f8

If sent via USPS First Class mail it will sail through customs and will be delivered just as a letter or amazon parcel would with no handling fee.

Yep that exactly what i see, i was watching some headphones they were at a decent price, $40-$50 shipping, but with a $150-200 import charge

So ask for regular first class mail is the trick then, awesome ty.

 

[JamieMcC]

Mark here is an example take a look at the import charge on the one below for me it shows US $13.54 on a tube price of US $24.99 wtf!

Its way below the chargeable limit and its actually the UK handling charge plus a little extra because its sent via USPS International Priority Mail Shipping so the post office or Parcel force add a handling fee to process it speedily cough cough, the reality is it gets held up in customs then goes to a holding depot while they send you a letter/card that demands payment of charges before they will release it to you. The sad thing is the extra charge scales as the product increase in the auction despite dispite the handling chage remaining the same my end and no duty due to I think its over $199.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-NOS-RCA-6AS7G-Tube-Black-Plates-Top-Getter-Tested-/390804137464?pt=Vintage_Electronics_R2&hash=item5afdbde5f8

If sent via USPS First Class mail it will sail through customs and will be delivered just as a letter or amazon parcel would with no handling fee.

Yep that exactly what i see, i was watching some headphones they were at a decent price, $40-$50 shipping, but with a $150-200 import charge

So ask for regular first class mail is the trick then, awesome ty.

Yes I just contact them and just say I would rather not use the global seller program due to having problems with them repackaging items would mind sending  by standard USPS instead and that I will pay any import fees my end if due. If you win don't pay straight away send a reminder message about the USPS and the seller then sends a paypal invoice to you for the correct amount with the amended postage and no extra charges. I have done this more than a few times now and never had a seller turn down the request.

 

[Paul Joppa]

Slightly off topic and out of date but still within the commonwealth, eh? Long ago I was involved with the local chapter of the Acoustical Society of America, and we had a good number of members living in Vancouver B.C. just north of Seattle. We had to send meeting announcements a week earlier to them due to cross-border mail delays, and the postage was much greater. They claimed the extra postage covered the Canadian Postal Service storage charges....

 

[mcandmar]

Here is my Monday morning rant re Irish customs!

I have this DAC i bought a while back second hand, browsing the manufacturers forum i found there was an improved version mid production run however they will upgrade older units free of charge if you return the DAC and pay the shipping charges.

So i spent €43 for the registered shipping back to California, the manufacturer repaired the item free of charge, i then paid the $53.50 registered shipping back to Ireland with an insured value of $200, everything going to plan.

In steps Irish customs who see my package was clearly marked as “Returned goods” with the comment “Being returned from repairs” with an SDR value of $0 and an Insured value of $200, and a postage value of $53.50 clearly marked on the USPS Customs Declaration form.  That would be a customs value of €181 @ 23% vat + €6 handling fee = €47.82 if you ever want to see your package again Sir.    ....you have got to be shitting me!

 

[JamieMcC]

Ouch that must be infuriating to say the least and very much rant worthy.

 

[Paul Birkeland]

That would be a customs value of €181 @ 23% vat + €6 handling fee = €47.82 if you ever want to see your package again Sir.    ....you have got to be shitting me!

I always recommend getting a clear, official looking copy of the invoice from the vendor in this case, then bring it with you when you pick the package up.  If there's any question about the customs declaration, you at least have some proof in your favor.  (Especially if you also bring the original invoice as well from when you bought it)

 

[pduk]

Just by way of update, I have got an invoice from ParcelForce for £26.96 which consists of £18.96 Import VAT plus £8 handling fee. This was for the Crack + Speedball in the recent discount period. Not too bad, I think. Hopefully it'll all come tomorrow and I can get cracking! (pun intended).

Paul.

 

[mcandmar]

That seems reasonable enough all things considered.  I managed to appeal the above after countless bits of paperwork and letters, i just have to wait 4 weeks for them to issue the refund cheque now.  Of course that means i have to take time off work to lodge it as the bank only opens from 10am to 4pm mon-fri and closes for lunch, therefore avoiding everybody who works 9-5 in the real world. /scowl face