HOW MUCH

[SE MARK]

Today got a card through the door from the postman saying ive got to pay £41.17 customs charge for the 401 flight cranks ive brought from America  bloody day light robbery thats without the £15.14 ive just payed on my stem . Has anybody else been caught out like this . What happens when you buy something really expensive ..

[kdw712]

most stuff i imported had the Duty applied when parcel force knocked on the door 
a couple of items got thro' without   

some you win some you lose 

[muttley]

Get it labelled as used bike parts $50 value. 

[RATTY]

Mark, I told you it was addictive, you gotta slow down with the buying mate

[pkradman]

welcome to the club mark !! 

[SE MARK]

I just hope these cranks are very very good as they stand me in     WAIT FOR IT    ..................  £250.00 .   God what have i done . The thing is i dont really need them . Three  complete bikes and now five  cranks .  So that means ive got to buy two more frame sets to go with them     And im trying to stop buying things but its so addictive , all the things i wanted when i was a kid but wasn't allowed i can now afford well sort of....

[Pro-tec]

Three  complete bikes and now five  cranks .  So that means ive got to buy two more frame sets to go with them   

Shhhhiiiiiiaaaat!! does that mean I have to build another three bikes around the spare brakes, grips and chain ring I have knocking about?

[Zippy]

You think you've got it bad I've got valve caps begging for something to screw on to.

I got stung on Monday for Customs charges. Both boxes had used vintage bike parts written on them and that the value was only $100. One box they charged me £50 and the other box they charged me £25. Go figure that one.

I'd like to know who I can complain to about that one.

[Moose]

I'd like to know who I can complain to about that one.

No-one, you'll have a job just getting a human voice to talk to with Royal Mail 

[highrisedrifter]

I got stung yesterday for £31.85 for some Tuffs from the US...

Bloody taxes.

HRD

[SE MARK]

Picked up the cranks and the bloke in the sorting office said if you put a value of $50 on the box you shouldn't get charged for it . I said but does that affect the insurance if really its worth more and he said no the insurance is nothing to do with it . So when i buy something else from America  ill ask them to say its worth 50 dollars and see what happens ..   

[Frosty]

Mark,

Don't believe the numpty at parcel force, of course it will affect any claim if lost. If a part is sent over that costs you $300 but is declared on the pacakage as $50 that is the max that the sender can claim back. A lot of the time the senders will require full value to protect themselves.

Use the tarrif code for used bike parts,   9501009000      , this will reduce the duty part to zero, but you may still have vat and the admin fee of parcel force to pay.

I guess it all depends on how much you trust the seller, the postal service and also how much you want the part(s)!!

But welcome to the "I've made Gordon Brown richer club"!!!!

Paul

[Gary72]

Does this code still work if you are bring bikes back from Holiday. Off to the states soon exchange rate $1.91 to the pound,last time i was there 6 years ago it was $1.45 to the pound. Didn't have the BMX bug than just a pregnant wife. Bought back massive box with a rocking chair in it at no extra cost.

[wussy67]

Just bought some race pants for the nationals and got charged £24, was gutted as it would have been cheaper to buy them here, thought i was getting a bargain, bstds

[Dark Diggler]

I'm thinking that as we have all had loads without tax, that they have recently tightened it up cos of the exchange rate. Its like holidays when the kids are off, since you now get labelled a tosser for taking kids on holiday during term time, the holiday companies rarely put deals out at kids holiday times and in most cases charge more, they never used to 

Fecking conspicracy I tell thee


 

[stidds]

I had a query with the customs charge recently on a set of Landing Gear forks, they were actually labelled incorrectly from source and instead of reading $35.00 they read $350.00 and I was being charged £40!!.  I looked into the charges and you should get charged 20% by customs and excise (2.5% import duty and 17.5% VAT - Parcel Force also add a charge).   

So I called HM Customs and Excise, who were incredibly helpful (no joke they were superb).  They said that the charge was incorrect and that I had 2 choices:

1) Pay the full charge and then fill out a claim form to refund the difference (they kindly sent me the form the next day).
2) Go to the Post Office and tell them the problem and that you wish for the parcel to be passed back to Customs and Excise for re-processing.

I chose option 2 and I received my parcel back within a week with the correct charges applied.

So if for any reason you think that you may have been overcharged, call HM Customs and Excise.

[ronnie360]

i also saw that if you put child's bike parts on the label this is surposed to wave the tax to

i dont know if it works as i have only ever got bars from america and i did not pay tax

must have been lucky that time 

ronnie

[stidds]

To be honest the only trick that works is for the sender to lower the value of the parcel, i.e. saying a $500 frame is 2nd hand bicycle parts worth $50.  Most sellers are now unwilling to do this as that means that they can only insure the parcel for $50 and if (when) the parts get lost in transit then they are very out of pocket.

Whenever I buy anything from abroad I always expect the customs charge and VAT to be levied and if I get away with it that is cool.  You can usually get away with small parcels also, frames etc usually get caught by customs.