Customs charge question

[bebeboeuf]

I ordered a fitness tracker directly from USA manufacturers website

It cost £70

It’s been shipped and I’ve just received a note through the door from Royal Mail asking for £24.68 in customs charges.

Surely this is excessive amount for £70 item?

I’ve looked on royal mails website and they say there is no way to challenge it with them.

Anyone had any experience with this?

It will be £14ish VAT after going through customs (charged in item value plus postage paid) and a handling charge of £8.

Ordering from any country not in the EU incurs VAT upon entry.

Sorry but no, here is no way to avoid paying it. Items from overseas are cheaper because they aren’t subject to the same taxes.

And this is the sort of shitty deal we will be subject to from all countries if we leave the EU

YY, a combination of a fixed handling fee and import taxes. Which are a good thing that we want more of, apparently, according to all those who voted for Brexit.