To not understand tax duties on imported goods?

[SamuelWestsMistress]

Oh dear. I ordered a necklace from eBay the other day that has now been shipped the total cost came to $26 usd. Reading more into it I'm now worried I'm going to be slapped with a huge import charge that I hadn't thought about!

I remember my friend sending me a gift from the USA last year and I had to pay £75 to receive it.

Am I likely to be charged a huge amount for this item too?

I ordered some gloves from the USA, paid £13 tax, almost as much as the item.

Oh bollocks. What a pisser. I wish this was made absolutely clear before you bought things. I'm going to probably have to pay an absolute fortune and really can't afford to :-( looks like ill be better off refusing to accept it.

Customs and fees shouldn't amount to more than around 22% of the value of the item. Sometimes the courier will also charge you around £10 in fees too to process the charge!
Often you pay no charges at all...its a bit hit and miss!! Just depends who they send it with, how they package it and the customs declaration.
I wouldn't worry about it until it arrives.

It's USPS who I know are absolute robbers with this. Aaaargh I'm so gutted I could cry.

When you buy, ask the seller to mark the customs for m 'gift' -that often precludes any charge

Different items attract different duty rates, and you'll have to pay VAT on top of that. So it's incorrect that charges won't amount to more than 22%. If you go onto the HMRC website, it gives you more information.

customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageVAT_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000014&propertyType=document#P25_2720

If a seller marks an item as a gift it is fraud. If Royal Mail are delivering and it is over £15 they charge an extra £8 admin charge too.

If you don't pay the fee the item will be returned to the sender, and you can claim you money back via ebay.

Thanks for your info. Looks like I'll be expected to pay £42 altogether with the charges going by the calculator I've found (it only cost £14 plus £3 for shipping.)

I just can't afford that at the moment so I'm going to have to write it off. So gutted because its such a fantastic piece. I SO wish USA eBay wouldn't come up amongst the uk stuff when I search.

Fergoose, I can't claim it back after doing a search eBay say its the buyer's responsibility.

I ordered about £200 worth of makeup from the USA Benefit website (so much cheaper than our version) and i wasn't charged any tax. Hmmm you have me wondering now.

My DH bought me a t-shirt from a US store - it was a few months later that we got the import tax bill. Plus a £10 handling charge.

BUT I bought a lovely necklace (about £125) from a US etsy seller and never got charged anything, so it just depends on your luck.