Refuse to pay import duty?

[Ataxicbrother]

I'm fully aware and accepting of the fact that you pay import duty and handling if you order outside of the EU, and the order is over £15. However I ordered from Aliexpress, a bag that cost £9. I was very, very careful not to order anything over £15 as it would be more than it's worth.

I had an email today to say that my parcel should be with me soon and is currently "awaiting customs clearance".

From googling it seems they only do this when they suspect a higher value item (maybe the seller over-valued the item, idk).

In this case my bargain bag of £9 will cost nearer to £30, not something I am prepared to pay, as I'm sure it's not worth that much from the reviews, and I can't afford it (if it lasted the summer that was all I wanted).

So if I get stung WIBU to refuse to pay and file non-receipt?

Whilst I feel sorry for the seller, and I fully accept that importing and customs charges are my responsibility, the fact remains the seller must have put more than I paid on the package (at least £6 more than I paid), othewise it wouldn't be awaiting clearance, so it' their fault for not being honest.

They include cost of postage in the bill

I thought they just selected random packages at customs. I don't think this is the sellers fault but if the item gets returned to them they might refund the actual item cost.

I’ve been caught out with this twice recently, sending items from the US to the UK and both times the recipient has had to pay over £30 to get the items!

So annoying when I paid a fortune here in the first place.

You seem to be getting ahead of yourself, OP.

'Awaiting customs clearance' is a process that all imported goods undergo en route to customers and doesn't necessarily mean that your parcel will attract undue attention or import tax/duties

In the event that you are expected to pay an additional charge for the bag, you'll be able to appeal and show the bag and what you paid for it on the Aliexpress website.

As for the seller having declared it to be more than the price you paid, are you psychic? Ime overseas sellers are acutely aware of import tax/duties in the various countries they export to and, if anything, tend to mark the value of the goods down.

I don't know how you've reached the conclusion that the total cost of the bag will be £30. but if this sum has been arrived at through no fault of the seller you would be very unreasonable to file non-receipt. In this case, it'll be you that's being dishonest and should bear in mind the seller will easily discover the fact that you refused delivery.

YABU to have shipped a bag from (presumably) China that you don't see lasting more than 6 months. Buy one from a charity shop next time. It'll be cheaper, last longer, won't have the environmental cost and you'll be saving something from landfill rather than importing something to go straight to landfill in 6 months.

“Awaiting customs clearance” is a blanket term. It doesn’t mean they are assessing the value. It could be a random drug scan, random contents search, anything. I sent a bundle of paperwork overseas once and got the “awaiting customs clearance” message when I tracked it. They make random checks on packages being sent internationally just to make sure everything is above board and you don’t have fake goods, drugs, cash, weapons, animals, insects, or anything else prohibited in there.

it just means it is sitting in a shipping container or whatnot waiting to be moved from container to customs be scanned then to be put on the truck and taken to the mail sorting center