Customs charges - ouch!!

[Piffpaffpoff]

I bought an item from a US seller and have had card through door this morning from Royal Mail saying customs duty is due, plus an astronomical £8 Royal Mail 'admin' charge. Was not aware there would be any customs duty due and was given no warning of this at the time of sale. The amount due in total is about half of what the item cost and had I known about this I would not have bought the item.

Am I just going to have to suck it up or should the vendor be paying this? Advice/Opinions welcomed.

Piffpaffpoff said:
"What i do have a problem with is that I had to pay Royal Mail £8 for sticking a sticker on a box, sending me a card postcard informing me of that charge and then processing a payment of £3.91 to customs and I have a bigger problem with the fact that there appears to be no way whatsoever of avoiding or pre-empting that charge. A charge on a sliding scale, related to the value of the item, might feel fairer.

I also have a huge issue with the whopping charge RM or Parcelforce levy - it's outrageous. Are you saying you wish you knew how to avoid HM Customs charge, or RM charges?

Not paying the customs charge so it is returned to the seller when there is no good reason like over charging, just because you don't want to pay the customs charge and can claim money back through Ebay is a horrible thing to do.

The £8 Royal Mail charge has been £8 for many years though - I've not had to pay customs charges for ages and it was £8 then. There seems to be an element of luck involved with customs charges though as not every parcel gets charged for.

I don't want to avoid Customs charges, I've no problem with paying those charges, as I said in my last post, providing they are applied correctly ( which they were in my case). I want to know how to avoid having to paying £8 to RM - at the moment I don't seem to be able to see any way of not having to pay it, which seems wrong to me.

I'm surprised there's no way to pay the charge without RM getting involved - especially when virtually everything can be done online now.

I don't have a problem with RM charging something as there is admin involved but £8 is steep.

soup I've no problem with some sort of charge from RM either, but £8 for a £3.91 tax charge just feels wrong. A sliding scale would be better, with a fixed upper limit.

I always factor in the customs charge to any bids I make. If I'm overcharged due to the seller over-inflating the value on the CN22, then I claim it back and appeal.
What I wouldn't do, is refuse to pay, thus getting it sent back to the seller? Afterall, why would I, if I wanted the item in the first place and I knew there was a way for me to pay the correct HM Customs charge?? But I suppose we're all different and if one doesn't want the item badly enough in the first place.....

..or it's "buyer remorse"....

Saw your post. Trying to do something myself to stop this international mail charge rip off, see below. The most effective tactic I think is to persuade Competition and Markets Authority to investigate.

www.facebook.com/groups/1252560038166577/

I'm surprised there's no way to pay the charge without RM getting involved - especially when virtually everything can be done online now.

There is actually a way. You buy from a merchant who uses a shipping agent such that they can pre-pay the VAT. When this is done the item gets waived through without any payment being required as a result of processing on arrival in the UK.

Other than that I'm seeing a thread containing suggestions of fraud and dishonesty. I'm unconvinced by protestations of "only suggesting what some people might choose to do".

i ordered something that was £70 and paid all the delivery fees but now i have a customs charge of £22!!!!! i’m so angry

Customs fees have nothing to do with delivery fees? They always apply when receiving goods from outside the UK. 20% plus handling charge so £22 sounds about right.