Argh - item from the US held at customs. My fault or the sellers?

[DrinkFeckArseGirls]

The tracking order showed Delivered a few days back but I had no delivery. Long story short it's being held in a local PO Box and I'm supposed to geth a letter about the charges. Was I supposed to know that or should the seller mention something? Should that charge be worked into the item price? Thanks.

This happened to us recently, the customs charge is worked out using the item and postage cost.

Usually if you buy from the US customs charges are for you to pay. The seller would not necessarily know what the customs charges are for every country in the world, specially if they are not a professional seller.

Your problem. You cannot expect a seller to know the ins and outs of every country's customs regulations. There may well be VAT to pay on imported goods, there is no way of working it into the price as no American seller deals with HMRC.

You will have to pay the charges, plus a handling fee.

I had a quick google earlier on and it sounded lile it'd have to be over £120???
Might be wrong. the item with postage was £107

They're an experienced seller, a business

www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad

No, any item over £15 is liable to VAT. There is a higher limit for customs charges. What is your item and how much is it worth?

Yes to pps although, I was caught unawares by this once and I left it uncollected and it went back to the sEller and I got a full refund. Sites can be difficult to navigate and it can be hard to see that you're buying from overseas at times. My last purchase, from China, delayed for a month due to a local festival, was the tip of the learning curve for me. Fecking amazon!

www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

can’t remember what the fees are but they’re steep. It’s not the actual custom fees, it is the handling fees that get you.

I had something shipped from the USA last week.
It was a £67 inc postage I had to pay nearly £20 to Royal Mail in import tax and fees.

Thabks everyone.
The otem was £97 . So probably it'll cost the same as if I got it off Amazon here. Tsk.
Royal mail adviser said I could refuse the parcel but I want to see the fees first - if it amouts to the same price as UK product - fine. Lesson learned.

The extra charges should be VAT (20%) and a £8 Royal Mail handling charge. Call it nearly £30.

Sellers may not, but I do expect the website know. They should have set it up so people can see what they are getting themselves into