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Original poster

Etsy - any UK buyers buying from USA?

15 replies

whethergirl · 28/12/2013 23:23

Not sure this is the best place for this query but anyways...

All the best vintage gear on Etsy seems to be from USA sellers. I have always avoided buying anything from the USA (on Etsy and ebay) because of possible custom charges.

Does anyone know a way around this or the likelihood of being hit by these charges? TBH I'm not even sure what these charges are all about.

I am in love with a vintage sweatshirt jumper that I just have to have. (There, that sentence makes it 'style and beauty' does it not? Grin )

OP posts:
Original poster
whethergirl · 28/12/2013 23:27

And while i'm at it, I always select "UK" in the filters for 'shop location' and then all this lovely vintage stuff from USA shows up making me obsess about a particular piece of clothing, only to find out it's from the USA Sad

OP posts:
ClareBaldingsHair · 28/12/2013 23:34

I did it once for a handbag. It was fine, no customs issues or fees. I assume the sellers know what they need to do re exporting their stuff

Lairyfights · 28/12/2013 23:36

I ordered 4 necklaces from the USA over Etsy - I had the settings on UK so it showed everything in £ (and I'm assuming people willing to ship to the UK?) I wasn't charged any extra custom charges, just the postage and packaging the seller wanted (about a fiver I think). I was really worried about ordering them (it came to about £90 worth of stuff), but they arrived within 2 weeks and were perfect!

usualsuspect · 28/12/2013 23:36

I've bought stuff from esty.

Never had custom charges.

usualsuspect · 28/12/2013 23:39

I bought DS a t shirt from an American site.Came within 2 weeks no problem at all.

Original poster
whethergirl · 28/12/2013 23:44

To be honest, I've only ever heard of it happening once. Someone I knew ordered some fancy puppets from the USA and got landed with extortionate custom duty charges. But that was about 7 years ago.

I thought the sender just had to write 'gift' on the customs label and everything would be alright?

OP posts:
NatashaBee · 28/12/2013 23:46

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

GwendolineMaryLacey · 28/12/2013 23:48

I've ordered about 5 pieces of jewellery from etsy and been charged customs once. It's the luck of the drawer.

KittieCat · 28/12/2013 23:53

I ordered from the US and got stung by customs charges. My advice is only buy it if you're happy to pay this on top, thenif you don't get charged, it's a bonus.

HMRC has details about customs charges on their site so you can work out what it may cost.

Original poster
whethergirl · 28/12/2013 23:53

It comes to about £25 with p&p NatashaBee although I'm always seeing vintage stuff I like from the states.

Gwendoline how much did you get charged?

OP posts:
tethersend · 28/12/2013 23:57

Yy, I order from the US on etsy all the time- it's a lottery TBH. Have been stung a few times, but it's worth it in the long run.

Original poster
whethergirl · 29/12/2013 00:10

I find the lot of the stuff from there reasonably priced anyway (would cost more from UK) so maybe it's worth it.

How does it work? Is it held up at the sorting office until you pay up?

OP posts:
usualsuspect · 29/12/2013 00:39

I think.some of the esty stuff is a bit over priced tbh.

And thinking about it DS was stung for custom charges once.

I never have been though.

GwendolineMaryLacey · 29/12/2013 00:47

Just gone back through my emails. It was about £13 on an item bought for $45.

BEEwitched · 29/12/2013 00:52

The real kicker aren't even the customs charges, it's the Royal Mail 'handling' fee - I once was stung for £2.15 custom fees and then had to pay the RM handling flat rate of £7 on top off that.

Some sellers have no problem marking something as a gift but technically it's illegal, so a lot of sellers won't do it.

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