Import vat and duty

[jman]

Whats the average price you usually have to pay if ya get stung?

I had to pay ?26 for 2 games and a boot disc using a courier(TNT) but is it as expensive if using airmail or another service?

Or to put it another way,say for example i brought a new game from an importer in the uk ,say psi-ops for about ?50,would it be cheaper to just get it off videogameplus for around ?25 and pay the vat and duty?

Thx for any help

[wod]

its only more expensive using couriers because they add an admin charge of about 12 quid to the duty to pay

[charlesr]

If you just use non-trackable airmail, you probably won't get hit. Especially if you buy everything individually.

[toythatkills]

Or to put it another way,say for example i brought a new game from an importer in the uk ,say psi-ops for about ?50,would it be cheaper to just get it off videogameplus for around ?25 and pay the vat and duty?

Buy from VGP and chances are there won't be duty.

[SuperBeatBoy]

or ask them to mark down the price on your package before your order ships.

play-asia are good at doing this, they marked down my gradius V to $15 so i wouldn't get hit with customs.

[Himura Kaji]

Yeah ask em to mark it down play-asia knocked my Pop n Music 7,8,9 and ASC down from $790 to $115 also if you use Courier e.g. TNT they charge you a ?10 fee for paying the VAT on your behalf ....

You wont get hit everytime tho ne way.

[Hitcher]

VideoGamesPlus always mark down to $20 and class it as a gift. You'll never get stung that way.

As said, don't ever use a courier service.

[charlaph]

I'm sure MD would have something to say about this, but with marking the value down you run the risk of not getting full compensation if the package goes missing - so it's worth considering the risk if you're importing an expensive package.

You've been charged ?26 on 2 games which probably means you won't have saved much over buying them from a UK based importer, but you won't be charged every time you import directly, so over time you will save money doing it this way.

For games and small packages I usually just go for standard airmail. This is less likely to be picked up at customs in my experience.

[buster_broon]

even parcelforce charge ?12 release fee

basically fella - have everything marked under ?18 is the only safe way

but charges cab differ depending on which service you use

ems - parcelforce accept it - ?12
usps global priority - royal mail handle it ?4

i got an item marked as $20 from yakumo before but becauswe the maraccas weighed so much the value plus the cost of postage took it well over the customs smallest value

i asked them why are you charging me duty on postage from another country and i was told that it was the law and they cant change it

robbing government me thinks