Problem with a shipment to UK

[Former_Member]

Hi Everyone,

Has anyone had a problems with shipping to the UK? In September I had an order for a mirror to go to the United Kingdom. I packed it and sent it right away. Now I received an email from the recipient that she has still not received it yet. She said she received a letter from their customs department stating that she had to pay $55 to release it.

I called the USPS and they confirmed that this is possible and it couldn't have been known in advance, because each country is different with their tax/duty rules for shipping.

My customer seems very annoyed by this. She told me that if she has to pay the $55 she no longer wants the mirror and is going to decline the fee, so it is sent back to me in NY. Do you have any suggestions? I was considering offering to split the fee with her?

Has anyone else run into anything like this? If so, how did oyu handle it?

Thank you!
Molly

[GoTo]

All countries have a different duty-free limit that varies widely. The UK is about $20, the USA is $200 and Australia is $2,000....

Any time a package is over the duty free amount, the buyer runs the risk of having customs stop their package and asses taxes & duty (it's generally hit or miss when you use USPS; packages sent through UPS & FedEx will get hit every time they are over the amount).

When that happens, there's a handling charge added as well and the buyer is billed directly by their own government, the package won't be delivered until it is paid.

So for the UK they'd be at risk for an item over $20, and the handling fee of about $5.50 (if you shipped USPS) will be charged plus VAT (like our sales tax)--I think that's at about 20%. That makes a $100 item about $125 by the time the buyer gets it. (If you shipped FedEx or UPS the handling fees are called brokerage fees and the price is much higher.)


I'd suggest the buyer check out the "Tax on goods bought from a non-EU country" here so they can see it is their own country assessing these extra costs and that you couldn't have known what they'd be in advance:

Tax on goods ordered from or bought abroad
http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/buying.htm


and you should add info to your policies and note to buyer about customs fees being the responsibility of the buyer--as they are legally, for future transactions.

Until recently, comparatively few packages going to the UK were stopped by customs--it seems since the Olympics, many more packages are getting stopped and having customs fees billed to folks receiving packages.



What to do in this situation is had to say--the fees are the buyer's responsibility, and they are supposed to know the rules for importing goods into their own country but you could choose to pay some of the fees to see if you can come to some sort of compromise so you don't lose the sale and the item doesn't have to get sent all the way back here.

Many folks here are new to international purchasing and haven't learned the ropes yet, others have purchased but never had to pay customs out of luck and are surprised when it happens the first time. Right now, a lot of those being hit seem to be UK buyers.

[Former_Member]

Thank you so much for all of hte information above. This really helped me understand the situation better and hopefully I can compromise on something with my buyer so the package is not returned.

I will definitely add something to my shop policies for future orders now that I am aware!

[GoTo]

You're welcome. I was one of the lucky ones to read all about this in the forums before it ever happened to me. :)

You mention that you're in NY--I set up a team just for NYers to help deal with the complicated sales tax & business registration rules we have to follow. You're more than welcome if you'd like to join:


New York State Business
http://www.etsy.com/teams/11781/new-york-state-business

[Former_Member]

Wow that was super helpful, GoTo. I am in that exact situation right now with an order. Thank you.

[GoTo]

You're welcome--sorry to hear you're dealing with it too.