Pre-paid import duty - Hobbyking are at it too now!

[Shaggy39]

Placed order with hk on Friday and had email today with invoice for 41 for duty! It really hacks me off when ebayers have a prepay option and now it seems hk has joined the band wagon. I would rather take my chances with uk customs than risk paying up front unnecessarily.

It seems I have no choice but to pay it as trying to contact some at hk is like trying to phone the pope.

[MadInventor]

At least if HK are going to do that they should make it clear up front what the cost will be before you click 'Buy it now'

[salvine]

School me on this duty. Never had to worry about it here in the States. How do we avoid it?

[TWINSET]

It may not apply to you

For goods imported into the UK from outside of 'Europe' (some exclusions may apply) we have to pay import duty and tax on goods over a certain value.

Because of the number of imports, some parcels slip through untaxed.

One way of avoiding this duty was to ask the seller to falsify shipping documents so the value declared was below the threshold for taxation.

Some companies have now started charging the tax/duty at point of sale, and handing it over to the UK tax office (and maybe Europe)

It's been standard practice for many companies I deal with through work (electronic component distributors) for some time now, and it seems the practice is filtering down to stores now too.

Unfortunately, it means the imported goods aren't so attractive a proposition now, as the advertised price could end up with another 20% slapped on for tax/duties.

[mr crispy]

On the bright side, we shouldn't be getting charged those ridiculous "Handling fees" that Parcelforce and other courier companies like to throw in the customs duty pot. When I get those letters I can't help feeling like they've just sent me a ransom note

[TWINSET]

The downside to that is Parcel Force will have all those staff standing around with nothing to do except inspect more parcels

[scootmike]

I just ran into this today, I'm in the US, sold some parts to a guy in Belgium.

He asked me to lower the value, the problem with this is if I lower the value I cannot insure the parts for what he paid.

If the parts don't turn up paypal takes the full payment out of my account and sends it back to the buyer.

I'm fine with that as long as I insure it for the full value. I don't want to sell parts for $180 and get $20 back from insurance.

I guess the only answer is insure full value or don't ship overseas.

[Cplus]

I refuse to do anything like that. All risk to you and no care from the buyer when it goes pear shaped I bet!

[MadInventor]

I just ran into this today, I'm in the US, sold some parts to a guy in Belgium.

He asked me to lower the value, the problem with this is if I lower the value I cannot insure the parts for what he paid.

If the parts don't turn up paypal takes the full payment out of my account and sends it back to the buyer.

I'm fine with that as long as I insure it for the full value. I don't want to sell parts for $180 and get $20 back from insurance.

I guess the only answer is insure full value or don't ship overseas.

This is why some people in UK avoid buying from the states, as it is illegal to falsify values when shipping items out of the US. That's a good enough reason to refuse to lower the value. I've seen sellers on Ebay from the U.S. stating in their sales that they won't put lower values on items because of this reason.

[Shaggy39]

I avoid buying from the states for that reason but I don't blame the seller, it's the establishment!

I am going to get on my soapbox again with the point I always make when import duty comes up. If I can't buy a product from the UK and have to source from overseas I can't see why I should pay import duty as I always think of duty as penalty for not giving business to UK company. It's not my fault that I can't walk in to a local shop and buy a hk turnigy battery or a hobby king 1/16 beetle so why should I pay extra because I am having to buy from abroad? I am already giving business to uk courier companies that wouldn't have the business of delivering if I was buying locally.

I accept that if I choose to buy a db01rr from china cos it's £100 less than my lhs then I could be liable for import duty but let me take the risk and see if the robbing thieves at parcel force or ups etc pick it up in their duty checking process. If they don't then hooray I am quids in, if not I pay the duty and have a moan about it. All this pre-pay business people are doing now is unfair especially as I am not given the choice.

I bought a watch from a private ebayer in the USA once for $225 and it had pre-paid duty at something like $100. I made best offer and under terms said remove pre-pay duty and we have a deal. It was accepted immediately but the buyer contacted me to say he couldn't remove the Duty charge so I was better off paying the whole amount and he would credit the difference. I was not willing to do that for obvious reasons so told him to sort it out as it's his problem and shouldn't have agreed to the terms. All went quiet until I got an item unpaid dispute opened by the seller. When I questioned it he said he didn't have a choice, it was the only way to get the situation resolved.

My point is eBay have been very quick to offer this fixed duty charge (of which no doubt they get a nice share of) without thinking it through.

[TWINSET]

If you do buy the product in the UK, you've already paid taxes and duties, so why is import any different?

You're not paying extra, you're paying close to what it would cost to buy in the UK, which you're apparently prepared to do if they're available.

You don't need a Turnigy battery or a 1/16 Beetle to stay alive, so importing them is your choice

[Percymon]

As we've said many times before, you weigh up whether its worth buying assuming you'll get charged taxes and handling. If you don;t like the overall cost, then buy local or find an alternative. One good thing is that if the sales from hobbyking global warehouse to other countries drop off, they'll either add more items to local warehouses or lower prices to compensate - after all they still need the turnover.

It is annoying when some items are only available overseas (SRB alloy wheels, good alloy crawler wheels etc etc) but try getting similar items custom made localy and you'll soon be prepared to pay the duties.

[Shaggy39]

to reply to twinset on his comment

'If you do buy the product in the UK, you've already paid taxes and duties, so why is import any different?'

It's just sometimes nice to be able to buy some things cheaper from abroad and lots of us do it which is why Stella, Banzai and Jazzhobby do so well and also why there are so many threads on here moaning about import duty.

It's like when I go to the States every year on holiday I buy stuff that is cheaper over there than here, made even better when the exhange rate is as good as it is at the moment.

By the way I used the 1/16 Beetle and turnigy battery as an example by the way, I don't need or want them. I actually bought a TZ4 and various spares which is to run at a local club meet to see how it compares to Mini Z's, this is what I have got charged 41 euros for.

I give plenty of support to local hobby shops (Radshape being the current favourite)

My moan is not necessarily just about duty, I pay my fair share believe me, its the incosistent levels of duty and the totally unjustifiably high handling costs that couriers are adding. To pay 41 Euros on a £105 order is completely out of kilter.

[TWINSET]

It's one of those circular problems - the only way to avoid the clearing fee is not import, then you can't get the bits you want.

Like most tax, I don't enjoy paying it either but my options are go without or pay the dues.

I could avoid paying fuel duty, emissions duty etc, but that'd mean cycling 18 miles to work every day and give the missus a backy for 10 of those.

UK Gov needs all the ££ they can lay their hands on at the minute, and we'll pay it one way or another

Not sure when the 'taxed at point of sale' came in but it's relatively new, I daresy it'll become widespread.

E41 is a bit much on £105 though, what did Hobbyking attribute it to?

[MadInventor]

It is annoying when some items are only available overseas (SRB alloy wheels, good alloy crawler wheels etc etc) but try getting similar items custom made localy and you'll soon be prepared to pay the duties.

Perhaps if the UK treated it's engineers with a bit more respect and didn't think it could live off financial services and selling burgers there would be more engineering shops to choose from ..............

[WillyChang]

I thought HK was pioneer of the "DIY invoice declaration" hmmm...

Perhaps if the UK treated it's engineers with a bit more respect and didn't think it could live off financial services and selling burgers there would be more engineering shops to choose from ..............

don't even mention Auto Industry now in control of the Chinese/Indians/Germans/etc...!

I'd say Australia is now seeing what UK saw 20yrs ago, but difference being

instead of selling off car factories to foreigners (but still "keeping" jobs local)

the smart Ozzie are simply shutting down all the car plants & eventually

I'd bet they'll be selling off the land for more overpriced housing.

And then wondering why Unemployment is soaring.

[MadInventor]

I thought HK was pioneer of the "DIY invoice declaration" hmmm...

don't even mention Auto Industry now in control of the Chinese/Indians/Germans/etc...!

I'd say Australia is now seeing what UK saw 20yrs ago, but difference being

instead of selling off car factories to foreigners (but still "keeping" jobs local)

the smart Ozzie are simply shutting down all the car plants & eventually

I'd bet they'll be selling off the land for more overpriced housing.

And then wondering why Unemployment is soaring.

It's cheaper in the short term to import cars rather than build them yourself, and it moves the industrial pollution out of the country, but as you say, it leaves big holes in the job market, and in the long run you become totally dependent on other countries exports. Politicians and policy makers aren't interested in anything other than the next 4 years.............

[salvine]

At what amount will a duty apply? Seams like you guys get hit with this for relatively small amounts.

[TWINSET]

There's VAT and Duty - they get applied at the same time.

An earlier post said it didn't appear that Duty (2-5%) applies to RC stuff any more

VAT should be 20% of the amount paid (but false export value declarations generally mean it's 20% of that declaration) and I think it's applicable to commercial imports over £15 - I tried £14 and it was tax-free; www.dutycalculator.com

It's fairly low, whatever the threshold - a £20 import will incur VAT @ £4, and then the carrier's customs clearing fee, £8-£13

For personal imports marked as a gift, the threshold is slightly higher, but not much.

[AndyjcClod]

An example would be the Brushless Combo set I wanted was £199 in the UK and to get it from the States cost £80 with no TAX so the saving is worth it.

What I disagree with the UK post office.

The other day I was fairly charged under £3 for customs charges on a item I bought of ebay. The post office tried to then change me £11 on top of this for a administration fee!

I send a letter of complaint to the Royal Mail and Bo***xy reply about how although they feel this charge in this case in excessive, how it can not be changed and don't worry if I refuse to pay the item will be returned free of charge to the sender!

Which I actually for the first time did not collect as it was only a metal part for a model. I bet returning it will cost them more that if they had done fair charges to start with.

I will climb down from my soapbox now

[TWINSET]

Unfortunately, companies must charge for the time and resources they put into clearing your parcel through customs, paying the bill on your behalf, storing your goods safely until they receive your payment etc.

I remember years back when I used to import dive gear the customs clearing took a lot longer and you had to deal with HMRC direct.

I doubt HMRC could cope on their own now, internet shopping must've increased the number of imports massively.

It's a downside to importing but, as has been posted loads of times before, factor it all in before you buy it and see if it's still worth doing.

Next thing we'll have international shippers refusing to ship to UK because people refuse parcels due to charges which they knew existed but hoped they wouldn't have to pay