hit by customs WTF!!!!!! god am i mad.

[kevkevkev]

got a letter saying parcelforce are holding a parcel with a bill for 14 pounds VAT and a further 13 pounds clearance fee. WTF!
this is either my dan mccarthy. or my dave kinsey.
either way this sounds like what i've seen alot of, sellers marking the item low value to avoid customs. will the seller (artist) reimburse me for this????

[electrachrome]

will the seller (artist) reimburse me for this????

why should the seller/artist pay YOUR tax? they didn't impose it on you nor force you to purchase from them.
I don't mean to sound like a dick, but seriously?

[talkingdeads]

i contested an import fee from Simplyvinyl back when they were still turning out kick ass 180 gram reissues. They ended up giving store credit, but it's your government's citizen imposed import tax essentially.

i count myself lucky since i've only had to pay it twice in my life.

[jojobadass]

we kicked your ass back in 1776 for the same reason.

revolt!!

[Codeblue]

[bathroommonkey]

another good reason to never ship out of this country ever again. my head would explode if some buyer sent me a message that they were pissed about THEIR TAXES.

most of the time they have us by the balls because they ask for it to be a low declared value and marked gift, it can only drymount the seller.

[kevkevkev]

my main worry is some jobsworth with dirty fingers has yanked the poster out and shoved it back in again. the irony is. i read on ebay that there is some sort of 3 day postal strike going on right now in the uk. the whole system is a joke over here. the workers go on strike every few months cause they want more money. they should be thankful they have a job.

[angus3102]

all other import taxes are charged to the seller (the one making the profit and markup). So, if you insist that the Seller pays these, then the prices for your shipping goes up and insurance. As well as, the price for the goods being shipped. And if you pay the premium and they don't get charged by customs, do you get a refund?

Unfortunately, it is the risk taken for ordering things from other countries. You save on the markup for now and if you have to pay customs, then just the cost of doing business (buyer, that is)

[ryefish75]

They gotta pay for your "free" healthcare somehow.

[Stingers]

You got off lightly trust me . I have the shitist luck with customs .

[edgar]

my main worry is some jobsworth with dirty fingers has yanked the poster out and shoved it back in again. the irony is. i read on ebay that there is some sort of 3 day postal strike going on right now in the uk. the whole system is a joke over here. the workers go on strike every few months cause they want more money. they should be thankful they have a job.

how do you know he didn't limey the poster out?

[RupertPupkin]

got a letter saying parcelforce are holding a parcel with a bill for 14 pounds VAT and a further 13 pounds clearance fee. WTF!
this is either my dan mccarthy. or my dave kinsey.
either way this sounds like what i've seen alot of, sellers marking the item low value to avoid customs. will the seller (artist) reimburse me for this????

Mate, I think you've got the wrong end of the stick. It is not the case that the seller has marked the item low value to avoid customs, it is that the seller has marked the item with the correct (high) value - it's probably the Kinsey because the Mccarthy would probably not have had a high enough value to trigger the customs charge. Basically there is a value that triggers customs charges, I can't remember what it is but something like £30. If your package has a higher value it is likely to be retained until charges are paid.
In my experience they only check items that are shipped priority, things that are sent 1st class usually seem to get to me without customs charges being incurred.

my main worry is some jobsworth with dirty fingers has yanked the poster out and shoved it back in again.

This almost certainly won't have happened, they will be basing the customs charges on the shipping documents attached to the tube - they don't need to open it.

You have to accept the risk of customs charges when you buy high-value items from abroad. Charges are definitely not the responsibility of the seller. If I buy anything worth more than about $50 I assume that customs charges will be incurrred. I usually ask sellers to put a low value on customs forms, but packages cannot be insured for a higher value than is put on the customs form, so it is a risk. I make it clear to all sellers that I will take full responsibility for the risk as long as they ship with tracking - if there is damage it is MY problem and I am happy with that. Obviously this involves a certain amount of trust on the seller's part (because it is supposed to be the seller's responsibility to insure packages they send); some agree to do it, some don't, it's their call. Many artists/dealers put a low value on their tubes as a matter of course but some won't consider it, e.g. DFP. I completely understand why they don't want to, because ultimately, officially, it is the seller's responsibility to insure packages.

Not sure if that all makes sense, but the bottom line is this: if you buy medium/high value items from abroad, be prepared to pay customs charges. they are YOUR responsibility as the buyer.

[RupertPupkin]

You got off lightly trust me . I have the shitist luck with customs .

I paid over £100 on one customs charge. It hurt.

[jenga]

Its deffo your kinsey.. dan marks his tubes as $10 tubes or something similar. Anything over £36 gets hit with tax.
Its 15% of the value of the poster plus 15% of the value of the shipping, plus about an £8 handling fee.
Consider how many prints and posters you may have got away with paying tax on

[Codeblue]

What a racket.