Originally Posted By: expat
I would guess that the complaining Brits are used to ordering from EEC counties, and not being charged duty.
How do you ship?
I often orderfrom the US, If the shipment is sent via USPS I VERY seldom get charged Duty or Tax.
But many US shippers ONLY use UPS or Fed Ex, They calculate Taxes, Duty etc. (Even when Duty is not applicable) and charge a Brokerage fee on top.
Very often the fees exceed the value of the shipment!
As a counter point, yesterday I received a bunch of Reare earth magnets from China, $1.75 including shipping!!!
Brits always pay Value Added Tax on every import (every sale of anything, whether in the UK itself or imported, actually) of 17.5%. The item could easily be Duty Free, but they probably are complaining about the VAT, which is collected by customs upon import, and is the reason for all inspections, brokerage, COD fees (because the shipper collects at the door for payments it made on the importer's behalf in order to clear the shipment so it can be actually delivered) and the high cost of shipping (since the shipper is the one who ultimately deals with it).
So, it's irrelevant whether the item is duty-free or has a tariff of some kind applied to it, because for 100% of imports there will be customs fees and shipper's fees to deal with customs and paying out and collecting fees for the importer.
Every Brit KNOWS they have to pay VAT, so if you are getting bad feedback over added fees and VAT you are somehow attracting bad buyers. Find out why and fix it.
I would guess that the complaining Brits are used to ordering from EEC counties, and not being charged duty.
How do you ship?
I often orderfrom the US, If the shipment is sent via USPS I VERY seldom get charged Duty or Tax.
But many US shippers ONLY use UPS or Fed Ex, They calculate Taxes, Duty etc. (Even when Duty is not applicable) and charge a Brokerage fee on top.
Very often the fees exceed the value of the shipment!
As a counter point, yesterday I received a bunch of Reare earth magnets from China, $1.75 including shipping!!!
Brits always pay Value Added Tax on every import (every sale of anything, whether in the UK itself or imported, actually) of 17.5%. The item could easily be Duty Free, but they probably are complaining about the VAT, which is collected by customs upon import, and is the reason for all inspections, brokerage, COD fees (because the shipper collects at the door for payments it made on the importer's behalf in order to clear the shipment so it can be actually delivered) and the high cost of shipping (since the shipper is the one who ultimately deals with it).
So, it's irrelevant whether the item is duty-free or has a tariff of some kind applied to it, because for 100% of imports there will be customs fees and shipper's fees to deal with customs and paying out and collecting fees for the importer.
Every Brit KNOWS they have to pay VAT, so if you are getting bad feedback over added fees and VAT you are somehow attracting bad buyers. Find out why and fix it.
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