Domiplate in the UK

[Petey83]

Has anyone in The UK had a domiplate shipped from the states and if so what was the cost including import charges?

 

[jmac80]

Had 3 different orders from Seneca and never once been hit with customs... luck of the draw though!

 

[Ed Bray]

I agree, I just had a Starrett Comb Square sent over, total cost $100 no fees, had a few small bits sent over and the fees including Duty, VAT and RM 'handling charge' cost more than the bits themselves.

 

[Mbconstructionjoinery]

Yeah I had Seneca send me some bit over no import and shipping is added when you buy off there site, fairly quick shipping too

 

[Petey83]

i have pinged them an email so will probs wait on the reply and then order.

its the handling fee royal mail charge tat worries me the most as the VAT would be minimal and the total would be under the duty threshold from memory but royal mail will want £15 for a bit of paper work

 

[Mbconstructionjoinery]

I had no problem this end just ordered online and it came through the door about a week later no issues or extra charges.

 

[CO_JCD]

Royal Mail / Parcelforce charge is usually £8.

Assume you you will be charged VAT on goods and shipping cost, plus the Royal Mail / Parcelforce handling charge.

Import duty (plus VAT) is only charged when the import duty is itself over £9 I believe.

Seneca themselves send quickly in my experience.

John

 

[Roseland]

I did get stung.  From memory they wanted VAT, import duty and a handling charge, which totalled about £18.  And I had to go to the regional Sorting Office (ten miles plus a ferry away) to get it, only to find they don't accept card payments and won't give change for cash...

Grrr.

Andrew

 

[Nippychippy]

I got stung to but I could of fought it you only get taxed if it's over £75 the person in th sort office must of just seen the price in dollars

 

[Ed Bray]

I got stung to but I could of fought it you only get taxed if it's over £75 the person in th sort office must of just seen the price in dollars

And you would have lost!

Duty which is different from VAT is only payable on goods over £135 (excepting alcohol, tobacco and fragrances), but VAT is payable on anything over £15 or £36 if declared as a gift. As soon as you fall foul of either Duty/VAT or VAT alone, the delivery firm be it RM or a Courier can charge you a handling or documentation fee.

But the real rub comes when they charge the 20% VAT it is on the whole amount including any shipping charges and then with the documentation fee on top it can make what seemed a good deal a lot less so, although in the past I readily bought things from the US, I tend to only order things now that are just not available here. By shopping around Europe (especially at the moment) you can get some good deals with the VAT already paid.

Back in the 90s I bought a Porter Cable Bammer from the US, they had just come out and I got what was a very good deal at the time, I was asked when I purchased it if I wanted to buy the Porter Cable nails for the Bammer at the same time, the price was very good so I immediately said yes. About 10 days later, I had a bill from an international carrier for £110 for excess carriage. I had not taken into account how heavy packs of 5000 15g nails would be, so although I still saved money it turned out not to be the bargain I first though. Luckily I was not caught for duty or VAT or I would have ended up paying way over its value. Funny thing is though out of the thousands of nails I had sent over, I still have loads of them left!

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

 

[Nippychippy]

Thanks for the info I did realise that

 

[bertv]

Ask them to package it in a 'personal' style, eg without product packaging and paperwork, with a handprinted address etcetera. In a used carton and with lots of tape.

Businesslike looking stuff is most likely flagged for inspection & stuff with lots of tape is a hassle to unpack for the custom officers (lazy b*ggers, right?).

 

[Wuffles]

Ask them to package it in a 'personal' style, eg without product packaging and paperwork, with a handprinted address etcetera. In a used carton and with lots of tape.

Businesslike looking stuff is most likely flagged for inspection & stuff with lots of tape is a hassle to unpack for the custom officers (lazy b*ggers, right?).

Anyone sending abroad is asked to put a figure down as a customs valuation. I have had things in the past marked as a gift and at a value of less than £35 but it's really up to the sender as to whether they are up for that game. So there's really nothing that can be done.

 

[jmac80]

Bert, Seneca can't really do that as they are running a business, if they got caught they would be in deep S^&%. Not worth it for 99% of companies just to save an overseas customer a few £££..
If you know someone over there though that's a different ball game

 

[Wuffles]

Bert, Seneca can't really do that as they are running a business, if they got caught they would be in deep S^&%. Not worth it for 99% of companies just to save an overseas customer a few £££..
If you know someone over there though that's a different ball game

That's the spirit.

 

[Petey83]

I actually do have family over there but not sure it's worth tur delays and hassle for something at this sort of price point.

I did think about asking them to take delivery of some woodpeckers stuff for me and the sending on but then I realised it would all be imperial scaled so that put pay to that idea.

 

[bertv]

Ask them to package it in a 'personal' style, eg without product packaging and paperwork, with a handprinted address etcetera. In a used carton and with lots of tape.

Businesslike looking stuff is most likely flagged for inspection & stuff with lots of tape is a hassle to unpack for the custom officers (lazy b*ggers, right?).

Anyone sending abroad is asked to put a figure down as a customs valuation. I have had things in the past marked as a gift and at a value of less than £35 but it's really up to the sender as to whether they are up for that game. So there's really nothing that can be done.

I like how you put your message across by *not* doing it. : )

Anyway: several smaller outfits I ordered from in the USofA did me the service of sending stuff over in the form I described. I liked that. Saved a few bucks, and what’s even more: a lot of time. I have experienced delays of over three weeks where packages were held up in customs, even though the worth was not that high.

 

[Jimmy FineCut]

[member=57897]Petey83[/member] did you order one in the end? I'm thinking about ordering one very soon.

 

[Bigchasbroon]

I know quite a few folks either side of the pond with families each side. So pretty much every three or four months someone is going/coming. In fact my parents are in Virginia right now.
I recently bought a couple of router bits from highland WW and it doubled the cost between shipping and taxes then you have the hassle of going to the sorting office. Thing is I haven't even used them yet so could have got them sent to my brothers and got folks to bring them back.

 

[Bigchasbroon]

Just checked, folks come back Wed otherwise I could have got them to bring one over and I could have sent it from here.