Customs

[paulm]

To follow on from a post a few days ago about receiving stuff from abroad.

I ordered a $14 mandrel from a web site in the States and received a card today saying I had to pay a customs charge of £3.32. The post office added an £8.00 handling fee!!!!!!!!!

 

[Paul]

Ouch....

 

[bellringer]

well it worked out to be the same price as the uk

i though they over looked it if it was under £17

 

[paulm]

I couldn't find one in the uk... It was a pin chuck but couldn't remember that when I wrote the thread Age I think

 

[Jim]

I don't understand these handling charges, i am sure that you need to handle packages when posted, but isn't that why we pay for postage???? The Ba****ds

 

[silver]

The post office added the fixed handling fees a few years ago.. It doesn't matter how much you goods are, the price is still the same..

 

[Doug]

wounder

This is why I wont buy gear from the states!

 

[Terry]

Yes i agree with Doug!!!!!

 

[Jim]

wounder

This is why I wont buy gear from the states!

I guess it wont be to long before they add this to Australia too ... Thieves ...

 

[Woody]

Not so long ago it was worth buying from the states the exchange rate was good postage was very good and I used to buy loads of kits, pen blanks and leather pen cases that hold 96 pens from them and Canada but now well it just aint worth it the exchange rate isn't so good and there postage has shot up and all of a sudden our bloody P/O wants a cut so now it just isn't worth it any more I wont buy from them Dave at timber bits also used to sell from an american site but not any more

 

[Walter]

Hmmm.

Expecting RM to pay the duty on your behalf and then collect it from you for free is a bit like your customers expecting you to sell them pens for the cost of the parts. They are providing a service, even if it is a service you don't want.

I agree that the flat rate of £8 seems a bit unreasonable whether your delivery is £5 or £500, but even then, the service they provide is the same so why should the charge differ.

Tax and service charges are unpleasant facts of life. No-one likes paying them but what I really cannot understand why people are surprised to be charged them. I always take them into account when I am working out whether it is worth buying from abroad. Usually I find it isn't.

Walter

 

[silver]

I Agree with you all but I have purchased from many parts of the world and have seen the different quality of kits that are sold.

As the states are a little more demanding on quality I have always been pleased, I have put two identical kits side by side, one from OZ and one from USA and you can see the difference in the quality..

 

[Jim]

Hmmm.

Expecting RM to pay the duty on your behalf and then collect it from you for free is a bit like your customers expecting you to sell them pens for the cost of the parts. They are providing a service, even if it is a service you don't want.

I agree that the flat rate of £8 seems a bit unreasonable whether your delivery is £5 or £500, but even then, the service they provide is the same so why should the charge differ.

Tax and service charges are unpleasant facts of life. No-one likes paying them but what I really cannot understand why people are surprised to be charged them. I always take them into account when I am working out whether it is worth buying from abroad. Usually I find it isn't.

Walter

I don't see anyone on about duty Walter, its the handling charge that gripes me, or should i say griped me ...

 

[Grump]

I Agree with you all but I have purchased from many parts of the world and have seen the different quality of kits that are sold.

As the states are a little more demanding on quality I have always been pleased, I have put two identical kits side by side, one from OZ and one from USA and you can see the difference in the quality..

You are bringing up old arguments here Eamonn but I will say it again.
The only reason we have crap kits is because we put up with crap quality.
I don't agree the states are more demanding than me, I refused to buy any kits and still do until the quality improves.
The kits I have now have been purchased by other people because I refuse to buy them.
I gave all my old crappy kits away.
I say it again if we all stood together and demanded the right quality at the right price then the suppliers would have to listen.
But that will never happen as we know.
Rant over init?

 

[silver]

That's exactly what I mean,, they have stuck together and won't buy it if its not the right quality..

My post states.. "They are more demanding" not the fact that we aren't. Quite the opposite, just we are always after a bargain and don't want to pay a reasonable price for a reasonable quality.. Always looking for a saving..

So they dish up the kits that we are willing to buy.. So I won't buy them and only buy what I see as quality kits.. Anyway, back to the thread.. The RM collects the tax for the HM customs Jim... That's what the handling fee is for..

I believe that is what Walter is referring too....

 

[Grump]

Much like any business is an unpaid tax collector with VAT etc.
Just another money grab from our government whom you voted in so why complain about it?
Great answer Eamonn Touch'e init?

 

[edlea]

And watch prices increase now that RM have gone private

 

[paulm]

Well I'm done with the States too, I'm all priced out. Oh and I forgot to add that I ordered these over 2 months ago.

 

[Walter]

I don't see anyone on about duty Walter, its the handling charge that gripes me, or should i say griped me ...

I know Jim, and that, as Eamonn says, is my point. The handling charge is there because Royal Mail are paying the duty on your behalf and then collecting it from you. I am not sure why anyone would expect them to do that for nothing. Someone has to pay for providing that service and if they don't charge you, the importer, directly then it will have to be absorbed into other postal charges.

Whether the charge is reasonable or not is another matter and one I cannot comment on without a fuller understanding of their costing systems. It is certainly less than some of the other couriers such as FedEx and UPS.

Duty and tax are another thing again. What is a fair tax?

 

[paulm]

Walter, I don't mind paying for any service I have for anything but a non-proportional payment is what I don't like. I understand that I'm covering their costs and paying for the service but on the face of it, they're outright bloody robbers. This amount is less than a Wonga loan and everyone is up in arms about that... a £3.32 loan for 3 days and paying back £11.32... ummm. You may be happy with that but I'm certainly not.