Buying from Japan Import duty + VAT + handling fee

IC3

IC3

IC3

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I was curios what price there are in Japan and found out that most of the stuff is a lot cheaper 70-100%. One thing I looked at in here costs around 300 and over there around 80-85 pounds.

But the question is, if its actually worth it to buy from Japan? Because if you get charged for import duty, VAT and handling fee the price difference really lowers down... :(
 
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Vat would be 20% on top of the price of the goods + shipping if over £15 for the goods (rate set last Tuesday of the month for the next month, HMRC have it listed on their site).
Duty would be at whatever rate is appliable for the item - it varies a lot, but normally kicks in if the value is over about £100.

Vat can vary too, but it'll typically be 20% for most items, with a few exceptions.

Handling fees, typically about £8-10 for most couriers/delivery services (ranges from about £1.25 or 2% of value whichever is higher for DHL if they deliver, to £16 for something that gets delivered by parcel force express, but RM, PF normal and UPS all charge around £8-10 normally).

The big thing is if anything goes wrong and it's electronics etc, you can then be facing a hefty fee to return it, and may not have any warranty in the UK.
 
Importing is a HIT & MISS experience. Anything over £15 can get VAT added on plus the rip-off "handing" charge but sometimes your parcel will get though and you won't get charged even though the item can cost £100's or more.

Sometimes you can order something for £20 and get the full wack of VAT and the handing charge while something that costs £100 or more will get though without any customs charges.

The shipping option can make a big difference, if you use the slowest service (SAL) which has no tracking and can take anything from 1 week to 3 months (Normally it's the third week) and in my experience the fastest it has arrived has been 3 days.

If you use any tracked service like SAL registered or EMS then you a higher risk of getting charged.
 
With music (as I often buy) it most certainly isn't cheaper. Prices are quite high compared to EU and US counterparts and to keep Japanese consumers buying Japanese releases (and not just importing the cheaper option into Japan) they will often bundle a couple of Japanese only bonus tracks. I have many Japanese bands and artists in my music collection and to avoid getting hit by fees I tend to keep it to a single CD per order so that the price stays below what will trigger a fees hit. But sometimes depending on the release it's inevitable that you do get hit.
 
IronWarrior said:
Importing is a HIT & MISS experience. Anything over £15 can get VAT added on plus the rip-off "handing" charge but sometimes your parcel will get though and you won't get charged even though the item can cost £100's or more.

Sometimes you can order something for £20 and get the full wack of VAT and the handing charge while something that costs £100 or more will get though without any customs charges.

The shipping option can make a big difference, if you use the slowest service (SAL) which has no tracking and can take anything from 1 week to 3 months (Normally it's the third week) and in my experience the fastest it has arrived has been 3 days.

If you use any tracked service like SAL registered or EMS then you a higher risk of getting charged.
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My last package from the US had a £14.97 charge on it, except last Saturday the postman just handed it over to me. Didn't ask for money or signature and it clearly states do no release until fees are paid. I have a feeling they are so back logged over Christmas that they just want to clear it and empty the warehouse or something.
 
I had a parcel from US and that was just handed to me - A month later I got bill for VAT and handling of 40 quid - That was UPS.

Dave
 
DXP55 said:
I had a parcel from US and that was just handed to me - A month later I got bill for VAT and handling of 40 quid - That was UPS.

Dave
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UPS normally ask for C.O.D. and no, not Call of Duty, but Cash On Delivery, it's a purple sticker. You can pay via phone but the driver do not take cards or cheque.

FedEx are the one courier that I know send an invoice afterwards, had one last month.
 
Raymond Lin said:
UPS normally ask for C.O.D. and no, not Call of Duty, but Cash On Delivery, it's a purple sticker. You can pay via phone but the driver do not take cards or cheque.

FedEx are the one courier that I know send an invoice afterwards, had one last month.
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TNT invoice afterwards, as do DHL generally.
 
Raymond Lin said:
FedEx are the one courier that I know send an invoice afterwards, had one last month.
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In my experience Fedex are monumentally incompetent at doing said billing. I had issues with them sending said bills to "Company, Address" rather than "My Name, Company, Address" despite that being what the original package was sent too ... so the letter was rejected by our post room so I never received it. This happened multiple times despite complaints. They were also very bad at over charging by seemingly adding random other charges on the invoice for the calculations to be done against, (common one being adding an additional large shipping charge over and above the original total, including shipping, and then using that new total to calculate VAT etc).

Most of the things I get now are CDs (which are not on UK iTunes and come with bonus DVDs. I tend to get them shipped individually as that comes under the threshold and works out cheaper, even with the increased shipping costs). More expensive things, like concert DVDs, wait till I'm out there and can make big savings from the second hand market ...
 
This might have changed from when I researched it a couple of years ago, but it used to be...

Only Royal Mail can Legally charge additional Fees in the UK under the Treaty of Bern/Universal Postal Union. All other carriers are in effect Contractors for the sender and therefore and have no Legal backing in charging end customers (Recipients) extra Fees (They have NO contract with you and are chancing for a 'Fee'.). Royal Mail are Legally allowed to do it as the 'de facto' Postal Service recognised for the UK and as such act directly under UK Govt. and as such are allowed to claim Administration Fees for the purposes of Taxation which are fixed by HMRC.

If it's not Royal Mail or their recognised subsidiaries then they can whistle for any additional Fees. You will still HAVE to pay any Taxes Due, it is only the HANDLING/ADMINISTRATION Fee that Royal Mail are Legally allowed to charge for. The other Carriers can still try and charge you but they have no Legal leg to stand on if you simply refuse.
 
I import daily

FED EX - Letter 40 days latter
UPS - Letter 28 days latter
PF - 7 days after it's arrived they then ask so watch the tracking, once customs been issued go get it and pay
RM - Same as PF
Yodel - It'll never arrive

This is what should be the last month all £5K worth of orders have come in no charges and should. Like for like orders have. Profit!!!
 
doofer said:
This might have changed from when I researched it a couple of years ago, but it used to be...

Only Royal Mail can Legally charge additional Fees in the UK under the Treaty of Bern/Universal Postal Union. All other carriers are in effect Contractors for the sender and therefore and have no Legal backing in charging end customers (Recipients) extra Fees (They have NO contract with you and are chancing for a 'Fee'.). Royal Mail are Legally allowed to do it as the 'de facto' Postal Service recognised for the UK and as such act directly under UK Govt. and as such are allowed to claim Administration Fees for the purposes of Taxation which are fixed by HMRC.

If it's not Royal Mail or their recognised subsidiaries then they can whistle for any additional Fees. You will still HAVE to pay any Taxes Due, it is only the HANDLING/ADMINISTRATION Fee that Royal Mail are Legally allowed to charge for. The other Carriers can still try and charge you but they have no Legal leg to stand on if you simply refuse.
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What I find amusing about this though is that the postal act states that post cannot be held in lieu of payment, so whilst they might be legally allowed to request that payment, they're not actually allowed to withhold your parcel IF you haven't paid, or refuse to.

I've sucessfully argued the point with Parcel Force to hand over my goods with the above, plus the part about myself not being in any sort of contract with them.

The kicker for these companies is that they often refuse to take any payment it doesn't include the handling fee, so I chose not to give them anything.

I have never actually had anything where customs fees were due via Royal Mail though, and I've bought plenty of things well over the threshold, even where they were marked as such. They all just seem to be ignored for some reason.
 
spoffle said:
What I find amusing about this though is that the postal act states that post cannot be held in lieu of payment, so whilst they might be legally allowed to request that payment, they're not actually allowed to withhold your parcel IF you haven't paid, or refuse to.

I've sucessfully argued the point with Parcel Force to hand over my goods with the above, plus the part about myself not being in any sort of contract with them.

The kicker for these companies is that they often refuse to take any payment it doesn't include the handling fee, so I chose not to give them anything.

I have never actually had anything where customs fees were due via Royal Mail though, and I've bought plenty of things well over the threshold, even where they were marked as such. They all just seem to be ignored for some reason.
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So you haven't paid them any extra costs (VAT, Import duty and handling fees) for the deliveries from Japan? How did you get away with that? I remember I got my power supply after 8 months from USA which was originally sent to Netherlands for RMA. The guy said he can't give me the package intill I pay, I refused to pay as he wanted 90% of what I originally paid for the PSU... :(

cainer said:
its ok, were all adults here... whut you really buy? :p
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Nothing dodgy... :p
It seems that electronics and audio in general are a lot cheaper than UK, even when you add on these ridiculous extra costs.
 
Hmm re the postal act in regards to payment, given that most of the payments are due to HMRC being owed money, I suspect HMRC may beat postal act (or at best a no score draw).
 
IC3 said:
So you haven't paid them any extra costs (VAT, Import duty and handling fees) for the deliveries from Japan? How did you get away with that? I remember I got my power supply after 8 months from USA which was originally sent to Netherlands for RMA. The guy said he can't give me the package intill I pay, I refused to pay as he wanted 90% of what I originally paid for the PSU... :(



Nothing dodgy... :p
It seems that electronics and audio in general are a lot cheaper than UK, even when you add on these ridiculous extra costs.
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He ask to "inspect" the package, takes it and runs out the door.
 
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