Anyone got a parcel stuck at a border recently?

[Pawnless Endgame]

My German friend and I send gifts to each other a few times a year including Christmas. The services involved are Royal Mail and DHL as they use the same tracking system. She has received my parcel ok on 19th December in time for Christmas. However, the one she's sending to me has been stuck on the German border (export parcel centre) for the past 2 weeks. When she queried it with DHL, they said (in German obv): "right now, you are not able to send boxes to UK and Ireland".

I'm thinking that it's due to the new covid-20 strain and various countries shutting their borders to the UK.

Have anyone else got parcels stuck at a border atm? It's not high value (below the £30 customs threshold) but it's still annoying as it was meant to be for Christmas. Plus, she bakes stuff for Christmas which will obviously go off in a few weeks time.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

Thanks fellas

Looks like it is to do with the new covid strain. I have received food (homemade) every Christmas since 2006, and so the other reason is random checks and I just got unlucky this time. I never realised it is a rule. I have sent food to her too but not homemade. Things like Cadbury's Créme Eggs as they don't have them in Germany.

Thanks again. I'll just keep an eye on the tracking page.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

Quite a few of us in the thread have been stung now it seems, a lot of posters mentioning Germany too.

There is another thread here now called "Postage prices to Europe sky rocketed?" (posted by Craterloads) and it seems to be a similar issue but other other way round. Seems like on that thread that it's a supply vs demand issue.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

Update: DHL tracking now shows the parcel as being in the destination country (UK). So it was stuck on the border for 3 weeks in the end. I guess it should arrive at my house by the end of this week.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

It arrived today thanks goodness!

The tracking went as follows:

15 Dec - shipment posted by sender at the packstation ('packstation' is like our Amazon lockers over here)
16 Dec - shipment taken from the packstation
17 Dec - international shipment processed in the export parcel centre
06 Jan - shipment arrived in destination country
07 Jan - shipment loaded onto delivery vehicle
07 Jan - shipment successfully delivered

The thing looks pretty solid and heavy and there is no indication that customs have opened it. Address label is intact etc.

Hope everyone else here get their parcels ok as there are a fair few of us in here (Germany and other countries it seems!)

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

I’m not looking to make this a brexit thread as these new import arrangements were happening anyway, they also just apply to countries they never previously did which is to do with the B word.

I think it's partly the B-word, but at the time I posted my OP, there was a also a hold up due to the new covid strain. Around Christmas time, the UK-France border closed, which meant that lorry drivers were confined to their cabs for several days including Christmas Day itself. Then here we are, thinking that our own lockdown was difficult enough!!

The later and more drawn-out these deliveries on this thread have become though, especially now that we're in late January, the more relevant the B-word has become.

For future reference, is there a threshold where items don't incur customs? I think from China, Hong Kong and the USA, you can order up to £30 in goods before you get stung for customs. What makes it unfair though is that the £30 limit also includes the shipping. So if shipping is £10, you can only send up to £20 in goods. Just thinking back to my OP with the German friend that I exchange gifts with a few times a year.

 

[Pawnless Endgame]

you should be paying U.K. VAT on anything you order now regardless on anything you order which will be at the point of sale for below £135. Customs duty (if it applies) kicks in at £135.

What about gifts though? A lot of what she sends me is hand-crafted. E.g. a hand-knitted scarf, cushion, drawings (on paper), custom cards/postcards, little character plushies etc. Why would the tax man be interested in the materials that were used to make these? The monetary value is in the time that she put to make or draw these items, and they're gifts from her that I get every year since 2006. No transactions made. Sure the stuff I send to her will be more tricky as I tend to buy items that she likes rather than making them myself and the tax man will probably be interested if their combined value is over a certain amount. So my question remains - what is the threshold before tax is levied? Is it £30 like with Hong Kong, USA etc?