Buying from Ali Express/Customs and Vat Charges etc

Removed User 345456 · 6 Mar 2023 at 15:12

Wasn't sure which section to post this in, so mods please feel free to move it if it should go elsewhere

So I'm probably going to be buying something above the £135 limit for vat/customs charges from Ali Express next month if all goes to plan...

It's £165 posted... What can I expect to pay? I'm guessing 20% vat then whatever royal mail or the courier want to charge me ontop which I've read is around £8-12 then what about any other charges?

Do you think budgeting for say £230ish would cover me on all costs as I've never done this before.

Thanks!

Werewolf · 6 Mar 2023 at 15:46

VAT these is applicable on any purchase, they got rid of the £15 limit years ago

Duty is only applicable at £135 I think

As for how much you'll pay, that could vary a lot as some places prepay the vat for you meaning you won't pay anything extra, others don't.

IIRC it'll be duty on the item, then vat on the total of the item and postage, then the handling fee which is usually about £10-20 these days (going back many years DHL used to only charge £3.25 or 3% whichever was higher for home customers, but they dropped that).

Raymond Lin · 6 Mar 2023 at 15:49

Rough rule of thumb.

Anything over £135, take the total including shipping, the 25% of that value and it'll be close enough.

tom_e · 6 Mar 2023 at 15:51

AliExpress charge vat at checkout now, not sure if/how that effects duty.

Werewolf · 6 Mar 2023 at 15:55

tom_e said:
AliExpress charge vat at checkout now, not sure if/how that effects duty.

That's quite handy to know, as i've looked at buying a few things but been put off by the possibility of a hefty handling fee on something that might only have cost a tenner.
I've been caught in the past with an item from a retailer that worked out at 2 pence over the limit when the currency conversion was done, it cost more than the item in fees and charges (IIRC it was a DVD that cost ~£14.50 when I bought it, but two weeks later the exchange rate had changed, and I paid about £17 in fees)

Removed User 345456 · 6 Mar 2023 at 15:56

Thanks for all of your inputs, it says free postage on there to the uk from china... I've budgeted roughly for around £230 so I'm hoping this is reasonable as a guesstimate

Werewolf · 6 Mar 2023 at 16:11

in that case if it's vat paid at the checkout then all you might get is duty and a handling fee, and maybe not even that as they seem to be more on the ball for the total value and vat than duty (which IIRC requires a bit more work).

Removed User 345456 · 6 Mar 2023 at 16:12

Ok cool. So I'll just budget for say £250ish and I should be safe?

Do you simply get an email/letter through with a website link to click on and pay it?

Is the website a gov one or what? or 1 gov wesbite 1 and 1 link for the courier charge?

Raymond Lin · 6 Mar 2023 at 16:19

keef247 said:
Ok cool. So I'll just budget for say £250ish and I should be safe?

Do you simply get an email/letter through with a website link to click on and pay it?

Is the website a gov one or what? or 1 gov wesbite 1 and 1 link for the courier charge?

It depends on the courier, if it's Parcel Force then you will get a text/email, depend if Aliexpress filled out the customs form for you correctly. If not, you will get a letter telling you an item has arrived and you need to go to website with the number on the letter to pay.

What i tend to do is once i get the dispatch email with the tracking number, when the tracking shows it's in the country, i would call up and pay on the phone rather than wait for the letter and save a couple of days.

Removed User 345456 · 6 Mar 2023 at 16:21

Raymond Lin said:
It depends on the courier, if it's Parcel Force then you will get a text/email, depend if Aliexpress filled out the customs form for you correctly. If not, you will get a letter telling you an item has arrived and you need to go to website with the number on the letter to pay.

What i tend to do is once i get the dispatch email with the tracking number, when the tracking shows it's in the country, i would call up and pay on the phone rather than wait for the letter and save a couple of days.

Forgive my ignorance, but I've never used ali express before... So will they just send it by christ knows who then when landed that gets sent to a uk courier like RM, DPD, etc and then I receive an email with new tracking for that? Or does Ali Express email you all the tracking from the China side departure?

Raymond Lin · 6 Mar 2023 at 16:26

keef247 said:
Forgive my ignorance, but I've never used ali express before... So will they just send it by christ knows who then when landed that gets sent to a uk courier like RM, DPD, etc and then I receive an email with new tracking for that? Or does Ali Express email you all the tracking from the China side departure?

They will send either normal post or courier, if it's courier then god knows which one when it gets here. If it's UPS or DHL then those tracking number will stay the same across the world.

Typically, if it's normal air mail then too large for royal mail then it will get handed over to Parcel Force. However, when that happens, the tracking number will get converted to a UK one. To get this number you will have to either wait until that letter comes or speak to someone on the phone at Parcel Force.

I have only bought small items (under £135), they all arrive on time, about 1-2 weeks, and generally come via Royal Mail.

Removed User 345456 · 6 Mar 2023 at 16:36

Raymond Lin said:
They will send either normal post or courier, if it's courier then god knows which one when it gets here. If it's UPS or DHL then those tracking number will stay the same across the world.

Typically, if it's normal air mail then too large for royal mail then it will get handed over to Parcel Force. However, when that happens, the tracking number will get converted to a UK one. To get this number you will have to either wait until that letter comes or speak to someone on the phone at Parcel Force.

I have only bought small items (under £135), they all arrive on time, about 1-2 weeks, and generally come via Royal Mail.

Thanks for all your help mate, fwiw it's a matx motherboard. So not a bad size...

So do you reckon it'll get handed to RM? Or are they likely to use someone like UPS/DHL from start to finish?

Do you find it does take the full month to arrive?

tom_e · 6 Mar 2023 at 17:16

Last couple of things I ordered from there used Evri once they'd cleared customs here, that was using the free shipping option. Took about 2.5 weeks even with Chinese New year in the middle.

Raymond Lin · 6 Mar 2023 at 17:33

keef247 said:
Thanks for all your help mate, fwiw it's a matx motherboard. So not a bad size...

So do you reckon it'll get handed to RM? Or are they likely to use someone like UPS/DHL from start to finish?

Do you find it does take the full month to arrive?

Anything larger than a Jiffy bag will be passed over to a courier (parcel force, Evri etc).

Semple · 6 Mar 2023 at 17:48

Just had a load of stuff delivered by Hermes, just over 2 weeks for delivery. If it's small sometimes it'll go via Royal Mail, but based on a Mobo size, I'd say it'll be Hermes.

Removed User 345456 · 6 Mar 2023 at 19:05

Semple said:
Just had a load of stuff delivered by Hermes, just over 2 weeks for delivery. If it's small sometimes it'll go via Royal Mail, but based on a Mobo size, I'd say it'll be Hermes.

did hermes write or email you saying they now had it after it entered the UK? did you get nailed with extra fees?

Semple · 6 Mar 2023 at 19:36

keef247 said:
did hermes write or email you saying they now had it after it entered the UK? did you get nailed with extra fees?

They did email me when they received it, and when it was out for delivery.

It wasn't overly expensive so no no extra fees if that makes any difference, vat was taken at checkout.

jpaul · 6 Mar 2023 at 22:43

could email seller to find out if they provide tracking, or what, that option, would cost.

Removed User 345456 · 6 Mar 2023 at 22:44

Thanks for everyone's inputs. That's answered everything I needed to know now

b0rn2sk8 · 7 Mar 2023 at 07:19

VAT should be paid at checkout and the duty element will vary depending on what the item is. It can range from 0% through through to well, there is no limit.

I think mother boards should be 0% but don’t quote me in that. There are calculators online.