Buying from Ali Express/Customs and Vat Charges etc

[Removed User 345456]

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!

 

[Removed User 345456]

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

 

[Removed User 345456]

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?

 

[Removed User 345456]

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?

 

[Removed User 345456]

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?

 

[Removed User 345456]

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?

 

[Removed User 345456]

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