Customs Fee To Pay From.....Germany?

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Soldato
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8 Oct 2009
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United Kingdom
So i have a Glorious Model o- gaming mouse in which for many owners, the cable stopped working. I contacted the manufacturer who gave me a discount code to receive a new cable for free! $0.00 paid on their website (American company/website).

From everything I've seen Glorious operate and dispatch their European business from Germany.

Today i received a fee to pay card from RM regarding withheld goods in customs with the following info online:

Sender name POSTFACH 2265 .
Sender country Germany
Charge details
Import VAT £3.74
Handling fee £8.00

As per the EU commission website the United Kingdom is still part of the customs union and does not have to pay import taxes on items coming from within the EU at least during the Brexit crossover period.

Im pretty astonished i have to pay £12 on an item i received for free dispatched within the EU. I can get RM to waiver this fee.......right?
 
The parcel should have a sticker on the outside stating where it was sent from. If it says Germany like you indicate in the OP then no you shouldn’t have to pay anything. As said above, it could have been sent from the US to their EU distribution hub and forwarded on from there
 
There's nothing on the card to indicate where it came from but the info online is as it states in the OP - Germany. I'l give RM a call tomorrow and see what they say.
 
You dealt with a US company though so no VAT has been paid? it doesn't matter where it came from. If you buy from Germany VAT is included in the price, if you buy from the US it isn't.

Royal Mail handling charges are the real crime here, I can't wait for a free trade agreement with the US in order to avoid them.
 
Good point didn't notice that, try speaking with Royal Mail they're robbing him on the handling fee if nothing else.
 
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We are no longer in the EU. Anything bought from Europe, including Amazon de, would I presume now be subject to duty and the insidious PO/courier handling fee, in the same way as anything with a value over £15 ordered from the USA, Australia etc.
 
Vern1961 said:
We are no longer in the EU. Anything bought from Europe, including Amazon de, would I presume now be subject to duty and the insidious PO/courier handling fee, in the same way as anything with a value over £15 ordered from the USA, Australia etc.
Click to expand...
How about reading the thread or even more than the first sentence before replying? The OP didn't buy anything. :D
 
Vern1961 said:
We are no longer in the EU. Anything bought from Europe, including Amazon de, would I presume now be subject to duty and the insidious PO/courier handling fee, in the same way as anything with a value over £15 ordered from the USA, Australia etc.
Click to expand...

No, we’re currently in a transition period with the EU until Dec 2020 (I think) where during that time, nothing changes with customs from EU countries.
 
I'm sure there have been many threads on this over the years; Royal Mail / HMRC don't take into account what you paid or didn't pay, they care what the value of the item is and then charge accordingly. So VAT will be charged on the value of the item, regardless.

Yes, it's wrong as it's a warranty replacement that didn't cost you anything, but that doesn't stop them from doing it unfortunately
 
Kol said:
I'm sure there have been many threads on this over the years; Royal Mail / HMRC don't take into account what you paid or didn't pay, they care what the value of the item is and then charge accordingly. So VAT will be charged on the value of the item, regardless.

Yes, it's wrong as it's a warranty replacement that didn't cost you anything, but that doesn't stop them from doing it unfortunately
Click to expand...

Unfortunately I think this is correct.
 
Good find. Like I said, they still do it regardless as they expect people not to know/fight it (as has been seen many times on here, unfortunately).
 
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