Recieving a parcel from USA question

CaptainComedy

CaptainComedy

CaptainComedy

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Hey hey! Been tracking my laptop all week from America (HP HDX18T) and it came into customs an hour ago! Does this mean it will be here tomorrow? Or will it take all day for customs to process?
 
I don't think there is any set time. I seriously doubt you will get it tomorrow. Just depends on luck, could be there one day or a fair few if Customs decide you have been a naughty boy and want to charge you tax.
 
depends who the courier is this end. I bought the missus something from America a few years back at Xmas and it took 6 days after clearing customs to arrive.
 
No just because you paid for delivery doesn't mean you have paid for tax. They could charge you like 20% of the value of the Laptop if it gets stopped. Don't know the exact value but I do remember they can charge something like VAT + some other charges
 
Couriers tend to invoice you for the VAT etc. later. Going back a few years now, I had an imported Asian PS2 delivered by DHL. Thought I'd got away with it until about six weeks after arrival I got a bill for about £35! They paid the VAT/Duty up front then added their fee as well.
 
codec said:
Hey hey! Been tracking my laptop all week from America (HP HDX18T) and it came into customs an hour ago! Does this mean it will be here tomorrow? Or will it take all day for customs to process?
Click to expand...

lololol, good one.

It will take days to get to you i'm afraid, unless you are really lucky.
 
Very varied - usually been 1-3 days for me but on the odd occassion its taken a week.

Also if you bought it from a US store... I hope you have some spare cash... coz in about 60% of the cases where I've bought stuff from the US I've had to pay handling fees, VAT, plus other taxes and stuff in some cases coming to as much as almost 30% on top of the original price.
 
17.5% of the marked price isn't it?

I know when I ordered my 3rd gen iPod I had to pay something stupid like £45.
 
VAT. You are buying goods outside the EU which if everyone did that then whatever the government use the VAT money for it wouldn't be able to. Taxes.

If you bought the laptop in the US from a store or ebay seller etc then be prepared to hand over more money if you want the laptop. VAT is 17.5% of however much the goods are valued at plus there might be other custom fees. The store would HAVE to put down the price you paid for it when they shipped it to you unless it was a gift.
 
You will get billed. I don't know if they will hold it back before you pay them or if you get a bill after.

But the chances of you escaping paying is going to be slim for such goods.
 
Again it depends... I've not ordered high value items so they might hold them back until you pay, with cheaper stuff tho the carrier has asked for the extra at the door - which they had paid on my behalf.
 
Dont forget there is not just VAT. There is also customs charges (basicaly the fee customs charge to open the boxes, inspect them, document them, then prepare them for transit), and also some couriers also charge an extra fee for picking the items up from customs and paying the charges to release the package from customs.

several years ago when i ordered some items from hong kong, DHL allowed cash on delivery for the customs charges. Second time i ordered from hong kong several months later DHL told me that their policy has changed, and they now send an invoice and no longer deliver to the house untill the invoice is payed (you can still collect it from their depo, but you still have to pay for all the charges).
 
There's about a million charges by the rip off hmrc, vat, customs, duty etc. Customs charges are clearly nothing more than profiteering, because the cost of inspecting a parcel does not increase as a % of the items value, it's a flat cost per item regardless of value.
 
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