Threadless ordering

Dinomania · 22 Mar 2010 at 15:01

Anyone have and idea whether the shipping cost from Threadless.com is included in the taxable worth of the package?

For example, if I got 3 T shirts at $9 each, that would just come under the £18 limit on not having to pay VAT at customs... UNLESS they count amount paid for shipping too (which I think is another $9).

Anyone been stung?

VeNT · 22 Mar 2010 at 15:28

since when is it £18? thought it was like £180!

Steve2000 · 22 Mar 2010 at 15:30

I thought it was £36.

Rotty · 22 Mar 2010 at 15:34

£18 for commercial, £40 for gifts

and yes the carriage does count towards this

if applied correctly you will pay VAT on $36 , the VAT would be about £4.20 plus handling fee,this is usually about £8-15 , yours will prob come in via RM so would be £8

ollyteal · 22 Mar 2010 at 15:39

I got stung just before christmas, turns out I don't really like the tees either :S
To make matters worse it was in the sale but they listed the t-shirts as full price. Can't remember how much the charge was £10-20 maybe

Dinomania · 22 Mar 2010 at 15:39

Ah ha:

All other goods

If you order or send purchased goods other than alcohol, tobacco, perfume and toilet water from a country outside the EU then you:

* don't have to pay Excise Duty
* may have to pay Customs Duty on goods with a value that exceeds £120
* will have to pay Import VAT on goods with a value that exceeds £18

Note that on all goods from outside the EU, Customs Duty is waived if the amount of duty calculated is £7 or under.

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/buying.htm#3

Cheers Rotty - have you been charged incl. the shipping cost, then?

Rotty · 22 Mar 2010 at 15:41

sara said:
Ah ha:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/customs/post/buying.htm#3

Cheers Rotty - have you been charged incl. the shipping cost, then?

not ordered from here but I have been charged with imported stuff in past, would add though that I have got away with it more often than I have been charged

Col_M · 22 Mar 2010 at 15:42

VeNT said:
since when is it £18? thought it was like £180!

It was duty not VAT that was raised and the duty threshold is £135.

Dinomania · 22 Mar 2010 at 15:43

Seems a bit luck-of-the-draw - wonder if the waived £7 includes the handling fee, eh!

m0r94n · 22 Mar 2010 at 15:43

My last order was around £60, think the customs charge was around £15. Me and a friend both split the order, though we never had to actually pay the fee. The postie dropped off the package, along with a form saying we had to pay the charge to receive our goods...

krooton · 22 Mar 2010 at 15:44

Keeping the order under £18 (inc delivery) is only really viable when they have the $6/$3 sales.

I've got 2 batches in that way and not been charged.

Dr.EM · 22 Mar 2010 at 15:45

Rotty is spot on.

Seems you have the highest chance of being hit with import charges when importing from USA. Seems to be less common on items from, say, Japan.

UberTiger · 22 Mar 2010 at 16:20

m0r94n said:
...though we never had to actually pay the fee.

How'd you manage that? Surely customs will just chase you up?

Kol · 22 Mar 2010 at 16:23

m0r94n said:
My last order was around £60, think the customs charge was around £15. Me and a friend both split the order, though we never had to actually pay the fee. The postie dropped off the package, along with a form saying we had to pay the charge to receive our goods...

You will get chased up so don't just ignore it. I did this a few years ago with FedEx. Months later I got a second letter asking for an extra admin fee for non payment which was a stupid amount of money relative to the original charge.

Scottland · 22 Mar 2010 at 16:31

Slightly OT, but redbubble is pretty good for similar style t-shirts to threadless and IIRC ship from the UK.

One More Solo · 22 Mar 2010 at 16:49

sara said:
Anyone have and idea whether the shipping cost from Threadless.com is included in the taxable worth of the package?

For example, if I got 3 T shirts at $9 each, that would just come under the £18 limit on not having to pay VAT at customs... UNLESS they count amount paid for shipping too (which I think is another $9).

Anyone been stung?

Shipping is included I believe.

Pudney · 22 Mar 2010 at 17:46

Kol said:
You will get chased up so don't just ignore it. I did this a few years ago with FedEx. Months later I got a second letter asking for an extra admin fee for non payment which was a stupid amount of money relative to the original charge.

Yeah, but FedEx are normally more on the ball than this than the Royal Mail. Interestingly enough a few years ago was when I worked for FedEx doing their customs import, it's certainly possible I could have been the one responsible for the cost!

Otherwise I almost definitely know the person who did do it as most FedEx freight comes through one location.

Raymond Lin · 22 Mar 2010 at 20:51

Well, mine just got shipped, $81 order....fingers crossed but i don't care if i get slapped with a £20 tax/fee, I've budgeted for that in a way.

Kol · 22 Mar 2010 at 20:54

Pudney@work said:
Yeah, but FedEx are normally more on the ball than this than the Royal Mail. Interestingly enough a few years ago was when I worked for FedEx doing their customs import, it's certainly possible I could have been the one responsible for the cost!

Otherwise I almost definitely know the person who did do it as most FedEx freight comes through one location.

I simply forgot, so if it was you then all good

PardonTheWait · 22 Mar 2010 at 20:55

I've ordered from them three times, got charged customs once. It was the biggest order too! About eight shirts each for me and a mate :/

I forget what the charge was. Helpful as always