Customs charge

[Tanzanite]

Ipurchased some items from England as they were on sale the company put a full price declaration on package I got discount 20% offI paid with exchange in to dollars$237 the company DHL Express sent me a bill for duty of 15% on $288 company in England put full value on package plus $6.50 for deferment fee I have purchased from other companys never paid duty is this normal don't you get a duty free allowance should I call customs is this correct I go to London I would of just had them sent to my sister as I know I get $8oo allowance on goods brought in person plus should I get a readout from them showing proof they paid it..

 

[Ero_FL]

I'm not 100% sure I'm understanding what you are trying to ask, but I think they charged you for importing with DHL. If your item was under $200 you should not have a duty cost, though the shipping company can add additional handling fees. I was under the impression from a friend of mine that DHL and FedEx tend to hit you with that whereas using USPS does not. She was talking about Canada so I'm not sure if it's the same for UK.

 

[Gigi22]

This is based on my experience in Canada, so YMMV.
You are entitled to an exemption on customs charges if you actually visited the country, or if you indicated that the goods were to follow when you left. If you didn't visit and declare the items, and your purchase was online (which I think is what happened here), your customs allowance doesn't apply to your purchase.
Suggest you contact the company from which you purchased the items to find out if they can change the amount of the items to the sale price at this point in the transaction--my guess would be that a $51 difference wouldn't give you much of a difference in the duty owed.