Posting back my bargains

[MazdaUK]

I think I saw somewhere that it works out economical (!) to post back stuff to the UK if you're buring a lot - e.g. souvenirs for friends purchased in one fell swoop in a Disney store - because you get the tax back AND you don't take it on the plane.

Anyone know anything about this/tried it?

 

[jns]

I am very interested as well

 

[Hilary]

I've never tried this, so I'm only guessing, but wouldn't you end up paying quite a bit in import duty (or whatever tax it is)?

If so, it may wipe out any savings you could make by not paying tax at the till.

 

[Celestine]

Ok, you may not pay state tax (I'm guessing on this bit), but unless your purchase is under £18, your goodies would be subject to UK import tax & THEN VAT is calculated!!! Import tax varies according to the product, but the VAT wil be 17.5% unless the items are books or children's clothes. My guess is that these expenses would far outweigh the savings, unless you were to send each item individually, i.e. below the £18 limit (this is the tactic employed by play.com & the like) when there would be no import duty or VAT as the item would be considered "de-minimis" (I like a tchnical term or two!).
Hope this might help...a bit!

 

[bubblefactory]

We recently had a parcel shipped from Gymboree Kids clothes in the US valued at $216. Got charged £9 import duty, £20 VAT and £13 parcelforce admin fee on delivery ( If you don't pay on the doorstep they return it ). We are appealing the VAT portion as they are kids clothes. The parcel guy said approx. one in eight parcels get assessed for duty so its all down to chance.

 

[debbyLL]

a few years ago i ordered two disney sweatshirts from the american site they were a bargain but they were delivered seperately and i ended up paying £35 duty. not worth the hassle

 

[TraceyL]

... and don't forget the correct duty codes must be used else you get charged a flat rate for everything ( as I did from DisneyStore.com ) It's an absolute nightmare getting the corect rates so I'm afraid I gave up in the end (including paying VAT on children's clothes)

Here's a sample of teh communications..

I will need specific details of the childrens toys before I can classify them. What are they made from? Do they represent humans or animals? Are they parlour games or electonic games (Gameboys or the like)? Are they sets?

but th e important part

The duty rates on toys can be anything from 0% to 4.7% so it is important to get the correct codes.

at least they have suggested I have been overchrged (@21%) !

Well this is laughable - just been into the website to attempt to get my own commodity codes. Started with a Kim Possible nightshirt - TWO pages on PJs and nightdress classifcations. Nothing for nightshirt s- which apparently are completely different to nighties as you 'could' wear them for not sleeping in

And then there's this.....

As well as the above duty, ........ are also liable to an additional 12% duty at present if they originate and are imported from the USA. This extra duty is increasing by 1% on the 1st of every month until March 2005 (13% as of 1st November, 14% 1st December and so on). These extra duties have been imposed as a retaliatory tax due to the US government giving subsidies to exporting US companies that have been deemed illegal by the World Trade Organisation

 

[MazdaUK]

Thanks everyone.

I can see I'll be flying back wearing 10 layers of clothes carrying very heavy cases!

 

[STANDREWSCROSS]

I visited orlando last year spent a fortune and decided to wear timberland boots back on plane actually all eight of us in the trip did this and it set off alarms at airport so we all had to take of boots and put back on just a warning so you are prepared. I also went with old clothes and binned them when I was over there, so I could fit in what I had bought. Premium outlets is definately better than the beltz and it is worthwhile if there is an american holiday to go shopping on that day as many stores have huge discounts. i was there in October and it was St Columbas day 70% discount was given in lots of shops. Florida Mall was quite good and there is a Toys R us next to it. I did not shop at disney as i shop at disneystore.com from home and get items shipped acrossed, i bought over 200$ of stuff at xmas including a bike and was only 36$ for shipping.
Hope this helps

 

[disney13]

One thing I've always done is to go into a main US Post Office and got some of their free cardboard boxes for carrying back ceramics etc. I then pack them in my suitcases with clothes around them for extra padding! A couple of years ago I bought back quite of lot of these ceramics and packaged them all up inside the boxes (Disney shops will always give you extra packaging if you say you're from overseas) and only one was broken when I got home.

Andy

 

[rhysd2]

not that im encouraging this or anything but if you have a US friend ask to use their address as a return address. and mail it all over as "gifts" on the custom form. break the parcels down into smaller ones so it isnt majorly obvious and put approximate values on the form and you might be ok.

My mother does patch work quilting and exchanges fabrics etc with friends all round the world regularly. because it comes as gifts she doesnt pay the fees. Unless its over a certain value(£100 maybe?).

 

[Frances999]

Even if you tick "gift" on the customs lable, the maximum allowed value before tax is charged is $100. Also, to ensure this, the parcel should be marked "Unsolicited Gift"

If posting the items back to yourself from the states, I suppose you could, when putting the description of the items, put that they are "used" on the custom's form - which would allow you to put a lesser value.

 

[Celestine]

The UK limit is still only £18. It is a lottery as to whether it gets picked up, but if you have ever looked at the 3 volumes of commodity codes & tried to decipher them, it makes war & peace look like a "spot the dog" book for preschoolers!