Right Stuf Import tax

HanaP

HanaP

Straw Hat Pirate
Has anyone who has ordered before been hit for import tax on their stuff? I don't want to make a large order and then be hit with a massive bill from the Royal Mail. Thanks!
 
I've never been charged customs for Right Stuff orders that I can recall, but I haven't ordered from there for a long time. IIRC they used to mark every item as $5 and send an invoice separately with the correct amounts - although that could still be a problem for more than 4-5 items in a single order. I don't know if they still do this sort of thing.
 
In the last two years I have been charged import duties on every order I make from TRSI and Amazon.com. They charge you £8 for processing the package and then the VAT and Import Duty based on the Invoiced amount, so really it is better order more to spread the £8 processing fee over.

The Post Office never used to bother but in the current squeeze evey penny out of everyone climate they never seem to miss a package now.
 
I never have but tend to make colossal orders which arrive in postal sacks of their own. They mark each item very low but I haven't been hit before even when I order dozens of discs and blatantly go past the magic number.

However, I have two orders in the air right now so I'll update if things have changed. TRSI have been changing their delivery methods around a lot recently.

R
 
Well, with my experience: They mark each item as $5, so, depending on the current exchange rate, that normally falls just below the import threshold if you get 5 items.
 
See my post in the playusa thread, just had a package from them and the customs declaration had the full prices on complete with invoice stuck to the front of the box. Didn't get charged though.

Its hit and miss, I've had a pile of stuff from the USA in the last couple of months and only 1 box got charged.
 
I've ordered something from Right Stuf for the first time today, and I got this strange email from them asking me verify my credit card for them because I'm from outside of the UK. Is this normal?
 
Yes, any non US resident is asked to provide a scan or photo of their card when they order for the first time, just blank out a set of digits like they tell you to. I've been buying from them for years without any problems.
 
The only RightStuf order I made was for around £100-ish (Not including P&P). I hadn't been charged any customs before in my life and when it got here they had charged me a fee of £25!

I wasn't very pleased as you can imagine...

I have terrible luck when it comes to these things ^^;
 
As Unknownfate says, blank the numbers, I have been ordering from TRSI for over 6 years now without a problem.

On the subject of import tax, I have placed 7 orders with TRSI in the last 18 months and only paid import tax on one of those orders that was around 11 single volume files, the others that were 5 - 6 volumes (or brick equivalent) got through without any additional charges. The difference seems to be that the heavier packages always end up with Parcel Force so get charged and the lighter packages go through a different route and sometimes slip through the net.
 
i think i speak for everyone when i say this

as much as i love receiving mail ( my anime stuff ) the Royal Mail can go F*** them selfs

id rather give the money to a homeless person at least it'll do some good
 
I refuse to believe it costs £11 or whatever insane "handling fee" they charge to read a customs label and figure out if it is over or under £15.
 
Aaron said:
To be fair, only part of your charge goes to Royal Mail...HMRC have off with the rest.
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Except on most smaller orders the "handling fee" RM/Parcelforce charge for simply holding your parcel until you pay (was £8 last time I got hit, has probably gone up) is far more than the actual tax. Considering they hold parcels at the depot for free if they aren't subject to tax and you're not in to collect a parcel, that strikes me as a bit much. As Shiroi says, it's basically a charge for putting a sticker on the box telling you to pay. Given that we've heard in the last couple of days that certain couriers (I'd love to know which) charge £35 to deliver a loaf of gluten free bread to a hospital, their profiteering clearly knows no bounds.

So more correctly, it should be "To be fair, only part of your charge goes to HMRC... Royal Mail have off with the rest."
 
It's especially galling when you are just over the limit. I once had to pay the duty and VAT (and why exactly so they include the postal charge when calculating this anyway?) on a delivery that was accidentally about 50p over the limit. The handling fee was more than half of what I paid for the order in the first place.
 
Shiroi Hane said:
It's especially galling when you are just over the limit. I once had to pay the duty and VAT (and why exactly so they include the postal charge when calculating this anyway?) on a delivery that was accidentally about 50p over the limit. The handling fee was more than half of what I paid for the order in the first place.
Click to expand...

Worse still when they screw up and you're not over the limit. I bought a UK release of an Extended LOTR movie from CDWOW for £17.99 which some muppet read as £18.99. I got charged customs on it, and while they refunded the Customs charge, the effing Post Office kept the handling fee.
 
That's still more than £15?

Fedex sent me a couple of invoices for packages of magazines and books. After I complained I magically stopped receiving them.
Their formula is "if consignment over £15 print and post invoice", which being mostly if not entirely automated makes handling fees a laughing stock - there's a limit to how long it takes a button monkey to process one parcel. They don't even do anything different in the physical handling of the parcel - they deliver it as normal and the invoice arrives later.
 
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