Customs duties to pay when importing goods from US to UK

Hi there, i do not know if this is the right place to talk about the customs duty. I have a customer in UK and I shipped him a piece of silver pedant with a value of USD50, I wrote this price the invoices and today my fowarder told me that my customer need to pay customs duty for this pendant. I shipped it by DHL and I also used to shipped few samples but no customs duty before.

Any idea about this? Thanks!

Hi boxofsilver,

Thank you for sharing this situation with us. Honestly, I think you just got lucky with your earlier items being delivered without anyone noticing that money should be charged. All imported articles entering a country is subject for duty (plus any fees their country charges), and technically buying any item outside of the country, to be brought in, is an importation :)

You may also confirm with DHL what made the other items not subjected to this Custom duty fees (was it because of the price, was it tagged as gift etc).

Here's a link to Importation fees to expect in UK Link hidden: Login to view

Kindly update us on this, we'd love to learn. Take care.

Hi Boxofsilver,

It may have something to do with your declared value of USD50 which is approximately GBP32, according to the HMRC -

You will have to pay import VAT on goods with a value that exceeds £15. Note that on all goods from outside the EU, Customs Duty is waived if the amount of duty calculated is £9 or under.

Probably your previous sample shipments were of lesser value thus the duties were waived.

You might find the information in the following links helpful in your future transactions -

Link hidden: Login to view
Link hidden: Login to view

Also, whenever shipping goods abroad it is best to inform your customers ahead of time that they may be charged additional fees once the shipment crosses their border. Just so they know what to expect :)

Hope this helps!

Richelle and Irene,

Thanks for your informative posts and I also checked with my customer, there is a duty for importing outside of UK, he pay the duty and get the package.

Thanks again,
Nick

On behalf of Irene, you're most welcome :) We're both happy to be of assistance!

Hope everything works out. Cheers

Hi there, i do not know if this is the right place to talk about the customs duty. I have a customer in UK and I shipped him a piece of silver pedant with a value of USD50, I wrote this price the invoices and today my fowarder told me that my customer need to pay customs duty for this pendant. I shipped it by DHL and I also used to shipped few samples but no customs duty before.

Any idea about this? Thanks!

Hi,

Looks like it got caught, some parcels get through and some don't- also depends on how you classify the goods eg gift etc if its just a one off shipment then you should be okay.

I would recommend you display this on your terms and conditions page on your site " your goods may be held in customs and a duty be payable this is your responsibility to pay" something like that protects you a little bit from customers and refunds.



Alex C Ryan
Managing Director
Import Export Exposed
startimportingnow.com.au