The YDC T-shirt

[meebo1]

It has arrived this morning, but I had to pay over £12 customs fees. Has anyone else have that?

[cornishmaid1961]

Crikey Meebo looks like you got clobbered with import duty for goods over £18.00
I would write to customs and appeal as 1/ It is a secondhand item 2/ you didn't buy it to keep and 3/ neither the buyer or seller is making a profit on it so I would have thought it should be classed as a gift. I don't know how you stand on this as it's an unusual situation but I would also send a printout of the charity advert.

I think the 'gift' limit is now £40.

[meebo1]

Maybe the declaration form could have a set value rather than what it achieved in the auction. Let's face it: on the open market it probably wouldn't make a tenner

[cornishmaid1961]

Maybe the declaration form could have a set value rather than what it achieved in the auction. Let's face it: on the open market it probably wouldn't make a tenner

I think that is a good idea. I wouldn't have thought it was worth anything to anybody apart from a historian researching the YDC in years to come !

[PoppyGrove]

From my experience from buying overseas I think what you pay (if anything) for customs duty is totally dependant on how the form is filled in. If the sender has checked the gift box then it goes through without hiccup (sp) but if the sender checks that the contents are goods or something of a commercial nature then there is money to pay.

I found this out some years back when I bought some edging laces from 2 different sellers. One marked it as gift so the package came through customs and got to me without any fees the other marked it as goods of commercial value (or something like that) and I had about £27 to pay in customs duty before I could get my package. I hope that helps.

[meebo1]

Actually, nothing was ticked, so they just assumed it was commercial. So let's hope everyone remembers to tick gift, and put's in the value of the t-shirt and not what the auction price was. I shall live with this, but it would be sad if it happens again

[starlady22]

Blimey that's a bit steep & a shame you had to pay all that for something you aren't even going to keep.

Was the amount you won it for put on the declaration?

Jane

[HerMajesty]

Maybe she actually just bought Royal Mail......................I hear they may be selling it.

[bykimbo]

Unfortunately, a large slice of that money will have been the handling fee, so even if customs did waive the charge I suspect most of the amount paid would still be due - probably not worth pursuing. I've been asked in the past to tick gift on *commercial* items and won't do it, but I completely agree it would be fair and reasonable to call the YDC t-shirt a gift - it's not as if the person "selling" it gets the cash, so it really is a gift.

[meebo1]

customs fee was £8, the rest for RM. We live and learn