Q: EMS - ordering items from japan to the UK

jpj · Post by **jpj** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 3:23 pm

will i get stung on VAT or customs charge? anything i need to be wary of?

ill6 · Post by **ill6** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 3:31 pm

Yes you will.

Mark down as below 17 quid.

Daigohji · Post by **Daigohji** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 3:35 pm

Go for standard airmail options where possible. You're less likely to get nabbed by customs that way. Only use couriers when you're ordering over 2kg of goods.

jpj · Post by **jpj** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 3:35 pm

fook.

Kubrick · Post by **Kubrick** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 4:09 pm

jpj wrote:anything i need to be wary of?

Oh yes - it's ParcelFarce who handle EMS packages once they land in the UK

SuperPang · Post by **SuperPang** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 4:45 pm

For anything outside the EU, merchandise limit is £18, gift limit is £36(?). On anything declared over those limits you pay VAT + various charges added by HM Customs and/or the courier.

mulletgeezer · Post by **mulletgeezer** » Tue Oct 10, 2006 5:39 pm

yep, make sure you get a low customs value on the outside of the package - i wonder here, if you pay for expensive insured EMS with a low marked value and something goes wrong would you only be insured to the value marked on the customs form?

Parcelforce is always the weak link - they've fucked up several times on my packages now, the worst was a progear which they delivered to the wrong address and the box sat there for several days (it was a house 50 yards from mine, and my address was clearly printed on the box) and nobody helped me until i called several times and got it sorted. Get a tracking number and when it arrives in the UK watch it like a hawk on the parcelforce website and if there's any problem keep calling the idiots at parcelforce until they sort it. I have another one they're fucking up as we speak and i've called 3 times already this week, so i'm in the mood to dish the hatred on the Parceltwats.

jpj · Post by **jpj** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 1:16 pm

shit.... the VAT etc is not too much of a biggie, as it was an STV motherboard for £40, so it wont break the bank; but parcel force worries me... i wouldn't trust them as far as i could throw them...

freddiebamboo · Post by **freddiebamboo** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 2:34 pm

What mullet said jpj, these guys can and will arse things up so check the online tracking to make sure it doesn't end up in Brazil or anything.

IIRC they won't give you the package if you can't pay the customs on it so make sure you've got cash on you.

DEL · Post by **DEL** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:21 pm

Funny you should mention it - I spent precious time this afternoon at work sorting out a Parcelforce cock-up. They delivered it by postcode only & didn't even bother to look at the number of the delivery address.

It was another relief driver. These relief drivers either get it wrong or turn up very very late.

Post by **Icarus** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 5:38 pm

It depends what you buy and who from, usually. I luckily haven't had the "delivered to wrong address" thing (yet), but they have held parcels for being even a tiny bit over the mark-up value limit. And they take forever to sort out. They used to knock on the door and accept payment of customs fees if they needed to be paid, but lately they prefer to just deliver a card and make you waste a phonecall paying the thing by automated call receiving. >_<

Just received Batrider this afternoon. Thankfully shoppingmalljapan marked the board down as being worth 1,500Y (about £7.50). ^_-

You won't get away with it that often, its a bit of a lottery.

Daigohji · Post by **Daigohji** » Wed Oct 11, 2006 6:30 pm

Icarus wrote:They used to knock on the door and accept payment of customs fees if they needed to be paid, but lately they prefer to just deliver a card and make you waste a phonecall paying the thing by automated call receiving. >_<

Hell, I don't even get that option. When there's a customs charge I have to go down to the sorting office, pay there and carry the package back myself. I don't have a car and no buses go that way, so it's a one hour round trip on foot

jpj · Post by **jpj** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 6:16 pm

hey hey, all worked out today

the trouble was the tracking number they gave me (the japanese site) was a digit short. and have you ever tried using the parcel force number to track stuff (0870 850 1150; i remember cuz i've dialled it so fucking often). the number started with "E...I...". etc. say into the phone, and the automated thing would come back with "so it's E... A...". or maybe "E...E...". fucking impossible. and then you can't track stuff by post-code. anyways. the lesson has been learnt! (oh, and got away with no tax

)

mulletgeezer · Post by **mulletgeezer** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 7:22 pm

if i ever need to use the parcelforce number and the voice recognition thing comes up i just make stupid noises, then after a couple of attempts i get put through to a real human operator which is much less annoying. the way these big companies use modern technology to provide barely adequate support services so they can save money is SHIT.

Post by **Icarus** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 7:25 pm

Welcome to cost-saving measures. The quality of customer services will be decreasing at a rapid clip as time goes on, no matter what industry it is. Only thing we can do now when we order something is keep our fingers crossed and pray it doesn't end up in Antarctica.

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Fri Oct 13, 2006 9:52 pm

<sings the Star Spangled Banner>

Sucks to be English... or at least live there.

Leeram · Post by **Leeram** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 12:18 am

Be Careful.

If you declare a low amount on the package then that'w all you are allowed in insurance. Import duty will come to about a third of the value of the goods, if you are in he UK and if you get it applied.

I had three £50 boxes sent from japan but non got import duty.

Just assume you will get hit for it, then you can't be disapointed!

Cheers

Leeram

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 12:50 am

But how often are packages (espeically EMS, which are easily traceable) lost or damaged? I've probably sent 1000 packages from Japan. Only once an item taken out, and a handful of times some aesthetic damage like a jewel-case cracking.

jpj · Post by **jpj** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 1:06 am

hey, we're british! cynicism is what we do!

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 3:54 am

That and riot at football matches.

Post by **Icarus** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 4:25 am

GaijinPunch wrote:That and riot at football matches.

Hell yeah.
Nothing beats football bedlam.

Post by **system11** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 9:34 am

1) Always use EMS, because Parcelforce daren't lose trackable parcels (but will delay/lose everything else)
2) Likelyhood of being hit by customs charges depends on:
a) luck
b) who sent it. Play Asia stuff always gets stung.
3) If you can get the value under declared - do that, make sure it's ticked as a gift. If using this method make sure the receipt is sent seperately or not at all, in case they open it.
4) Try to get the value marked in yen - hilariously this seems to be too much effort for them to work out.

I've never been taxed on a single thing from Rinkya, so much as a single game from P-A and it's pain street. The VAT is the worst part, as it's 17.5% of the combined value and postal amount, after they've already applied 4%ish duty. Wankers.

SuperPang · Post by **SuperPang** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 10:47 am

GaijinPunch wrote:<sings the Star Spangled Banner>

Sucks to be English... or at least live there.

Yeah but you couldn't pay me to live in the states atm

We love our country despite the VAT. At least paramedics check your pulse before your wallet.

Still, I could be persuaded to move to Honolulu

GaijinPunch · Post by **GaijinPunch** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 2:47 pm

Wanderer and twe may digress, but I'm not a fan of Honolulu in the least. We may not get taxed on merchandise from abroad, and items from Japan arrive in like two days, but there's something about living in civilization that I miss. I'll let you know if I miss Honolulu early next year.

Will PA mark things undervalue and send w/o a receipt if requested? Excellentcom does this, which would come in very hand for a $2400 PCB. I'm sure just about any private seller would. UK buyers don't even ask me anymore... it's just a given that they're getting a $5 gift.

SuperPang · Post by **SuperPang** » Sat Oct 14, 2006 2:59 pm

PA can put a note with your account to mark values down to 20% or something like that.

shmups.system11.org

Q: EMS - ordering items from japan to the UK

Q: EMS - ordering items from japan to the UK

Re: Q: EMS - ordering items from japan to the UK

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