Page 1 of Post Office Charges

I received a package yesterday from the U.S.A. containing some DVD discs.

The total cost of the goods was £20.44 and I had to pay £11.56 in charges before I could receive the package.

I have already been in contact with HM Revenue & Customs about these charges.

They informed me today that:

"Imported goods with a value of £18 or more are subject to VAT. DVDs are charged at the standard rate of 17.5%. 17.5% of £20.44 is approximately £3.56.

The remainder of the charge in this case appears to be the element levied by the carrier"

So according to HM the Post Office has charged a fee of £8 for their efforts and remember I've already paid postal charges at the other end.

So be warned when you're ordering goods from abroad - you might not end up with the bargain you expected.

I've written to the Post Office to ask them how they justify those charges.

I`d imagine this is common knowledge to most people on here. It`s not the duty that`s a killer (I thought it was less than 17.5% for DVDs), it`s the RM fee. The charge used to be £4 but they increased it fairly recently (I think). Always keep your orders below £18, and that applies to anything you import.

*Edit* Ah, apparently the duty is only payable if it`s £7 and above, which at 3.5% for DVDs is unlikely. As you said, the VAT is 17.5%, but still not much compared to the rip off RM fee.

This item was edited on Thursday, 2nd August 2007, 14:39

RM`s fee is still piddling compared to DHL or any of the other high-profile couriers, AFAIK.

J Mark Oates

I was stung with a £15 charge from DHL for a similar situation a few years back. It only happened the once! >:(

Yes, the Royal Mail fee is high, but as Mark rightly says, not as high as some.

Yeah, they`re even worse. Best thing is just to stay under the limit or order from a site that pre-pays all duty/VAT. That`s how I got my Superman set, and I didn`t pay a penny more than the £45 I was charged, which is pretty good for an expensive bulky set.