big cat Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Last month i bought a bass from USA on Ebay. I have not received it yet. I tracked the order online, it has arrived in UK for a long time. I asked the seller, he told me to contact the local post office as they may hold it for duty. I checked the local mail room, post office but can't find it anywhere. Any body ever had such experience? It looks i need to pay tax. Where can i find my bass, should i contact custom? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Find out who received it here - the courier or the Post Office - go to their website and put in the tracking number. That should do it. And yes, you get stung for duty, handling charge and VAT on the whole lot ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigRedX Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 If it was sent by USPS (US Postal Service) in the US then the delivery in this country will by Parcel Force who are separate from the Post Office. Type the tracking number into the [url="http://www.parcelforce.com/portal/pw"]Parcel Force Web Site[/url] and you'll be able to see what's happened to it. Normally they send you a letter detailing how much VAT/Duty/handling charge there is to pay first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 [quote name='BigRedX' post='420972' date='Feb 27 2009, 03:01 PM']If it was sent by USPS (US Postal Service) in the US then the delivery in this country will by Parcel Force who are separate from the Post Office. Type the tracking number into the [url="http://www.parcelforce.com/portal/pw"]Parcel Force Web Site[/url] and you'll be able to see what's happened to it. Normally they send you a letter detailing how much VAT/Duty/handling charge there is to pay first.[/quote] +1 However they give you the option of paying it online or at the depot on pickup which speeds things up as they take their time sending out the ransom note. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
noelk27 Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 It can take Parcel Force up to four weeks to process for Revenue & Customs, before writing to you. As for duty, you'll have to pay VAT on both the cost of the good (bass) and services (postage), as well as Import Duty and Parcel Force's own clearance/delivery fees (irrespective of whether Parcel Force actually delivery it to you). In total you're looking at 22 per cent on top of what you've already paid. And worth noting that HM Customs & Revenue uses its own currency conversion rates, which are usually below high street levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 Thanks for this guys. I've been expecting a package of guitar parts from the states for a few days now, the tracking info said there was an "attempted delivery" on the 25th (not true, I was in all day) and the trail ran dry. As suggested above, I tried the USPS number into the parcel-farce website and... Date Time Location Tracking Event 25-02-2009 11:11 Aberdeen Depot Awaiting payment of charges 25-02-2009 07:09 Aberdeen Depot Arrived at delivery depot 24-02-2009 20:42 National Hub Sorted in hub 24-02-2009 07:55 International Hub En route to delivery depot 24-02-2009 06:16 International Hub RELEASED WITH CHARGES 20-02-2009 17:29 International Hub AWAITING CUSTOMS CHARGING 20-02-2009 17:29 International Hub AWAITING CUSTOMS CHARGES 20-02-2009 17:27 International Hub Arrived in destination country 19-02-2009 10:08 Delivery Agent - NEW YORK -PTT Left origin country 18-02-2009 12:52 Delivery Agent - UNITED STATES AMERICA Ah well looks like I've been stung for taxes at last. This is my first pinch in about a half a dozen or so US packages. I went to pay it online but you have to have the reference number from your letter (that I don't have yet) in order to do that. I'll nip down the depot in the morning and see what's happening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hubrad Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 (edited) Yup, it's the bit most of us conveniently ignore when buying outside EU.. technically any purchase over a certain value (is it £18?) or gift over about twice that is liable for VAT, Duty etc. Always budget for this.. HMRC are only doing what they're supposed to. If you get away scot free (sorry Ou7shined.. couldn't resist! ) consider it a bonus. That way you don't feel cheated if and when you do get charged. Also worth checking - depending which country you shop in, if buying from a business you might get their VAT knocked off at point of purchase, before ours is added at the UK border. That certainly works if folks from abroad shop here. Edited February 28, 2009 by hubrad Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warwickhunt Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Deliveries can show 'attempted delivery' even though it has not left the holding companies depot. It basically means that they are processing your fees and a letter will be winging its way to you soon, telling you what you owe! Depending upon how it is sent from The States you can also receive the package as though you have avoided fees but lo-and-behold the invoice/bill can arrive in the post weeks later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prosebass Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Basically if you get away without paying you are lucky. Anything declared on the custom slip under £30.00 will normally get through without question unless the customs and excise suspect the item may be worth more or you get the item marked "Gift" and it comes from Hong Kong or China, although not everything is checked just a percentage as the C & E don't have the manpower with postal items. Parcelforce are usually quite quick processing items with duty to pay and normally take 3 -7 days they handle all the EMS far east trade. Vat is charged at 15% and duty on musical instruments and parts is another 4% (or was last time I checked) so budget on 20% extra. Also there is a handling charge that is either £8.50 or £13.00 Worst case scenario is a £40 item that could cost £56.50 so 30% extra in total. It is worth taking this into account, my brother once bought some cheap Nikes from the USA and it would of been cheaper to buy them here. On the other hand I had a delivery of 15 bodies and necks and 2 full basses and didn't pay a penny in duty ! [url="http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000014&propertyType=document"]Useful Link[/url] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert43 Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 Here in Australia I have bought 2 bodies from the states ( both guitars ) 1 took about 9 days the other took 7 weeks . Go figure both cost same in postage . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big cat Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 Oh....jesus ..... Thanks, everyone Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big cat Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 [quote name='Prosebass' post='421481' date='Feb 28 2009, 02:57 AM']Basically if you get away without paying you are lucky. Anything declared on the custom slip under £30.00 will normally get through without question unless the customs and excise suspect the item may be worth more or you get the item marked "Gift" and it comes from Hong Kong or China, although not everything is checked just a percentage as the C & E don't have the manpower with postal items. Parcelforce are usually quite quick processing items with duty to pay and normally take 3 -7 days they handle all the EMS far east trade. Vat is charged at 15% and duty on musical instruments and parts is another 4% (or was last time I checked) so budget on 20% extra. Also there is a handling charge that is either £8.50 or £13.00 Worst case scenario is a £40 item that could cost £56.50 so 30% extra in total. It is worth taking this into account, my brother once bought some cheap Nikes from the USA and it would of been cheaper to buy them here. On the other hand I had a delivery of 15 bodies and necks and 2 full basses and didn't pay a penny in duty ! [url="http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channelsPortalWebApp/channelsPortalWebApp.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=pageTravel_ShowContent&id=HMCE_CL_000014&propertyType=document"]Useful Link[/url][/quote] Man....i bought a 1200 pounds bass......sweet jesus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ou7shined Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 (edited) I picked my package up. A box of "USED GUITAR PARTS" with a value of $139 + shipping. My VAT charge was £18.37 and Parcel Farce required an additional £13.50. Total bill = £31.87. 2 points : Why do I pay VAT on used items and why did PF need £13.50 for taking 5 days to get it from Portsmouth to Aberdeen and not even deliver it to me? Feckers! edit: I totally got the days PF took to deliver wrong, still, it's not like it was next day or anyfink. Edited March 1, 2009 by Ou7shined Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big cat Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 [quote name='Ou7shined' post='422025' date='Feb 28 2009, 10:15 PM']I picked my package up. A box of "USED GUITAR PARTS" with a value of $139 + shipping. My VAT charge was £18.37 and Parcel Farce required an additional £13.50. Total bill = £31.87. 2 points : Why do I pay VAT on used items and why did PF need £13.50 for taking 10 days to get it from Portsmouth to Aberdeen and not even deliver it to me? Feckers![/quote] OMG!!!! Parcel Force sent my bass back to USA.....They didn't write me any letter or email to inform me for the payment things in the past 20 days.....jesus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokl Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 I have literally just received a '77 Jazz Bass that I bought via ebay from the USA. It took quite a few weeks to get here, yours seems to have been fairly quick by comparison! If this helps at all I paid about £1100 for it and was charged £220 odd in duty. However, I was prepared for this! With the drop in exchange rates you really need to be careful when buying from the states otherwise you could actually end up paying more than you would for the same item in the UK (as someone has already indicated). When buying from abroad I always assume that I'll have to pay at least 22% on top of the purchase price. I have only gotten away with no charges once, and on that occasion the item was sent from Japan. I imagine it might be due to the carrier. If you haven't had the letter detailing the charges, just call or turn up at the depot with the parcel number and you can pay right away. Hope you like the bass! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokl Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 (edited) [quote name='big cat' post='422035' date='Feb 28 2009, 10:31 PM']OMG!!!! Parcel Force sent my bass back to USA.....They didn't write me any letter or email to inform me for the payment things in the past 20 days.....jesus [/quote] Are you sure? That doesn't make sense at all. As far as I am aware they only send the letter detailing the duty charges once the item is at your local depot. Wasn't that only on wednesday?! Have you rung the depot or are you relying on the online tracking? P.S. When you type in the usps number into the Parcelforce sight, the Parcelforce reference will show. This is what you need to quote when dealing with Parcelforce. Edited February 28, 2009 by Mokl Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
joe_bass Posted February 28, 2009 Share Posted February 28, 2009 (edited) [quote name='warwickhunt' post='421468' date='Feb 28 2009, 01:23 AM']Deliveries can show 'attempted delivery' even though it has not left the holding companies depot. It basically means that they are processing your fees and a letter will be winging its way to you soon, telling you what you owe![/quote] +1 Bloody annoying if you ask me! I was following a bass on the tracker & waited a couple of days after reading that thinking that they had come & tried to deliver & would just try again the next day. When I phoned them up they told me they had sent a letter & were waiting for me to get back to them, the guy told me the charge amount & I paid over the phone. The bass came the next day so they are fast but only with pushes from you. I can't recall actually ever getting the letter either. Big Cat are you sure it's gone back? As mentioned above if you are going by the tracker or something then best to phone them? Edited February 28, 2009 by joe_bass Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big cat Posted February 28, 2009 Author Share Posted February 28, 2009 [quote name='joe_bass' post='422054' date='Feb 28 2009, 10:50 PM']+1 Bloody annoying if you ask me! I was following a bass on the tracker & waited a couple of days after reading that thinking that they had come & tried to deliver & would just try again the next day. When I phoned them up they told me they had sent a letter & were waiting for me to get back to them, the guy told me the charge amount & I paid over the phone. The bass came the next day so they are fast but only with pushes from you. I can't recall actually ever getting the letter either. Big Cat are you sure it's gone back? As mentioned above if you are going by the tracker or something then best to phone them?[/quote] No, i didn't phone them. But it seems they have sent it back 24-02-2009 16:00 Belfast Central Depot On route to hub 24-02-2009 06:38 Belfast Central Depot Return to sender 03-02-2009 08:20 Belfast Central Depot Awaiting payment of charges 03-02-2009 03:32 Belfast Central Depot Arrived at delivery depot 02-02-2009 11:44 National Hub Sorted in hub 02-02-2009 09:35 International Hub En route to delivery depot 02-02-2009 08:42 International Hub RELEASED WITH CHARGES 01-02-2009 17:30 International Hub AWAITING CUSTOMS CHARGING 01-02-2009 17:30 International Hub AWAITING CUSTOMS CHARGES 01-02-2009 17:18 International Hub Arrived in destination country Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mokl Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 Big Cat, I was reading Ou7hined's post and was looking at his tracking details thinking they were yours! I've just read your last post and it looks as though your bass has been sat there for a long while. If I were you I would try and ring the main Parcelforce number (not your local depot) and see if they can do anything. It might well be sat at the airport for a few days before anything happens - I'm sure it won't be returned to the US on a priority service so you might have time to catch it. Sorry to hear your woes, it must be very frustrating. I hope you get it sorted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EdwardHimself Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 [quote name='hubrad' post='421455' date='Feb 28 2009, 12:52 AM']Also worth checking - depending which country you shop in, if buying from a business you might get their VAT knocked off at point of purchase, before ours is added at the UK border. That certainly works if folks from abroad shop here.[/quote] That's right. If you go on thomann for instance you'll get charged 15% VAT rather than 19% that it is in Germany. It's not just online orders either. My sister worked in the world famous Christmas shop in Heidelberg Germany and she had to ask people where they came from so she could charge the appropriate tax. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonsmith Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 [quote name='big cat' post='422002' date='Feb 28 2009, 09:41 PM']Man....i bought a 1200 pounds bass......sweet jesus [/quote] I had to pay £1000 VAT & duty on an instrument last year. I knew it was coming, but it still hurt! Missus went nuts... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Protium Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 [quote name='big cat' post='422096' date='Feb 28 2009, 11:58 PM']No, i didn't phone them. But it seems they have sent it back 24-02-2009 16:00 Belfast Central Depot On route to hub 24-02-2009 06:38 Belfast Central Depot Return to sender 03-02-2009 08:20 Belfast Central Depot Awaiting payment of charges 03-02-2009 03:32 Belfast Central Depot Arrived at delivery depot 02-02-2009 11:44 National Hub Sorted in hub 02-02-2009 09:35 International Hub En route to delivery depot 02-02-2009 08:42 International Hub RELEASED WITH CHARGES 01-02-2009 17:30 International Hub AWAITING CUSTOMS CHARGING 01-02-2009 17:30 International Hub AWAITING CUSTOMS CHARGES 01-02-2009 17:18 International Hub Arrived in destination country[/quote] They have had it for 3 weeks and you didn't ring them up? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGit Posted March 1, 2009 Share Posted March 1, 2009 I had a big ol' ding dong with Royal Mail /P-arse-lf-arse / Post Office about a year ago and I have the number of someone who can sort things out at head office. PM me if you need that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big cat Posted March 1, 2009 Author Share Posted March 1, 2009 [quote name='Protium' post='422364' date='Mar 1 2009, 01:56 PM']They have had it for 3 weeks and you didn't ring them up?[/quote] No, i have never bought gear oversea before, so i just contact with the seller. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.