I remember a while back I bought something from the states, obviously paid for the item and the postage and then when it arrived I was asked for about £12 payment to do with international shipping or something? Is this always the case or certain items/or was I ripped off etc?

dunno - but on a related note I always find it amusing that I have owed American Express 1pence since about 2003... it's never increased even up to 2 pence... and the address on the back of the bill letter comes from Fort Lauderdale!!!!

It gets sent approx every few months... it must have cost them at least a tenner in bills... the minimum amount I have to pay is... £0.00 !!!!

For the craic I always keep the latest bill!!!!!

I've bought stuff from the USA before and always had a customs/VAT bill to pay before they will deliver.

I think the rule is that if it is worth over £17 you have to pay VAT but it gets called import duty. Then the post office charge you an admin fee for collecting it even though you can't pay it in advance. If you're buying from a private individual just get them to say it is a present on the customs slip or ask them to reduce the value. I used to buy reggae records from a company in California and even massive boxes cost me nothing in fees because they always put the value as $5.

This doesn't work with FedEx deliveries, they seem to take their customs duties very seriously so go for the cheaper US post office option.

Monty is correct anything from outside the EU you have to pay duty and VAT ontop to get it cleared by customs. A lad I knew lost his job over this as he didnt factor this in when importing around £200K worth of good and cost the company over £10k for being an idiot.

The missus once bought one of those fancy oil burners from America off ebay,it cost with postage and the like £59.The same from Collectables was £110.We didn't have any customs charges to pay,but I suppose it depends it what you buy.When I worked for Parcelforce I had to collect money from a guy at Osmotherley,customs/excise had lobbed another £42 on the package

I might add that this was in the UK.

I buy records from the States on a weekly basis. One of the dealers ALWAYS puts $10 on the Customs Slip even if the record is worth $50. That way i dont get charged duty. If there was a problem however, I'd lose out. Its all about the value of the item.

Born Toulouse is correct. If it is from a private seller just ask them to state it is a gift or present and no import duty is required. If it is a trader you are buying from, you could try and email or phone them and ask them to do the same. I know a lad at work done that for his daughters prom dress and never had any import duty to pay