Quote:
Originally Posted by David Simpson
Thanks Joe for that info. Right enough, those ceramic wafers would be ideal. On eBay, the ones from China are flogged through the USA, so one sw. costing a fiver attracts a postage & customs charge of $30!
Regards, David
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I find it puzzling that a seller in China would supply goods via the USA, but without seeing the link, I could be mistaken.
If a search for any item to be sourced from ebay is made, if the site is listed on ebay.co.uk the price will be shown in GB Pounds, whatever county the supplier is in, whether it's China, Canada, Croatia or wherever. However, if the site is listed on ebay.com, whatever country the supplier is in, the price will be shown in US Dollars, which is the universal the international unit of currency. Hence, just because a price is shown in US Dollars it doesn't follow that there is any involvement in the USA in the supply chain, unless of course the seller is based in the USA.
I've just done a search for 'ceramic rotary wafer switches' & there is an abundance of new and NOS offerings on both ebay.co.uk (priced is GBP) and ebay.com (priced in USD).
When you say postage and customs add $30 (£22.80 at today's conversion rate), you don't say which bit of that is postage. If the declared value of the item and shipping in under £15.00, ($19.7 US) there wouldn't be any VAT or Customs Duty. If it over £15.00 but less than £135, there would be no Customs Duty, but VAT would be applied and an £8.00 Post Office handling fee. If the value of the goods is more than £135, both VAT and Customs duty would be applied, and the £8.00 Post Office collection fee.
Customs charges are calculated and applied by the UK Border Force on behalf of HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC). All mail sent to the United Kingdom may be checked by Border Force. Any charges applied will depend on the contents, where it was sent from and who sent it, but usually letters, postcards and parcels of documents are exempt. (Different rates apply to gifts).
Here's a clip from a recent thread on Import VAT and Customs Duty in the UK:
Quote:
Post Office Handling Fee:
To make sure you get your item as quickly as possible, we pay HMRC any Import VAT and/or Customs Duty charges on your behalf. We then send you a “Fee to Pay” card, showing how much you need to pay before you can receive your item. The amount you need to pay includes our £8 handling fee. This covers the costs for clearing the item through the customs process and presenting it to Border Force.
Items received from non-EU countries (Includes Channel Islands):
Value up to £15: No Import VAT, no Customs Duty.
Value over £15 up to £135 Import VAT but no Customs Duty.
Value over £135 Import VAT plus Customs Duty.
Gift sent from one individual to another:
Value up to £39: No Import VAT or Customs Duty.
Value over £39 up to £135: Import VAT, but no Customs Duty.
Value over £135: Both Import VAT and Customs Duty.
End quote.
Source:
https://www.royalmail.com/sites/defa...t-Jan-2017.pdf
https://www.vintage-radio.net/forum/...t=customs+duty
As I said earlier, if the Chinese seller does for some reason ship via the USA to the UK, all of these remarks are irrelevant, but if not, it might clear up any confusion.