Purchased a model plane from Hobbyking for my son. They had nil stock in UK so I had to get it shipped from the USA. Price was the same from either warehouse but I had to pay additional £30 to post.

So far so good but tonight I receive a note stating I need to pay 20% vat.
Im sure it would have been in the small print but I would expect the original purchase price o be less 20% if I needed to add this after.
What would you expect?

failing to see the issue, you imported something, you pay import duty+tax.

The problem is that the USA version of the company won’t bother or concern themselves with the intricacies of (or people’s obligations regarding) other countries taxes. They can quote for the item, they can quote for the shipping, but ultimately any local taxes are not their responsibility to mention.

Every country is different, and the small print alone would by huge. Its a lesson learned unfortunately.

model wasn’t available through the uk stock so I was given the option of the usa site but why would the price be the same as the uk price includes 20% vat?

if it didn’t include tax it should have been at a lower price shouldn’t it?

Price will be US minus State taxes, so would have been more to buy if you were there as they don’t have VAT.

if it didn’t include tax it should have been at a lower price shouldn’t it?

Not necessarily. You don’t have to issue one price for the whole world. They are not able to pay the VAT for you, so it can;t include it.

Also the state taxes (their VAT) as mentioned above are worth considering, some have them, others don;t, so they quote without.

Still makes no sense to me. Seems like I have paid at UK price (including tax) and have to pay the tax again.

failing to see the issue, you imported something, you pay import duty+tax.

This.

Seems like I have paid at UK price (including tax) and have to pay the tax again.

But you bought it from a US site so you’ve not paid any UK tax on it.

Same purchase price via their us site as the uk site which includes the tax already I paid £79.85 in gbp which from the uk site included the tax?

No, you bought from the US site, where the £79.85 doesn’t include State tax.

So the goods were more expensive in the US?

No, I was directed to the us site as they had no stock in the uk.
Either way they are making more money by selling in this way and customers are losing out.

So the goods were more expensive in the US?

Correct lemonysam – their support chat are now saying this is due to additional administration

No they aren’t. The taxes and duty go to the government, not the retailer.

You paid VAT like you should have done, you may even get hit for import duty too. You bought the item from America so you’re expected to pay these, you took the option to buy from there.

^^ this

Your mistake to naively assume that because the price was the same it was ‘all inclusive’ so to speak.

Wait until you get stung for import duty and royal mail’s ‘handling fee’…
Are you new to……errrr, modern life?

Do your listing prices include tax?

None of our product pricing includes tax and we do not charge taxes or extra fees on top of our advertised product price and shipping/handling.
However, it is your responsibility to pay any fees charged by your local customs or postal office, should they be incurred.

There shouldn’t be any import duty For £80

It’s like shopping in my local molle valley store

All the shelf prices are pre vat which is added at the till

Bike parts have vat and duty if you buy from the states

And as above a fee for handling the hmrc payments all of which is nothing to do with the company that sold you the stuff

Not sure if you have to pay tax on the total inc shipping charges or not

Are you new to……errrr, modern life?

+1 🙂

Should have read this first:

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Hobby_King

this is actually quite a confusing one as I have just checked both the .com and .co.uk sites and they both show the same prices in GBP for items and the t’s and c’s state for both sites:

Do your listing prices include tax?
None of our product pricing includes tax and we do not charge taxes or extra fees on top of our advertised product price and shipping/handling.
However, it is your responsibility to pay any fees charged by your local customs or postal office, should they be incurred.

I find it very odd that their uk site doesnt include VAT on stuff that is sent from within the UK unless somehow they still send the stuff through customs? Otherwise it would seem to be dodging VAT.

I am actually siding with the OP on this that something is not right. But OP you should have realised that anything from outside of Europe will attract taxes and, if the amount is high enough, import duties.

I don’t see how HK are selling goods from a UK warehouse without charging VAT. It could be that whent hey sell something from the UK they are taking a hit themselves but to minimise this when they import them into the UK they are under-declaring them? Maybe, maybe not.

I used to buy my RC car stuff from stores in the USA back when it was around $1.9-2.0 to the £. This was before the internet and I used to buy the US RC Car Action magazine and look in the classifieds for the best deals and then call the shop directly and my dad would way using his credit card. We would then pay the postman the relevant taxes/duties in cash when he dropped off the parcel. Only worked for US made stuff like Associated and Losi.

There shouldn’t be any import duty For £80

Wanna bet? I’ve been ripped off for a book and cd, total cost of around $30, had to pay import, VAT and ‘handling charge’, cost me £30 instead of £19.70.

Don’t mind paying handling charge, import duty but not happy paying vat on top of a price that already had vat. The gbp prices include vat I am adamant ive paid the price with vat and had to pay vat again (& on the shipping too).
Anyway the point is id like to warn others about the way Hobbyking do business.

Anyway the point is id like to warn others about the way Hobbyking do business.

Legally.

Morally?

Important life lesson learnt … At the end of the day even with vat and handling charges it will still of been cheap if I know Hobbyking