If I buy a pair of sunglasses from the USA off ebay for £68, how much am I going to end up paying for customs/VAT/Duty/anything else?

I’ve not bought anything from the USA before and am a bit concerned it might wipe out any potential savings…

cheers in advance.

Get them to throw the receipt away and get them to mark it as a gift!

Recently have bought projectors bulbs etc to the tune of $400 on US site. No extra custom bills whatsoever. Got few fairly expensive items on ebay from china … and again nothing. I know luck plays big part in it, so far liking it.

Depends on who ships. Factor in 20 for a handling fee and then 20% vat on top maybe a import duty on top. No reputable seller should send as gift.

Double post

OK thanks – seller has stated they use USPS – so worst case I could be paying as much as 40% on top? Hmm.. not such a bargain.. ;o(

Duty will be 2.5% of goods and shipping, then 20% VAT on top, plus a handling fee from Royal Mail (£4?) or Parcel Farce (£8+).

Urban legend says USPS gets targeted less for duty than most couriers. Absolute luck of the draw as far as I can tell though.

(surprised nobody’s gone all high and mighty about tax dodging! I’ve no problem at all with duty (though charging it on shipping is cheeky) but the parcel force handling fee is a joke- especially considering the poor service they give.

What surprises me is that people think it’s mostly the retailers over here pocketing the difference. The government takes a nice slice before it even gets out the container. All us prices are quoted with no sales tax. Have a look on crc and pop your delivery country as oz and see the vat free price.

I ordered some headphones from the USA and royal mail charged me £8 just for handling it and the VAT on top. If the sender sent it as a gift you probably won’t have to pay anything, most legitimate business’s won’t do that though

There’ll be no duty to pay as they’re valued at less than £135
You will have to pay VAT though and probably a handling charge

I bought a small hardback book from the States, cost, IIRC, was around $12. I paid £12 in VAT and handling to get it from the Post Office! You can imagine how ripped off I felt…
Edit], just remember, there was a CD with it as we’ll, both signed, total cost was $30.
Still a lot added on top at this end.

If a private seller get them to send as a gift – its been mentioned before but most businesses wont. Expect to pay a few quid in rip-off handling charges this end though …