Cycling UK Forum

I've found some chain rings on sale from a Chinese company on eBay.

They are very cheap but the seller says 'We  are not responsible for custom duty or import  tax.'

So presumably I would be.

Does anyone know anything about paying import duty?

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/122058078112? ... EBIDX%3AIT

It appear some pay duty and others don't and there's no telling which you are going to be.

viewtopic.php?f=18&t=112100

Anything under £15.00 (including postage) does not get charged duty.

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

When the parcel arrived with some clothes from New Zealand I received a card telling me to go to the Royal Mail sorting office. There I paid the tax and received the parcel so it was fairly simple really provided you live close to the sorting office.

broadway wrote:Anything under £15.00 (including postage) does not get charged duty.

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

So it is no VAT if the goods are worth under £15 and no customs duty if they are worth less than £135.

I think I'll order a 32 and 42 tooth ring for about £8.

Be aware that items over £15 are subject to VAT - and if Royal Mail pay this on your behalf - they charge a £8 fee also.

This has happened to me twice when buying $25 items from the USA. Both attracted minimal VAT (approx £3-ish) and the Royal Mail £8 fee.

Usually you get a letter saying 'something has arrived for you, here is the bill for the VAT, plus the £8 fee for collecting the VAT' (which is outrageous). When you have paid up, they send the goods on.
£15 is a ludicrously small limit in the first place compared to other countries, and is far lower relative to income than it used to be donkeys' years ago, but the real problem for small items is the £8 flat fee on top, which can't possibly reflect the cost of collecting the tax.
I don't mind paying taxes, but they ought to be fair taxes. And you ought not to have to pay to have taxes collected from you.

Well thanks for the info.

I've ordered two rings for just under £8. If they are OK I'll order a load more as I use 42/32/22 MTB chain sets on all my bikes now.

But I'll keep each order below £15.

blackbike wrote:Well thanks for the info.

I've ordered two rings for just under £8. If they are OK I'll order a load more as I use 42/32/22 MTB chain sets on all my bikes now.

But I'll keep each order below £15.

That's the simplest way.
Worth remembering that some goods are VAT exempt. Books, for example. So long as it is clear on the paperwork on the packaging that something is a book, you're okay, it just comes straight to you without charge. At least, I have never had any trouble.

And after Brexit you can of course expect a whole lot more of this kind of hassle, plus a price-hike by UK retailers no longer obliged to compete on equal terms with the likes of Rose Versand and Bike24.

Be careful if you order from the States I ordered a saddle once and got stung for the tax.

I had a major battle with UPS

I had a set of Dinotte lights

I had a repair done.... £25

BY the time they had added their charges, taxes and other bits and pieces it was another £50

Took nearly two months to sort.... as there were no charges to be paid