one to add to your collection maybe!

[Roughwear]

Well, it seems (due to the size of the package, which the seller says he's made as small as possible) this is going to cost between £69 and £86.19 to have this shipped from England depending on speed (4~8 days)/insurance. If I were to send it from Japan to the UK, it would cost just upward of £30 for fully insured 3-day shipping. Parcel Force; what a rip-off!

I agree, well OTT prices and they went up from April 1st. I used them to send a jacket to France. Ten days later it was returned to me, with no reason given. After two days of rangling on the phone I persuaded them to collect it from me and send it to France again. I hope it gets to its destination this time!

 

[taikonaut]

I had a WW2 pilot cap sent to me from the US, Parcel Force handled the UK side of delivery and I was charged VAT plus clearance fee. This is the first time I was charged for something that is old and of no true commercial value apart from use as a display. I wonder what delivery method should be use to avoid unneccessary VAT payment for import?

 

[asiamiles]

I wonder what delivery method should be use to avoid unneccessary VAT payment for import?

Whether, and how much, you get charged should be dependent purely on the value the item was declared for. If the cap had been valued on the package for $20 or $30 you should not get charged...if it was valued at above $100 then it's pot luck.

 

[asiamiles]

I received the Irvin and reportedly (I had it delivered to my HK address to avoid customs charges, so I haven't actually seen it myself yet, and won't do for another month or so) it's okay. The seller mistakenly refused my Paypal payment even though he'd already shipped the jacket, so I felt pretty safe after the initial worries of a buying such a pricey item from a first time seller, which was undoubtedly why the jacket failed to attract more bidders. The seller had some computer problems so I was dealing with his neice. Incredibly 3 days after he sent the jacket she informed me that his house was broken into, so who knows what might have happened to it had I not purchased it! I'm now going to send him a cheque so he can avoid any Paypal fees...I feel it's the least I can do.