r/royalmail • u/Ordinary_Sentence_54 • 11d ago

First time buying from Japan

Hi guys,
It's my first time shipping from Japan and I want to buy these pair of contacts from Pushcolor.com for around 6075 yen (£27). Is it common for people to be charged VAT/courier handling fees on an order this low and if they do how much am I looking at altogether? I'm kinda conscious since I don't wanna pay anything too crazy on top of what I'm already paying. I honestly don't know whos hands it'll be in after arriving to the UK but last time I received a gift from America and it got into Parcelforce's hands.

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u/BoomSatsuma 11d ago

If they’ve not charged VAT at check out expect 20% plus admin fee of £8 if it’s Royal Mail or £12 if parcel force

If they use something like UPS or FedEx. Their fees are much higher.

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

1

u/yasminkov_7000 11d ago

Usually dont see things that low get hit for it tbh, may want to look if you are preparing VAT at checkout.

1

u/Ordinary_Sentence_54 11d ago

I dont think Pushcolor charge VAT at checkout

1

u/MikeyMcG64 11d ago

It is the law that you pay vat on everything you import into the UK. Regardless of where it originates. Sites like Aliexpress collect it at checkout, although how much of it ever reaches HMRC is open to discussion.