Hi, I have just joined the Forum and this is my first post.

I have been an "occasional" collector over the years buying Promo cards or Chase cards that appeal to me. None of my purchases have been for investment, just for the joy of collecting. Having watched some of the recent Sci-Fi shows shown on television I thought it would be fun to obtain some of the cards but I have been amazed at the postage costs that are being charged on the on line market sites.
As an example, a single chase card was $4 but shipping to the UK was $18 with an additional $8 for Customs Duty. So a $4 card ended up as $30 making a 9 card chase set potentially $270.
I would be grateful if some collectors from outside the USA could offer any advise on how to purchase cards at a realistic collectable price.

At the moment buying cards online or through retailers is going to be expensive if coming from outside the UK due to Brexit meaning that Ebay and other platforms have decided to blanket charge 20% VAT on everything unless using their equally expensive Global Shipping Program .

I think your options are UK sellers looking to offload older stock or overseas fellow collectors you may know who can buy from within their own country and then post on to you where you may avoid some of the customs charges and excessive postal fees .

For people importing goods into the UK, the Government website has the rules.

UK Government VAT & Customs Duty

I'd say that Brian was charged VAT because $22 is more than £15. The card from Royal Mail/Parcelforce/Post Office may say Customs charge but that may mean one or more of VAT, Customs Duty or, for alcohol and tobacco, Excise Duty.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Raj,

Some of the overseas collectors certainly know a lot more about this than I do, but I believe there are ways to consolidate shipping through various services that can save you a lot of money in shipping costs.

I believe the packages are shipped to someone in the US who consolidates the shipments into a single larger shipment.

Also some retailers like COMC allow you to consolidate purchases from many sellers before shipping. I am not sure if COMC ships to the UK, and COMC has some of their own shipping issues right now they are blaming on covid, but it may be worth exploring.

Welcome back to the hobby!