Been hit again.my sons birthday.£160 order of wwe boxes.hit with £40 fee before I could take item from driver.think this could be the end of the line for me!!!

Yes i'm afraid all these extra costs must be factored in to your sums when you are deciding what to buy.

That cheap deal from the states can turn into something you would not have gone for had you known the final price.

I've lost count of the amount of Duty (taxes) paid on items from abroad. As mentioned prior it's not just the taxes but the £8 handling charge on top.

Also now the shipping charges from the U.S. has increased recently and a lot of sellers are insisting on fully insured/tracking even on low price items, it's making it more and more expensive to buy cards. As a part time seller at shows, customers do not appreciate this and still want sets for £1 and autographs for not much more.

I was mulling over a £1000 plus order but that aint gonna happen now.aint lining peoples pockets for nothing??god knows what a £1000 order would turn into??

Love cards,hate the politics and the money side of it!
I buy gold bullion tax free but pay tax on cards.bloody bonkers!

UPS Woulnt hand cards over till I paid in cash at the door,thank god I had the cash in the house.no more buying abroad from me.

One unhappy bunny!!

This is a big issue for me, because I live in Canada and make deals with collectors from the USA and abroad.

The cost of the actual trading card is, in reality, the cost of the pack it came from. 5$ let's say. When dealing with customs I don't think you have to declare your emotional attachment to a piece of cardboard..!

I've traded for a card (FUSM'97) that could easily fetch $1000+ and the other party insisted on insuring it. It cost me $100+ in taxes. I will never mark values again and ask that others do the same; the only problem is it won't be covered. I'm not sure if the auction site by the Bay would still cover the purchase though if the postal service did not.

Honestly, things don't get lost in the mail - hasn't happened to me in my international dealings for 15 years. And if you DID lose your package, would the insured price really make it up to you? And would it make up for all the times you paid for insurance needlessly? Doubtful!

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

Not sure how to get around this.

Sellers who send with tracking/insurance via reputable couriers like UPS insist on doing so particuarly for international orders so they don't get done for fraud by deeming it a 'gift' hence avoiding the taxing on items. I like the 'safety' of sellers doing thing this way but hate the extra cost

I once got what I thought was a 'bargain' 3 sealed boxes for £90 (RRP £150) plus £20 shipping and handling (Which I expected) and got 3 notices through my door and had to clear about £40 pounds worth (Think it was £10 import tax plus £10 per box) before they'd deliver the package with all the boxes in.

Rather an infuriating experience so I read carefully now before purchasing.

I've recently pre ordered some Big Bang Theory boxes and binder from US (I'm in UK) and I'm excited for the product but nervous for it to arrive if it's via UPS or a similar over priced courier

VAT has always been a sore subject for me .It was originally supposed to be a way of making people buy British rather than importing at a lower cost but was only supposed to apply to products that were produced both here and abroad.

Over the years that original purpose has been forgotten and now it's just another way for the government to collect money to pay off the national debt .

I am lucky in that my brother goes to Las Vegas three times a year and any large purchases I make get sent to him.He brings them back into the country free of charge as long as the value is less than about £450.Thats how I have got my case of Red Sonja (base set for you Wolfie as long as you can wait til May).

quote:

Originally posted by Ra$:
Hi Mark

Sorry to hear that..i hate the customs fees and other charges they are a pain in the a**

I agree with perenz when you do buy a card ask the seller to mark on the customs form vaule not more then $15-$20 and gift, when i buy i ask the seller if he cant i just get my good friend over the US to bid for me espically if the shipping it very high cost

since i been doing this....I never have got charged on Duty and handing

In the past i was paying to much i was sick and tired of it!!!!!

Don't think D&A cardworld would be happy to ship to the U.K. Without insurance.I just won't use them again and I'm done with the states and it aint the states fault.its the madhouse that is the UK that's messed one of my 3 hobbies up.only Prince and gold bullion left now!!

My eldest and youngest was getting into cards aswell.gutted!!

quote:

Originally posted by Triple-Frog:
my case of Red Sonja (base set for you Wolfie as long as you can wait til May).

I'll try my best, thank you.

quote:

Originally posted by prenz:
Honestly, things don't get lost in the mail - hasn't happened to me in my international dealings for 15 years.

You can count yourself very, very lucky then. I have had things lost in the post. Both items I've sent and things that have been sent to me.

Leaving off values or not stating true values is inviting all sorts of problems these days. Thanks to the increased level of checking carried out on any and all parcels that travel abroad, especially ones that head into the USA, there is now a distinct possibility that mislabeling on Customs Labels will be picked up and action taken against the sender. Action meaning criminal charges and fines.

Anything of significant value that arrives in the UK will have 20% VAT added on to it by the nice Customs and Excise people on entry. This is usually paid by the courier who then claims it back off the recipient plus a handling charge for dealing with customs 'on your behalf' before you can have the package. It hurts to hand over the money, but you can't do very much about it. I always factor in VAT and handling when I look at buying from overseas, on th eassumption that I will have to pay it. Anything that somehow sneaks through is a bonus.

My post office told me it's a violation of federal law for a US shipper to put an incorrect value on the customs form. I usually don't offer international shipping, but when I do, I state in the auction that I won't lie about the value of the item.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by prenz!

I've traded for a card (FUSM'97) that could easily fetch 2000$ and the other party insisted on insuring it. It cost me 300$ in taxes.

Please give us more info on this card.it must be a gem.pic would be nice!!

<Scan of the card is now in 'Soul of Marvel' thread!>

The only thing I wouldn't mark down in value are brand new releases of boxes or cases, still sealed. They can be referenced by customs agents in theory.

However, the 'value' of old chase cards or even boxes is entirely subjective, and one should NOT ever pay taxes by declaring 'personal attachment' value. A rare card comes from a pack that costs 5$. If you are on amicable terms with the seller or trading partner, ask that he declares what the card ACTUALLY cost, the cost of 1 pack!

Sadly for us in america, the only way we have to get our money back is to insure and send with del confirmation, the post office wont care if a package is lost if its not insured even if you have confirmation on it and they loose it, it must be insured! Even Ebay and paypal demand del confirmation, you can get your money back from the buyer but we are screwed if not insured? I dont like it because it limits customer base but thats the way they made it.

quote:

Originally posted by prenz:
However, the 'value' of old chase cards or even boxes is entirely subjective, and one should NOT ever pay taxes by declaring 'personal attachment' value. A rare card comes from a pack that costs 5$. If you are on amicable terms with the seller or trading partner, ask that he declares what the card ACTUALLY cost, the cost of 1 pack!

Actually cost when it was new and just released or actually cost the person sending it when they bought it ? While values of collectable items are indeed subjective, they also have actual values based on the cost last time the item changed hands.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'personal attachment' value. To me that is just how much of a wrench it is to let something leave my collection and has nothing to do with it's monetary value. I also have a comic collection that includes a near mint copy of Giant Size X-Men Number #1. It has a cover price of 50c, if I remember rightly it cost me £5 when I bought it back in the late 70s. Would you seriously expect me to declare its value as either of those figures if I traded it with someone overseas ? I would declare it's value at the cost of buying an equivalent replacement today as that is how much I would need to claim off an insurance company/the courier if it went missing or got seriously damaged in transit.