Customs charges when ordering from Bricklink

[Vindice]

Can anyone tell me if they have incurred customs charges when ordering from a Bricklink store in the US?

I am thinking of placing a substantial order from a store there but I was wondering if I'm going to get caned when it clears customs in the UK.

Any help is much appreciated!

[JopieK]

Well, most of the time it will go well. We have ordered 110+ 9V motors and they charged us about 75€ or so so that wasn't too bad :) Ordering under 50€ will go best. A legal trick is declaring the replacement value instead of the actual value (at sparkfun.com they regularly do that).

[roamingstop]

Depends upon how nice the 'seller' is. Sometimes they will declare the full value, as they are some form of legal business, in which case expect charges above about 40 GBP (Swiss customs even include the price of transportation in the final calculation). Customs / post office also like charging an admin fee.... ;-)

However some nice sellers will put a different value upon request. It is worth checking with them. However sometimes even the hit from customs is worth it! (just make sure they are not charging you sales tax / state taxes as these are not easy to remove).

Good luck...

[SilentMode]

I did once: I bought 20 Series 2 minifigures from the States, during the time they were out, and got hit with a charge. I'm pretty sure the seller entered a much larger amount than the figures were worth (bought for) on the customs form.

But I also bought a much bulkier Lunar Limo from the States, and a few other items... and didn't get charged.

[Hoboman]

I have sent items to the UK and had it go both ways. Sometimes they are and sometimes they are not. I have yet to understand what, if anything, I did to cause it either way.

[Hrw-Amen]

I can't speak for LEGO, but i have ordered other model ships from the USA. It is a really odd system which I don't understand, as using the same retailer I have been charged sometimes and other times I've not been. Sometimes when the cost was only about £10.00 I have been hit with a customs bill of almost the same amount, yert on other occasions when spending about £50.00 I have had no charge at all. It is really weird and not consistent.

[Vindice]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I think the value has to be under something like £18 or so here to pass through without charge.

I might just ask the seller if they can be a bit creative with the declaration, I understand if some don't want to do that though.

I may be going stateside for work soon so i may just take a couple of empty suitcases!

[Lego Otaku]

If your suitcases are checked, you may still get dinged for customs. Or possibly lose them if the content weren't declared for tax purpose. If you have a young child (5-10 year old) you can take along, you could try to claim you bought the LEGO from UK to USA for the child to play with, and are returning to UK with the same stuff. Of course, extra ticket for a child may be more than custom taxes on package shipped to UK.

Undervaluing custom form can be a bad idea if you wish to insure LEGO against damage or lost package. They're going to notice if you had the form marked $10 in value for custom but set amount at $500 for insurance. Plus there's a risk to the sender if the custom agents gets to the sender about lying on custom form.

It's a gamble how LEGO gets shipped.

[Vindice]

That's good advice, thanks.

I think i'd have a hard time convincing anyone checking cases that I was bringing back 2 suitcases worth of death stars or something like that for the plane ride home!

[roamingstop]

I think i'd have a hard time convincing anyone checking cases that I was bringing back 2 suitcases worth of death stars or something like that for the plane ride home!

Debox... buy some ziplock bags... make sure it is packed with clothes and other critical items... I know someone who managed two Grand Emporiums and a London Bridge like that... Dont forget USA sales taxes though.

[pedro]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. I think the value has to be under something like £18 or so here to pass through without charge.

I might just ask the seller if they can be a bit creative with the declaration, I understand if some don't want to do that though.

Aye, it's £18. I placed an order recently and was stung for £13 (think the order was around £50). On any further orders I'll most likely contact the seller and see if they'll agree to mark the value as less - at the end of the day the value is there only because of collector demand and not because of it's actual material worth! I've heard mention that writing "Gift" on the packet will also waive custom charges?

[Bearded Castle Guy]

Aye, it's £18. I placed an order recently and was stung for £13 (think the order was around £50). On any further orders I'll most likely contact the seller and see if they'll agree to mark the value as less - at the end of the day the value is there only because of collector demand and not because of it's actual material worth! I've heard mention that writing "Gift" on the packet will also waive custom charges?

If someone was doing a bricklink store as a hobby or sideline you *may* be able to get them to mark as gift or fiddle with the customs forms, but don't count on it. Any organized business would not take the risk of the fines and legal hassles of falsifying customs statements, it would generally be a BAD business practice with little financial upside for the business.

Doing a non-top of the market valuation if you're doing a private exchange of whichever sort (trade/private sale) is likely where you'd be able to use 'liberal' valuation for the forms and get away with it, once you involve a organized business entity you are better off taking the chance with a customs fee or just expecting it to happen.

I notice a large number of the bricklink store that appear to be setup as a legal entity (aka business) tend to state or BOLDLY STATEthey will not misrepresent information on customs forms, prudent business sense I expect.

I guess it doesn't hurt to try unless there's a statement already on the splash page about the customs forms but don't expect every seller to be 'Liberal' about what they put on the customs forms.

[pedro]

I notice a large number of the bricklink store that appear to be setup as a legal entity (aka business) tend to state or BOLDLY STATEthey will not misrepresent information on customs forms, prudent business sense I expect.

I guess it doesn't hurt to try unless there's a statement already on the splash page about the customs forms but don't expect every seller to be 'Liberal' about what they put on the customs forms.

Indeed, I've seen many shops where the management express their refusal to "doctor" the customs information. I wouldn't want anyone to jeopardise their business for my own sake. It's just a shame that customers can be so heavily penalised for buying from overseas with no appeal. It's neither buyer nor sellers fault, just the way it is unfortunately.

[mikey]

Indeed, I've seen many shops where the management express their refusal to "doctor" the customs information. I wouldn't want anyone to jeopardise their business for my own sake. It's just a shame that customers can be so heavily penalised for buying from overseas with no appeal. It's neither buyer nor sellers fault, just the way it is unfortunately.

The only unfair charge is the £8 fee that Royal Mail gouge from you, the actual tax for Lego is VAT @20%, which you would have paid anyway.

[tbroyd]

The only unfair charge is the £8 fee that Royal Mail gouge from you, the actual tax for Lego is VAT @20%, which you would have paid anyway.

Your lucky if it goes by Royal mail or Parcel Farse. Most couriers charge a much higher handling charge.

[roamingstop]

Once I had this...

Package: Cost = 70 Euro, plus 10 Euro shipping.

Swiss Customs charge for opening parcel (to find the invoice): 6 CHF.

Swiss Customs charge for doing an import charge 20 CHF

Swiss duty fee 13 CHF (the 80 euro was converted into CHF, import etc)...

So it was an expensive parcel. But to be fair, most of the time the Swiss customs are nice to me, and I dont mind when the exporter has not charged me VAT.

[pedro]

The only unfair charge is the £8 fee that Royal Mail gouge from you, the actual tax for Lego is VAT @20%, which you would have paid anyway.

Haha, that's right - the Royal Mail's "handling" fee!