I wasn't sure what area to put this in SO figured on this section in the end!!! Anyway..., this is regarding the on going saga with my Kotobukiya Sandtrooper Sergeant that still isn't with me yet after 17 days in the delivery system. I had hoped after seeing an update on the USPS website that said it had finally cleared customs here (4 days in customs) at 7:20am yesterday that it meant the parcel would be on it's way now BUT unfortunately not, it now says: -

Arrival at Post Office, March 09, 2012, 1:58 am, GREAT BRITAIN
Payment of charges - Item being held, addressee being notified, March 09, 2012, 2:48 am, GREAT BRITAIN

Your item could not be delivered on March 09, 2012 at 2:48 am in GREAT BRITAIN due to payment of charges. It is being held while the addressee is notified.

I paid $52.70 (£33.32) for 'Priority Mail International Parcels' & figured as I've bought things from America before & had no problems then this type of shipping would be fine again BUT it seems not & I'm at a loss as to why there would be charges, charges for what comes to mind??? So, I thought I'd ask anyone on here if they've had a parcel from the US & had to pay something EXTRA after spending far to much on delivery in the first place???

I wouldn't mind so much BUT I'm expecting another international parcel soon PLUS there's the Sideshow orders I placed BUT hopefully they wont screw me as they are a company rather than an ebay seller!!! Bit miffed right now....

how much was the item mate ?

if it has a value over a certain amount there will be coustoms chargers vat

that is if the seller has declared value on the coustoms forms

I paid $194.99 for it & I'm guessing that the value has been declared as customs kept the parcel 4 days before processing it. Last time I purchased something from America it was delivered within 9 days..., that was from Gentle Giant though & I didn't get charged anything extra then.

The parcel I'm waiting for at the moment has currently taken 17 days to get to the stage it's at now..., very disappointed really!!!

they will post customs bill to you, when paid they will release it, prob another £30 to £40 when they've finished though

Thanks for the information..., not happy about it as I have another parcel on the way PLUS 2 more will be coming from Sideshow Collectables. Oh well lesson learned..., I'll stick to buying stuff from Britain in future.

That's half the problem mate, do you know which sorting centre its at? If so and you have the tracking number you can ring them and pay over the phone, there will no doubt be a fairly sizable customs charge plus vat plus the handling charge of £8. It doesn't matter that other stuff is to come from a company if they declare the value you will pay a customs charge on it. Its shit I know but for some stuff its the only way

Unfortunately not, the only thing I know is from the USPS tracking information & it just says it's a post office which was very unhelpful as I'd like to get this resolved so I can get my Sandtrooper (finally)!!! Not a fan of customs or handling charges, especially when I've already paid $52.70 for delivery, think it's bang out of order to add a handling fee!!! That's our government & Royal Mail for you though..., no wonder it's called rip off Britain!!!

Thankyou to everyone who responded to this topic..., I got my bill from Parcelforce today, it was for £38.18 (£30.18 import VAT & £8.00 handling fee)..., paid it & my parcel will now be delivered on Tuesday. Only 3 weeks to get it, not overly happy though!!! lol

i was spot on then mate with bill, not being cocky just bitter as i've paid my share of them.

Yes you were, glad that I knew what to expect so thanks for that. Not impressed with getting charged by customs for just wanting something for my collection..., customs are definately on my hate list now, not very fond of Parcelforce either seeing as they charged me too!!!

yeah its not bad is it especially when youve already paid to have parcel farce deliver it

Hopefully this whole affair should be over & done with (put to bed) in about 40 minutes time as that's when the Parcelforce chap usually turns up with my packages & so unless someone else is covering this area instead of the normal chap then I should have my Sandtrooper Sergeant within an hour (just a pity it's taken 3 weeks to get it).

ive just had a delivery from the states mate and thankfully it slipped though customs no problem, its a fooken good job too as it cost a small morgage

Definately good when customs aren't being t*ssers & charging everyone..., mind you I was lucky last year with my Gentle Giant statue so maybe every so often they just let a few through???

i think its down to the fact that they only go through so much each run but they defo have certain names on file they keep a look out for. ive had some stuff come through and its just been a handling charge when expensive stuff has got through not that im complaining you understand

Hey Guys

You get charged for anything over £30 in value if marked a gift and anything over £15 if merchandise.

Parcel force pay the charge then you pay them they also stuff you with a clearance fee , i have been stung a fee times over the years with this , most times i ask the seller to mark as gift under $30 and have no problems but if its a high value item and anything happens on way over you are stuffed , lucky most my high end mocs GDE & Palitoy have came from Europe, I have a friend over the states , if sellers wont post to uk or wont mark down i send them to him then he sends them over to myself which i cant thank him enough for.

Thanks

Vince