Some of you may be aware of this, I was not.
I've just taken delivery of a pair of Alden's, and was asked to pay Import VAT duty and a Brokerage Surcharge, totaling £33.39p.
Apparently, this excise is applicable to goods coming into the UK, from the USA, with a value of over £18.
This brings the total cost of the boots, including shipping, to nearly £200 UK.
They're great boots, and I am very proud to own a pair of the 'originals', but the extra expense will make me think very carefully, next time.
JTW.
Hmm - that's food for thought, JTW, as I'm in the UK and am thinking about taking the plunge and ordering a pair. What size are yours? Wanna sell them?
Yeah u.p.s. delivered myne.. was about £30.. was thinking #### i know how much ive paid for these boots and now this charge on top.... put it this way i didnt tell anyone how much i paid for the boots and also did'nt tell anyone how much i got punked for import charges either!!!
Giben wrote:wouldnt it work if they wrote GIFT on the packages?
I'm afraid customs can do pretty much as they want and they are alert to all possible tricks so declaring it as a gift would probably not work for an item costing this much. Also this requires the retailer to lie and most reputable dealers are unwilling to do it as blatantly as this. The best you can normally hope for is that the seller is willing to declare the value as a bit less than the real price and reduce the duty and vat etc a bit. If you overdo it though customs get suspicious and start investigating more than you want.
I don't know how it can be justified in the global market we now live in but I'm afraid it's something we have to put up with at least for the time being.
Incidentally I just received my AF64s and paid almost 40 quid in charges. Let's just say it could have been a lot worse.
I'm curious to what you paid for your AF64 pair, plus shipping and any taxes (like VAT) that you had to pay.
I just ordered a pair of AF64, but because they don't stock my size, I had to be a special order and wait until the summer before they even place my order. They told me it could be up to 9 months or even a year before I get them. My cost is $405 USD plus shipping, and that's to a domestic (USA) address.
Indiana MarkVII wrote:I'm curious to what you paid for your AF64 pair, plus shipping and any taxes (like VAT) that you had to pay.
I just ordered a pair of AF64, but because they don't stock my size, I had to be a special order and wait until the summer before they even place my order. They told me it could be up to 9 months or even a year before I get them. My cost is $405 USD plus shipping, and that's to a domestic (USA) address.
MarkVII
I paid $380 plus about 50 for postage. Add another 80 or so for customs and they don't work out cheap! They took about a week to come and that included 2 days or so to clear customs.
It's always safest to assume you're going to get hit by the customs, VAT and 'handling' charge of the carrier whenever you buy something from the USA. I generally assume the worst that it'll end up pound for dollar on the original price once p&p etc. are added on. I even ended up paying £30 extra in charges for my Camptown Fedora, which did smart a bit! Hopefully though, it always works out slightly less than you allow for using this method!
I'd love a pair of the Alden's, but with the horrors of potentially getting the wrong size and the eventual price, I'm sticking with my Grenson Bleasdale's. A similar price, nothing like the same in look, but certainly in keeping with the spirit of Indy!
