Import duty.

I've had to pay customs on a couple things, but the Chinese and Japanese sellers can be very good at helping you avoid them.

One Japanese straight razor seller I used (eBay) listed the value of the item as "1". Not in dollars, sterling or yen. Just, 1. Makes it incredibly difficult to charge you a customs fee.

I also bought a Maseto brush which had far too little information for anyone to charge customs.

(Edit - it is also sometimes helpful to message a seller, just to ask about "how much will customs charge?" Often this is enough to suggest you don't want to pay it and they will gladly help you out)
 
The blades I'm after are schick proline p30, they are so much cheaper from japan.

Dave.

Fair enough Dave - it does come down to what something is worth to you - for P30's - take the Connaught price - for instance - minus the TSR member's discount - and compare to the worst case scenario in getting them sent from Japan. I think reading - other people's responses - to your question - China and Japan appear safe enough - versus America - which seems a high risk. Does that come down to language? Do customs or the Royal Mail - have people that can read Kanji or Mandarin script? I doubt it - that's just a bunch of squiggles really - if you can't speak the languages. Whereas - an American or Canadian declaration - is just a big slow moving target. Cheers - I.

Oh - just gone back through my shopping history - I too have used Rakuten before without incident.
 
I have used Rakuten twice for Schick blades and no additional charges both times. Same with Maseto brushes from China, the same cannot be said for items from the US, almost always had to pay VAT and RM ransom fee.
 
Do you think RM should have to pay your customs fee/import duty/VAT on your behalf, with all the admin that's involved with providing that service, for free?

You could always arrange to pay those costs in advance and circumnavigate the RM charge. Oh, but it's an utter ball ache that takes bloody ages to do...:rolleyes:

How do you arrange to pay costs in advance?

I have seen the option for some US sellers on ebay. When I have enquired with Japanese sellers they have said they don't offer the option. US Etsy sellers have also flat out refused to help.

I asked at the local post office and they said it wasn't possible. Same reaction from DHL.

I wouldn't mind the hassle if it meant saving on the charge.
 
It's not easy, it requires time and you need to liaise with the sender (and get their cooperation) and the UK Border Force.

A guide here: https://www.nibusinessinfo.co.uk/content/how-declare-goods-when-importing-post

I reckon it could easily eat up an hour of your time, so if you value your time at more than £8 ph, and you're only importing the odd item ever so often, rather than in bulk, it's probably more productive to pay the handling fee. I doubt that Royal Mail makes anything more than a notional profit on it.
 
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