32 replies to this topic

[innocentkh]

Hello everyone

I have searched a lot on this forum to see the cost of ordering Dan’s products including all the charges we (the UKers) would get when it arrives to the UK.
But I am so confused!

If I were to buy the kit, it would cost me $58.54 with the postage charge, which turns out to be around £35.80, which I am willing to pay. BUT, I have read some people saying they got charged around an extra £20, and about how VAT is included, and to be honest I am so confused

Or, if I were to buy each separately, the prices (including postage for each) would be:
Cleanser: £11.10
Treatment: £16.93
Moisturizer: £15.96
So all together, around £43.99, so compared to the kit, a difference of £8.19. But would I still get charged extra when each one arrives?

I don't mind paying the amount of money to deal with the issue, but I don't want to be surprised if I were to get charged extra. I never order online and money is tight to be honest. I am just going to hope this is all worth it!

Can people who order from the UK please inform me as to how much they pay? And which method I should order by (either the kit or each separately)
…Or is there no one in the UK who orders the products lol....

Edited by innocentkh, 28 July 2011 - 05:30 PM.

[Manticore]

In my previous posts, I claimed that Import VAT @ 20% is only payable on the cost of the item, but looking again at the HMRC website, it doesn't look clear cut. On some pages they claim it's goods only, on others they claim it's goods + postage. Either way, the limit is £18.

My last but 1 order with Acne.Org, when I had to pay Import VAT, it was applied to the price of the goods only, excluding the posage. I only buy BP from Acne.org now, so it works out cheaper for me to buy the 8oz bottles, rather than the 16oz.

As well as the Import VAT, you will also have to pay Royal Mail a handling fee of £8.

[Manticore]

I have just found the 2 contradicting pages. The first one states that you only pay Import VAT on the intrinsic value of the goods (which excludes postage). The second page states that you pay Import VAT on the value of the goods plus postage.

http://customs.hmrc....CE_PROD1_031239

http://customs.hmrc....00014#P123_9698

From my own experience, I have only paid Import VAT on the value of the good only.

[innocentkh]

Thank you for your reply

If I were to buy each separately and include handling fee, Import VAT and shipping for each, I'd be paying around £72.40 for the cleanser, treatment and moisturiser.. woah...

But if I buy the kit and include handling fee, Import VAT and shipping, it will be around £48.30. Which is a more realistic figure. However the limit is £18, and the kit price is more than that, so what extra charge would I get?

I am trying to wrap my head around the figures so thank you for your help!

Oh, and has someone from the UK bought the kit? Can u correct me on my figures if they are wrong please?

Edited by innocentkh, 30 July 2011 - 05:13 PM.

[Manticore]

Yep. You're right about the 8oz kit. Based on $1 = £0.608 (& assuming that Import VAT is applied to the cost of the goods only), it costs $38.44 (£23.37) + £4.67 VAT + $20.10 (£12.22) shipping + £8 handling fee = £48.26

If you bought the items individually (i.e. 3 completely seperate orders), then you wouldn't pay Import VAT or handling fees for any of them.

The 8oz cleanser would cost $7 (£4.26) + $11.15 (£6.78) shipping = $18.15 (£11.04).

The 8oz treatment would cost $16.52 (£10.04) + $11.15 (£6.78) shipping = $27.67 (£16.82).

The 8oz moisteriser would cost $14.92 (£9.07) + $11.15 (£6.78) shipping = $26.07 (£15.85).


So the 3 individual orders would total £43.71. Saving £4.55. They would also arrive quicker, as they won't get held up for processing by customs, and Royal Mail can deliver them directly, rather than sending you a card telling you to pick up the package at the sorting office if charges apply.

Edit...just realised that you could still order the cleanser + moisteriser together, as the product cost totals £13.33. The shipping for those 2 together would be $16.52 (£10.04), giving a total of £23.37. Adding the cost of the treatment, bought seperately, the grand total would be £40.19, saving £8.07 over the cost of the kit.

Edited by Manticore, 30 July 2011 - 04:01 PM.

[innocentkh]

Oh I see, so if you order separately, you do not need to pay handling fee and Import VAT? I'd want it to arrive quicker too so yeah, then I think I will do that then

Thank you!

[Manticore]

Oh I see, so if you order separately, you do not need to pay handling fee and Import VAT? I'd want it to arrive quicker too so yeah, then I think I will do that then

Thank you!

That's right. You only pay Import VAT if the total cost of the goods in the package is over £18. Royal Mail will then add on their £8 handling fee for the extra work required for paying the VAT on your behalf etc.

Even though it costs more in postal charges to order them individually (or as many as you can up to £18), it still works out less than if you had to pay Import VAT & handling fees if you bought them in one go.

[innocentkh]

I ordered the BP on 31/06, but I payed £17.30 for it instead of the £16.82 we calculated.
It still hasn't arrived, but hopefully soon.

For the cleanser and moisturiser, I am going to order them as soon as the BP arrives.

[Manticore]

I ordered the BP on 31/06, but I payed £17.30 for it instead of the £16.82 we calculated.
It still hasn't arrived, but hopefully soon.

For the cleanser and moisturiser, I am going to order them as soon as the BP arrives.

The exchange rates are changing all the time, so the price we pay will fluctuate daily.

I think my last order took around 10 days to arrive.

[AlisonB]

I ordered the BP on 31/06, but I payed £17.30 for it instead of the £16.82 we calculated.
It still hasn't arrived, but hopefully soon.

For the cleanser and moisturiser, I am going to order them as soon as the BP arrives.

The exchange rates are changing all the time, so the price we pay will fluctuate daily.

I think my last order took around 10 days to arrive.

This is really useful information - thanks to those who thought this out!

If you pay through PayPal, you can use the PayPal currency converter before you buy to see what the rates are at that time. That way you can be sure of being under the Customs limit of £18 (£15 from November).

Edited by AlisonB, 09 August 2011 - 01:20 PM.

[mr_man]

Just got my first package through.
Dan used USPS which then got passed onto Parcelforce when it entered the Great Britain.

They said that Custom charges (20%) apply to both item value and shipping costs!

They then charged me £13.50 for handling even though their website says £8.

I think it worked out just over £60 for the 8oz kit... that's not cheap.

I also kept track using the parcelforce website and it was in customs for 15 Days...

I found this on eBay last night which was a bit annoying too: acne.org regimen kit

There really needs to be a UK Supplier with simular costs to Dan's site.

[Manticore]

Just got my first package through.
Dan used USPS which then got passed onto Parcelforce when it entered the Great Britain.

They said that Custom charges (20%) apply to both item value and shipping costs!

They then charged me £13.50 for handling even though their website says £8.

I think it worked out just over £60 for the 8oz kit... that's not cheap.

I also kept track using the parcelforce website and it was in customs for 15 Days...

I found this on eBay last night which was a bit annoying too: acne.org regimen kit

There really needs to be a UK Supplier with simular costs to Dan's site.

I have never had an order delivered by ParcelForce before, only UPS & Royal Mail. If their website says £8, then perhaps you should querie the payment.

I think I will send HMRC an email asking them to clarify what the Import VAT needs to be paid on. Their downloadable PDF document clearly states that Import VAT should be paid only on the intrinsic value of the order, which they define as NOT including the postage. The last time I paid Import VAT it was only on the cost of the products, not postage.

This seems to be turning into a farce, with some companies charging Import VAT on postage & some not, but if the HMRC website cannot even give a straightforward definition, then what hope is there!

I wonder if that Ebay seller is buying the products individually, then selling them as a kit. I notice that he has put the price up by £10 from last week. http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/130558501067

Even if we assume that Import VAT is paid on postage as well, if you had ordered the 3 items on seperate orders, it would have cost you around £43.71.

Edited by Manticore, 13 August 2011 - 06:06 AM.

[mr_man]

Has anyone ordered the items individually yet with no problems?

This is a break down of what I paid:
8 oz KIt : $38.44
Postage: $34.10

Total: $72.54
Total: £45.62

After Import VAT: £54.74
After Handling Fees: £68.24

---------------------------------------------------------------

Also does anyone use the cheapest shipping option when it tell you its not guaranteed or tracked? Just wondering if anyone's had problems with it?

[Manticore]

My last order on 1st June was for an 8oz bottle of treatment @$16.52 + $11.15 shipping (£10.33 + £6.97 = £17.30). It was delivered with no problems.

I always choose the cheapest shipping. No problems so far.

[mr_man]

Ah right that's good then,
I'll just do that mine I start getting low, How long did you have to wait?

[Manticore]

Ah right that's good then,
I'll just do that mine I start getting low, How long did you have to wait?

I can't remember exactly how long it took. I don't think it was much over 1 week. Perhaps 8 to 10 days.

[innocentkh]

So the order for the BP arrived 12 days after I ordered it (yay!), and I used the cheapest delivery option. Since it said 1-3 weeks, I am quite happy it even got here, haha! I was quite worred since I could not track the order.

I just ordered the cleanser and moisturiser together at the price of £24.07.

If I do not get charged Import VAT+Handling Fee (which I hopefully will NOT do since the intrinsic value is less than £18), I would have payed £41.37. I hope that is all I pay!


So recommendation: Order the treatment separately
I'll let you know if I had to pay extra for the cleanser and moisturiser order. However, for now it seems the cheapest option is to do them separately.

[Manticore]

Earlier on, I sent an Email to HMRC asking them if they could clarify whether Import VAT should be applied to post & packing. I linked to the 2 pages from their website that were conflicting.

[Manticore]

I have received a reply from HMRC. They confirm that Import VAT is payable on Postage & packing:-

Thank you for your email.

Information explaining what the import customs charges are when goods are imported into the UK from outside the EU is in Public Notice 143 A guide for international post users.

Section 3.1 of the notice states;

3.1 How are import charges calculated?

Charges are calculated by UK Border Agency (UKBA) staff at the postal depots where the packages are received. However, in some cases special arrangements are in place for goods purchased on the internet (see paragraph 3.4 below).

Value Added Tax (VAT) - Import VAT is charged at the same rate that applies to similar goods sold in the UK and applies to commercial goods over £18 in value, and on gifts that are over £40 in value (please note: With effect from 1 November 2011 the £18 threshold will be reduced to £15). The value of the goods for import VAT is based on the:

basic value of goods, plus
postage, packing and insurance, plus
any import (Customs or Excise) duties charged

It just occured to me that they include "packing" in the above statement. That's a bit of a nonsense really. How can you apply VAT to packing if you have no idea of it's worth?


I notice that the FAQ page hasn't been changed. It still says that VAT is charged on the intrinsic value only. If I have the strength, I will email them again about the FAQ page.

[innocentkh]

oh great...

So I'd have to pay Import VAT since my order is over £18 since postage is included. That is ridiculous. I checked two different places on the site and it said only to intrinsic value. And only one place said it applies to all.

I might take this further as well if I do end up getting charged