Help I have just been robbed

Fetch

I ordered a gun from redwolfairsoft.com

A Glock 18c, and extra extended mag, a stepdown adapter for the charger and a leg holster. It came to about 190usd.

I just got a hpone call that the postman arrived with my package today and they want me to pay €54 customs duty my girlfriend didnt have the money so its sitting ina depot in meath. Im being hit with about half the cost of the gun again (a third the cost of the whole order). This doesnt seem right.. the postman has no idea specifically how the charge was calculated. Has anyone else had this happen to them before? Do I have any way to contest the bill? It like their holding my property ransom...:mad:

A friend of mine ordered 2 pistols and a heap of mags from the same site just a month ago and was charged nothing.

Edit: From what I can see they are chargin me the VAT rate but they are including the shipping costs as part of the value of the item...

Dar

Fetch wrote:

A friend of mine ordered 2 pistols and a heap of mags from the same site just a month ago and was charged nothing.

It's a bit of a lottery really. Sometimes you'll get through without being charged, sometimes you won't.

€54 euro sounds like way too much, works out at near 40%. I'd contact customs if I were you and see if they can clarify the situation.

Genghiz Cohen

Yeah it happens, you're just gonna have to pay it. i haven't had to pay extra so far, but i have some monies lying around just incase. Unlucky man.

Dar

Fetch wrote:

Edit: From what I can see they are chargin me the VAT rate but they are including the shipping costs as part of the value of the item...

Vat charged by customs always includes the shipping and insurance costs.

kdouglas

which is absolutely ridiculous to be honest, it should be charged on the cost of the item itself!!!

OP: yup, customs charges are a pain, usual with duty and PO handling charge it works out at 25% of the total order including shipping, so if it's that high, ring and ask for a breakdown of the charges on your package

davvowl

shipping & handling + insurance is considered as a service from another country, so you get to pay the VAT on it (which is stupid)

theres no way you can escape that bill, just try getting over it...
if you contact the customs it might take some time and you'll end up with your parcel shipped back to sender, lol.

Shiva

Sounds like they charged you 21% VAT, up to 5% duty and a handling fee on 190 Euro, not 190 US Dollars.

I.E. - they didnt convert the US Dollars to Euros.

ambro25

$190 = €140, give or take.

work out 25% (max-maximum, should be lower really) = €35

> Looks to me like they've worked out the tax on the 190 USD amount, not the 140 EUR amount, so it could just be a mistake. Call'em up. And/or pay then reclaim (that's the way it works with AnPost, I believe).

Fetch

Man this is becoming a very expensive pistol... thanks for the input guys... from what i can see from the revenue website I can appeal on duty already paid so I will pick it up today and pay for it and fill in an appeal form and wait to see what happens...:(

Fetch

Shiva wrote:

Sounds like they charged you 21% VAT, up to 5% duty and a handling fee on 190 Euro, not 190 US Dollars.

I.E. - they didnt convert the US Dollars to Euros.

Ive learned my lesson man I'll buy from you in future... keep it local

ambro25

I've retrieved my old DHL thread and put it in my sig, just in case it's any use/inspiration for ye guys, as and when (hopefully: never).

Shiva

Fetch wrote:

Ive learned my lesson man I'll buy from you in future... keep it local

Ahh no, in fairness...I dont have much of a selction of pistols

Of course...thats about to change....

/wrings hands together and cackles manically

Voodoomelon

Fetch wrote:

Man this is becoming a very expensive pistol...

Try €70 customs on a €250 pistol...

Mr. Presentable

Fetch wrote:

Do I have any way to contest the bill? It like their holding my property ransom...:mad:

A friend of mine ordered 2 pistols and a heap of mags from the same site just a month ago and was charged nothing.

...

Them's the breaks I'm afraid. More and more imports done through foreign websites are going to be caught. There's nothing strange or wrong with the charges, they are levied on pretty much anything you buy, so, as long as you are still getting a bargain then you should be happy enough. You could report your friend for importing goods without a licence and not paying his duty or VAT - that'd even things up :rolleyes:

o1s1n

Different carriers end up having different additional charges. You didn't have it shipped UPS did you? As I've recently discovered with my last order that they include a €12 "other fees" charge on every package.

Hivemind187

o1s1n wrote:

Different carriers end up having different additional charges. You didn't have it shipped UPS did you? As I've recently discovered with my last order that they include a €12 "other fees" charge on every package.

Actually, you should contact them and get them to tell you what the "other fee's" break down as. since they are billing you then you have the right to know - if they cant justify it then they can't charge it:cool:

Skatedude

i've been mis charged everytime so far, turns out they always calculated the duty based on euro, even though the item was lited in dollar value. they just didnt bother to convert it to euro , then calculate duty.
After much argument they always relinqished the difference.

Once last year they tried to charge me 400 euro duty on a hop up rubber because the value was listed as 1800 yen from japan, about 12 quid

ED E

Skatedude wrote:

i've been mis charged everytime so far, turns out they always calculated the duty based on euro, even though the item was lited in dollar value. they just didnt bother to convert it to euro , then calculate duty.
After much argument they always relinqished the difference.

Once last year they tried to charge me 400 euro duty on a hop up rubber because the value was listed as 1800 yen from japan, about 12 quid

Imbasiles! Lol.

marco murphy

Mine was 41 euro for 170 euro order. I don't think theres any point in trying to argue.

o1s1n

Voodoomelon wrote:

Try €70 customs on a €250 pistol...

Mine was 76 on a €200 order

tonyj_mc

jesus boys my Star g-36 was priced in hong kong dollars, was expecting to bent over and taken someplace uncomfotable but got home big package waiting and all the cash i had left with my dad sitting on table, what a lottery, sayiing that i got hit for €20 on a €70 springer

o1s1n

It's interesting to compare what we've all been paying VAT. If however you've somehow done something to get around paying it, do not post about it here please. Puts us all in a bad light.

Airsofters are tax payers, not tax dodgers!

Mr. Presentable

Hivemind187 wrote:

Actually, you should contact them and get them to tell you what the "other fee's" break down as. since they are billing you then you have the right to know - if they cant justify it then they can't charge it:cool:

By the time they get to your door UPS (or whoever) have already paid the duty, so the €12.00 is their service charge (I'd guess made up of €10.00 plus 21% VAT = €12.10). However, I always thought services were Vat @ 13.5%...

tonyj_mc

i always ask for full price to be declared, don't wanna be snared for anything. wouldn't dream of asking for anything to be done to avoid, but even with the extra charges it still works out cheaper than buying from some uk sites

IRISH RAIL

Ive seen this with stuff coming from china on e bay
they mark it as a gift can the retailers not do that for us?

o1s1n

IRISH RAIL wrote:

Ive seen this with stuff coming from china on e bay
they mark it as a gift can the retailers not do that for us?

Read four posts up. I just asked people not to discuss ways of avoiding VAT.

ambro25

IRISH RAIL wrote:

Ive seen this with stuff coming from china on e bay
they mark it as a gift can the retailers not do that for us?

Seconding what o1s1n posted and if it's marked as gift and gets lost in transit, you get no comeback... Might not bother you if it's a €10 iPod clone, but it's a bit different for €150-€200's worth of AEG and other bits, innit? :rolleyes:

BFSL

Fetch wrote:

I ordered a gun from redwolfairsoft.com

A Glock 18c, and extra extended mag, a stepdown adapter for the charger and a leg holster. It came to about 190usd.

I just got a hpone call that the postman arrived with my package today and they want me to pay €54 customs duty my girlfriend didnt have the money so its sitting ina depot in meath. Im being hit with about half the cost of the gun again (a third the cost of the whole order). This doesnt seem right.. the postman has no idea specifically how the charge was calculated. Has anyone else had this happen to them before? Do I have any way to contest the bill? It like their holding my property ransom...:mad:

A friend of mine ordered 2 pistols and a heap of mags from the same site just a month ago and was charged nothing.

Edit: From what I can see they are charging me the VAT rate but they are including the shipping costs as part of the value of the item...

Basically what they have done is charged you Vat and excise duty at a high rate, duty can be anything from 1.5% to 27%, if they are not sure of the category they will always go with the high end margin. If you contact someone like Bax Global, they should be able to give you the proper rate, and the fact that your friend got away with it is just the luck of the draw.