Purchased an item on eBay from HongKong

Danger781

Found a nice pair of earphones on eBay from HongKong for a lot cheaper than anywhere else. Cost me €19 including p&p so I was happy out. However, I never even thought about the customs duties! How is that going to work? How will it affect the price?

death1234567

Shouldn't affect the price at all, €21 is the cut off for tax I think, anything less than that is ignored AFAIK.

Pacing Mule

But the cut off can be based on the value of the goods in Ireland so it may indeed come into play.

logic

You should be fine. I got a few things from china that were probably worth more than 20 euro and have all come through without customs excise duty.

Max Power1

Pageant Messiah wrote: »

But the cut off can be based on the value of the goods in Ireland so it may indeed come into play.

Surely its based on the Declared value?

DamoNolan

you'll be fine..its has to be worth more than €21 to pay tax on it..

rubadub

Max Power1 wrote: »

Surely its based on the Declared value?

Not if they suspect the declared value is false, e.g. $10 for a ipod. They may demand proof of the price paid if it is not declared. They can also seize counterfeit goods.

Cutoff is €22 for normal goods and €45 for gifts. Both include shipping too, i.e. a €1.50 pencil sent by courier for €21 is liable -though unlikely to be charged.

Danger781

Ok that helps a lot.

The total came to just over €19 including p&p. In Ireland the value would be closer to €30 though..

Edit: Nearly every Irish website charges over €30!

Danger781

So am I correct in saying that I won't be charged customs or any other tax?

Nody

Danger781 wrote: »

So am I correct in saying that I won't be charged customs or any other tax?

Highly unlikely that you will be charged anything; you'll never know until you get the package in hand though.

jameshayes

i could be jinxing myself by saying this but - i've bought ton's of stuff from HK and China without customs - I've only noticed it on items that i've bought over 100 quid...

Danger781

Ok thanks In the event that I do have to pay something, can I pay by cash? Or how does it work?

jor el

I think cash will be accepted only if you have the exact amount. A cheque would be better, as the postman may not want to carry that money.

jameshayes

any time i've had to pay i've paid cash but if you dont have the exact amount, you wont be getting change...

Danger781

Okay thanks As you can guess I'm pretty new to this. Only thing I ever bought online was a guitar from Germany!