Taxes/Duties Collected at Checkout (US Order)

BunChop_30

Hi,

I'm looking to buy a couple things in from an American website, fansedge.com. Shipping is around 20 quid, but there's a note saying 'an additional 23% duties and taxes will be collected at checkout' for Europe, and that there will be no further charge upon delivery.

I don't understand this system - how can an American retailer say what Irish customs will do? Has anyone got any experience with paying custom charges like this? I'm anxious to get my order in while the sale is still running, but think I'll end up paying over the odds now, if I rush into it.

L1011

They can use a service like Pitney Bowes offer to pay the Irish taxes in advance. Hard to tell if they actually are doing that

Yggr of Asgard

They seam to use Landmark Global, essentially what they do is they calculate what the duty/vat is on the order, make you pay at the point of order and ship it to you marked as duty/vat to be charged to sender.

Advantage is that you should not get hit with duty/vat and the carrier admin charge when the courier delivers.

Now what happens if they miscalculate (i.e. revenue disagrees) is a different matter, in theory you should not get hit as they guaranteed no additional charges.

But after all this is revenue, what does anybody know.

Yggr of Asgard

Also are you sure you want to order from them?

Looking at their BBB review, while they have an A+ rating there is loads of complaints about the quality of their products:
http://www.bbb.org/north-east-florida/business-reviews/sporting-goods-retail/fanatics-retail-group-in-jacksonville-fl-29000877

Returning items will be really complicated.

JaMarcusHustle

Have ordered American Football merchandise from them before with no issue. Have even returned a couple of jerseys without issue too, receiving replacements very quickly.

I always liked that they take the VAT there and then. Ensures there is no delay whatsoever with the parcel arriving.

Yggr of Asgard

Good to hear, however what I'm still wondering is that its VAT only, sporting clothes have a 12% import duty next to VAT.

Do you remember what courier they were using?

JaMarcusHustle

Yggr of Asgard wrote: »

Good to hear, however what I'm still wondering is that its VAT only, sporting clothes have a 12% import duty next to VAT.

Do you remember what courier they were using?

Pretty sure they charge import duty when you're paying also. I've ordered plenty of times - both clothing and non-clothing - and have never had any problems.

As for the courier, I'm not sure, I'll check my email history and confirm.

BunChop_30

Thanks everyone.

Took the plunge and ordered - ending up using a discount code, so wrote off the customs as what I would have spent, had I not been able to get a discount.

It's expedited shipping, so should be here in ten working days - hopefully fully paid up with no surprises!

Yggr of Asgard

BunChop_30 wrote: »

Thanks everyone.

Took the plunge and ordered - ending up using a discount code, so wrote off the customs as what I would have spent, had I not been able to get a discount.

It's expedited shipping, so should be here in ten working days - hopefully fully paid up with no surprises!

So how did you get on with this shop?

BunChop_30

Got the parcel at the end of last week, no problems at all. No extra charges when it arrived.

Yggr of Asgard

BunChop_30 wrote: »

Got the parcel at the end of last week, no problems at all. No extra charges when it arrived.

Do you remember which courier they used?