High delivery charges

[Deleted member 1881]

Also, just to clarify this @Redrock, unfortunately it is the physical size of a product, not its selling price, which dictates the shipping cost. For example any item over 1" in thickness classes as a small parcel, so a £1 shaving stick would still costs the same to ship as a £100 razor.

Unbelievable. Really. I am speechless.

 

[dc68]

I personally am more than happy for an overseas company to declare less than the worth and from my own perspective long may it continue. I'm already taxed to the hilt on my wage plus everything I buy so if I can get off with being mugged on my overseas purchases it's a risk I'm happy to take anyday.

No Wayne.. to do so would be dishonest and that can never be a good thing nor should it be encouraged. If you turn a blind eye you ultimately lose your vision. To encourage vendors to under declare undermines those who seek to abide by the law and disadvantages honesty in trading. I am afraid I take a binary view on such things.

 

[oscsha]

No Wayne.. to do so would be dishonest and that can never be a good thing nor should it be encouraged. If you turn a blind eye you ultimately lose your vision. To encourage vendors to under declare undermines those who seek to abide by the law and disadvantages honesty in trading. I am afraid I take a binary view on such things.

Couldn't agree more , under declaring the value on a customs form is fraud and tax evasion . Although the so called handling / collecting fees charged by some couriers for collecting the tax are extreme .

 

[Wayne]

If I may chip in from a UK vendors perspective just to clarify a few of the points raised in the thread?

We are only a small independent family company, and appreciate shipping costs are important to you, which is why we try and remain as competitive as we can and offer free UK shipping over £15. The price we charge for orders under £15 pretty much wipes our nose on shipping costs, plus box, packing materials and transport to the PO each day. We'd love to be able to offer free shipping on everything but for a company our size it simply isn't viable.

There are different levels of service available, obviously, and each retailer/vendor/artisan will choose the service they deem best for them and their business. However, as somebody has alluded to in a post above already, there are some unscrupulous people out there (sadly, and mostly residing on eBay) who will say an item has not arrived simply because it isn't signed for which forces companies to charge more to get that all important signature, it's a vicious circle. Fortunately for us, we use an RM business service which is barcoded and scanned on delivery, so we do get that proof of delivery.

International shipping is a difficult one, so we offer two options for either tracked or untracked service based on the customers choice. This is weight based on a table provided by the PO, and upgrading to tracked service at our cost is at our discretion if the parcel is over a certain amount and we require that peace of mind. There are some international sellers who are more than happy to fudge the figures on customs documents in an effort to avoid import taxes and thus make their goods appear cheaper and more appealing to foreign markets. This, in our honest opinion, gives them a massively unfair advantage for their willingness to lie and bend the rules, but what many people do not perhaps realise is that all the risk lies with you, the buyer! If customs do smell a rat and check and confiscate you parcel, you the purchaser stand that cost and your vendor gets away scot free. So are they REALLY doing you a favour?

Hope all those ramblings help!!

No Wayne.. to do so would be dishonest and that can never be a good thing nor should it be encouraged. If you turn a blind eye you ultimately lose your vision. To encourage vendors to under declare undermines those who seek to abide by the law and disadvantages honesty in trading. I am afraid I take a binary view on such things.

So the government isn’t dishonest? I stand by my descision and would do so at every chance available to me.

 

[Wayne]

No Wayne.. to do so would be dishonest and that can never be a good thing nor should it be encouraged. If you turn a blind eye you ultimately lose your vision. To encourage vendors to under declare undermines those who seek to abide by the law and disadvantages honesty in trading. I am afraid I take a binary view on such things.

You are always entitled to your view on these matters. I don’t have to respect those views nor abide by them. If you do I wish you good luck in all your persuits.

 

[Conservator]

Postage is crazy. I can send a small box by priority mail anywhere in the U.S. for $7.20. Sending the same package to Canada can cost $33+. The same weight package by Priority Rate International costs as follows:
Country Price
U.K. $50.50
Japan $50.00
France $42.25
Netherlands $40.00