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I just got back from shopping to find a Royal Mail card saying my parcel is not delivered because there's customs
charges to pay 
I already got the first parcel ok last week , of mini-bear fabrics ; I always break down orders
so they don't go over the limit ..... so I thought 
...
It would appear that as the package cost £18.31 it's gone over - ok there's a duty , but Royal Mail are charging £8.00
Yes , that's £8.00 for ????? On my £18.31 parcel I now must pay a total extra £11.17
If that's not being stung I don't know what is - I'm so MAD now , there's NO way I can think about sewing !!!!!
AHHHHHHH !! Sorry , I just needed to vent somewhere !
Ruth (in a non-productive grump )
DoodlebearsPoor you Ruth. I feel sorry for you, it really isn't fair. It's discusting the prices the post office charges in any respect. I ended up with a really upset customers who said she no longer wanted the bear because of a mix up at the post office...THEN I got stung for an extra twenty five pounds postage to send the bear. I sent the bear anyway and the customer was thrilled with the bear...I wasn't however owing to the loss of £25 profit. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!!
Hugs, Jane. :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug: :hug:
Eeeek, that's nasty!! 
So under £18 there is no duty to pay? This is what puts me off ordering out of the UK, I'm clueless when it comes to import duty.
Take a deep breath and put your feet up with a nice cuppa.
Regards
Lisa
Bears by JodiEven in the USA every one has their hands in our pockets too , every where you go , every thing you do ...
TIRED OF IT TOO !!!!
Thanks you two 
the red mists are starting to clear now ... I shall revert to "stiff upper lip" mode 
Yes , £18 GBP is the limit ; I for sure will check that future parcel amounts are well inside that !!
Who knew that 31 pence could cost you £11 plus ! 
Hey Ho ,
Ruth :hug:
Oooh Jodi , I must have posted when you did - Hi !! It's good to hear our postal services aren't the only
money-grabbers ! I'll find it hard to smile sweetly when I go and pay that's for sure !! 
Ruth
Walnut Tree Corner Bears By Gailoh no Ruth!,
you will have to ask them sweetly for a breakdown of their £8.00 charge and what it is for exactly,I would think that the 31p could merely be a very slight fluctuation on the exchange rate at the time it was calculated, which really would be mean. See if you can work out what it would be now and if under £18. 00 , I'd shout !!!(it will make you feel better anyway, and I am sure the person on the receving end will know you don't mean it personally)
Posts: 3,540Yeppers, Jodi's right, seems the post office has their hands in our pockets but good. And they're set to rise yet again
That's really mean, though charging over the top for 31 pence!! Grrrrrr.... spike your cuppa if you aren't calming down :hug:
Chaska, MinnesotaThat is down out right terrible!!! They can always think of something to get more money....It is no different here in the USA. With gas prices, I had to pay a "gas surcharge" on a supershutle from the airport the other day. That was on top of the increase charges for the shuttle. And...with the housing crisis here, property values are plummeting, but my house value went UP $9,000. So that means more taxes.... Grrrrrr....
Bears by EdieI can totally sympathize, Ruth. It is the same here in Canada - if the parcel is over the allowed limit then we have to pay a GST charge on it of 5% - which is often only a few cents if it is not an expensive parcel but then they charge us a flat fee of $5.00 for making the collection! Now $5.00 isn't much extra if it is an expensive parcel and you are paying a lot on it anyway but if it is just a few cents owing it is really maddening to have to pay all that extra money!
puca bearsSympathies, Ruth - I got well and truly stung by customs just before Xmas, when I bought some Tissavel plush from America. Seems like which ever way you turn these days, someone is after your money...........
And the way the currencies are going is BAD for us in Europe - when the Euro came into being it was about one to one for the US dollar, and 1.50 to the GB pound............I just checked and its now One dollar FIFTY-SEVEN to the Euro, and !.26 euros to the GB pound, which makes our bears EXPENSIVE..............just can't win
huggies
Maria
Sorry that this has happened to you Ruth .... that is terrible and no wonder you were fuming!
NZ Post is always out to get some revenue and that sort of thing has happened to me when I have bought something
from overseas and it is not a fair go.
Hugs
Carolyn
Jellybelly Bearsyikes..were always complaining about the prices of aussie post, but at least we know everything up front...guess we aught to stop compaining! wow, unbelieveable!
Thanks for all your sympathies - I have found it most soothing !! 
I will try to be diplomatic when I go on Monday (and not fling the parcel back across the counter in a bratty tantrum !! :crackup: )
No - - I shall "rise above it" !! 
Ruth
LuxembourgI'm so sorry for you Ruth. Perhaps if the post officer is nice .... nothing to pay or have a discount ......
What a surprise for me the first time I received a parcel from the USA and have to pay huge fees for customs!! I'm used to custom fees now and still don't really understand how it works here. I of course know that I have to pay custom fees when I receive parcels out of Europe. But sometimes I have not .... I gave up ... will not try to understand how they calculate their fees ....
Try some yoga before to go to postoffice. 
Sandrine
Ruth,
It's so hard I get orders from the UK, but I do not list UK on my ebay sales. My first reason is that it takes SOO long for a package to arrive! Both I, and my customer "sweat-out" the UK customs. Now this! What is happening over there? I love UK collectors, but I fear the shipping/customs
Karen
KJ Lyons Design
Well , I've been and collected the parcel - glad to say I'm more than happy with the fabric 
The man at the counter agreed with me that the p.o charges were daylight robbery !!!!
Plus , you know what made this all worse ? Yesterday when I checked the exchange rates I realised I had
in my fury read the amount as £18.31 .... but it was actually £18.031 , so I was only 3 pence over the import limit !
In fact , this morning it was 2 pence
The (UK) moral is ; always leave a good 2 dollars under the current limit . FYI , the parcel label also states the import "gift" limit (person to person)
as £36.00 GBP.
Remember girls ; Royal Mail is printing its own money - in Ransom charges ! :crackup: 
Ruth
Posts: 3,540Hmmm...well at least now we know the limits for the UK customs.... til they change again.
I'm glad you're happy with your new fur :hug: At least that makes it worthwhile No, not really, but it takes the sting out
Baird'sBears Customs charges stink
Edie's right about the Canadian system. If the order's valued above a certain amount (nobody knows), we pay Canadian taxes (15% in Ontario) plus $5.
I'm ashamed to say that I have actually flipped out. The delivery man told me that it's a very random system . . . sometimes they charge the taxes & fees, other times they can't be bothered.
Now that the Canadian dollar is worth almost at par with the US dollar, we're getting a break. For a while there, the exchange rate alone was about 20%, which meant that anything worth over about $30 got socked.
Posts: 8,574Dear Ruth,
The (UK) moral is ; always leave a good 2 dollars under the current limit . FYI , the parcel label also states the import "gift" limit (person to person)
as £36.00 GBP.
:crackup: :crackup: :crackup:
Your whole topic made for entertaining reading, which wasn't your point, and I realize it, but we do have to get our chuckles where we can.
SSO Thank you for sharing your story start to happy finish, or, well, not so happy, but at least informative.
How frustrating to have to worry about daily fluctuations in rates.
Of course, we Yanks, with the dollar doing a freefall, I guess we should be thinking hourly exchange rates. Sigh.
HHowever if I read correctly, you are happy with your fabrics and rrejuvenatedto begin anew making wee ones?
Happy Sewing
di
Thanks Di ! Yes , I'm definitely raring to go ; got steam coming off my needles ! 
Any case , most of us mini-girlies would crawl over broken glass for our Sassy fabby fabrics !!! :crackup: :crackup:
What I have learnt is : Money :- it's stoopid ; let's go back to beads and stones .... :crackup: :crackup:
:hug: for all the currency-oppressed !!
Ruth
Posts: 3,540:crackup: :crackup: I'm all for it! Got a stash of various stones already
Bears by EdieEdie's right about the Canadian system. If the order's valued above a certain amount (nobody knows), we pay Canadian taxes
Eileen, our tax free amount here in Canada is supposed to be $20 CD for purchased items and $60 for items sent as gifts (unless it has changed in the last year or so???). It does seem to be totally random lately whether they feel like charging you or not - I've paid on a few parcels that were just a little over the limit and then had some expensive parcels that I expected to be charged on come through for free - so just never know what will happen!
Baird'sBears Thanks, Edie,
I've never heard those numbers, but none of our posties seem to know them either!
Best we can do is hope for an administrative error in our favor.
