Cost of tax - postage UK to France

[manonthemoon2]

I know since B there have been problems with postage costs.
However I saw somewhere that if the items in the envelope are not of great value then there is no extra charge on receipt of the item.

My sister has bought me 2 beanie hats ready for chemo, the value is £20, will there be an import charge when delivered?

[Bayleaf]

I don't think there's any way of knowing. I rarely order from the UK now. The last couple of times I did (it was clothing/merchandise from a Charity-giving site - whether that makes any difference), there was no demand for money on delivery. Could it depend on jobsworth Posties/region?

[Blaze]

If your sister puts a low value (I think it's max £30 or €30), and declares it as a gift on the customs label, you shouldn't get stung by the postie. It's worked for us when my sister has sent stuff.
We've only paid when shopping on line (sometimes the same product is cheaper from the UK even including the douane/postie charge)

[Sparkle]

Some weeks back I had to order a replacement item from the UK the cost to me was just over £300 but the kind person sending the parcel wrote the value as £50. I had to pay our post lady 12 euros. Postie then told me that she had just delivered a large parcel of clothes to a neighbour who had to pay 140 euros - ouch! Just after Brexit I bought a UK souvenir item at £40 that was marked as £40 on the customs form and I had to pay the postie 15 euros.

[Hotrodder]

I buy nothing from outside the EU these days. Anything that I can only source in UK gets sent to a friend there and he brings it over the next time he visits his holiday home, about three times a year. Patience and planning ahead saves a lot of money.

[Yonner]

I'm with Bayleaf, there seems to be no logic to the charges 12€ on £50, 15€ on £40 ??
I wonder if the post has a chart or guide they could show you?

[exile]

It is not down to the postie to decide whether or not to charge. Customs will decide and affix a sticker to the package readable with the posties hand held gizmo (assuming it is La Poste who will do the delivery). In principle there is now no lower limit on the value of a delivery and the customs site clearly says that TVA applies from the first euro*. Practice does seem to be different - sometimes. If you do get charged then La Poste will add on a fee for the collection "service". Sometimes I have been lucky and customs have sent a message before the parcel is delivered. The email then allows payment on line with a very reduced service charge. [Yes I did check it was legitimate before entering card details but unfortunately the layout of the email looks a lot like the scam emails that are all too familiar.]

The best I can suggest is that the parcel is sent with the contents clearly marked as a gift and with a low value.

*I got charged for a £24 Ebay purchase a couple of weeks ago. €14 including La Poste €8 service charge.
I persuaded the seller to not use Ebay's GSP - which given the purchase was for 8 items would have cost a fortune. (Estimate that instead of £3 per item plus €1.75 import charge per item, I would have had to pay £3 per item plus £12.50 GSP per item. And no Ebay GSP won't allow you to bulk ship individual auction items.)

[niemeyjt]

I buy nothing from outside the EU these days. Anything that I can only source in UK gets sent to a friend there and he brings it over the next time he visits his holiday home, about three times a year. Patience and planning ahead saves a lot of money.

I agree - a bit of planning and a car boot can save taxes! There is a heap of stuff in bedroom in UK awaiting my next trip back.

Things to/from France I post in France or have delivered to my ex-boss who lives in France.

My biggest bugbear is US companies who do not understand the issues and send one order as multiple tax-to-pay consignments - at CHF 14 service charge per consignment.

[Hotrodder]

It is not down to the postie to decide whether or not to charge. Customs will decide and affix a sticker to the package readable with the posties hand held gizmo (assuming it is La Poste who will do the delivery). In principle there is now no lower limit on the value of a delivery and the customs site clearly says that TVA applies from the first euro*. Practice does seem to be different - sometimes. If you do get charged then La Poste will add on a fee for the collection "service". Sometimes I have been lucky and customs have sent a message before the parcel is delivered. The email then allows payment on line with a very reduced service charge. [Yes I did check it was legitimate before entering card details but unfortunately the layout of the email looks a lot like the scam emails that are all too familiar.]

The best I can suggest is that the parcel is sent with the contents clearly marked as a gift and with a low value.

*I got charged for a £24 Ebay purchase a couple of weeks ago. €14 including La Poste €8 service charge.
I persuaded the seller to not use Ebay's GSP - which given the purchase was for 8 items would have cost a fortune. (Estimate that instead of £3 per item plus €1.75 import charge per item, I would have had to pay £3 per item plus £12.50 GSP per item. And no Ebay GSP won't allow you to bulk ship individual auction items.)

I have seen one of the emails you speak of. I assumed it was a scam, tried to understand it but too many anomalies with my translater so gave it a miss. Friend had to pay 10€ at the door for a 20€ item.

[exile]

Yes I too was sceptical even though I was expecting a package, so rather than click on the link I went to the La Poste site where there is a page for customs charges and input the tracking number given in the email - lo and behold there were my charges with the option of paying at the door with an €8 handling charge or paying on line with a €2 charge.