Originally Posted by
Favorite Fabrics
I think that the £8 fee is Royal Mail's "commission" for going through the trouble of delivering the package and the time spent collecting the VAT. Duty would be a separate issue. I'd read a few years back (on the HRM Customs website): "As of December 1, 2008, shipments valued at less than £105 are not subject to the Customs fee."
You are absolutely correct, the £8 Royal Mail fee is the fee they charge for charging the duty. Yes, you read the right, I pay them £8 because they charged me customs duty. Aaarrgh. However, whether you get charged this fee & duty is a bit hit and miss depending upon how diligent they are feeling in checking packages and what exchange rate they are using that day to calculate the value. Honestly, I don't get charged nearly as often as I "technically" should get charged. (I always factor it into my 'budget' and consider it a bonus if they dont charge it).
As to shipping speed, my experience is, that almost any courier is faster than USPS to the UK. Have no idea why - must have something to do with how they clear their international orders. Strangely USPS orders from Oregon/Wisconsin-ish part of the US are much faster than anything from the Eastern seaboard-ish part.
Keep in mind I probably only get 6-8 orders or so from the US in a year so my sampling size is not statistically significant!
-Sue in London, UK