Hi guys i am going to be purchasing some goods from america and wondered how does the customs work is there any charges if so what and is there any related sites so i can read up.

Hi mate depends on what you are buying usualy uk customs charge duty at 13% on the total invoice inc the delivery portion then at 17.5% to that amount.. £100.00 invoice + £13.00 + £2.27= £115.27 you will pay in total for the £100.00 item

well its going to be sunglasses total cost is 58 quid mate

£68.85 total cost approx unless you can get someone to post them over as a gift! I know this first hand there's nothing worse than paying £300.00 for some thing believing it's a bargain then the postal chappy knocking on your door asking for an extra £46.00 to cover the duty and then £10.00 to cover there brokerage costs..

i was thinking that but its a company is there a site i can read up on all this so can figure a way round it :)

There is no way round it m8, all goods that come through the postal system arrive at Mount Pleasant Customs Office which is part of The Royal Mail sorting office in London

All goods can be checked and opened by the customs officers, even if they were a "gift" they can still charge you Import tax and VAT, they will also put there own fee on for clearing it

This might also be some help

http://www.hmce.gov.uk/business/tradinginternet/tradinter-27.htm

It should be ok, put the value at £5 and it is sent as a gift

I know someone who ordered 200 cigs from Malaysia for £15 and customs <SPIT!!!> put a charge of £43 on them, can you believe that ****, he phoned them and they said it was correct, when he said its contrary to the charges on their website the customs <SPIT!!!> officer got snotty.