Who's tried to dodge UK import duty?

[jamiewakeham]

KEH have stuffed up. I spent $800 on lenses and paid for overnight shipping to a friend in the US who flies back to the UK today. What I didn't reckon on was KEH taking three days to put the bl**dy parcel in the post. My friend's confused parents now have a box of three lenses and want to know what to do with it :bang:

I'm sure I could argue with KEH that they owe me free international shipping now, but I'll end up paying something like £100 ($200) in import duty and VAT. So, has anyone here had luck in having the sender underdeclare value? Any hints and tips? Specifically, do I put all my eggs in one basket or split them three ways? I could have one sent to my home, one to my workplace and one to the friend.

Or do I give in and pay up? What happens if you get caught out - any fines, or do you just end up paying what you should have anyway?

Cheers
Jamie

 

[jamiewakeham]

Or - could an american living here have her parents send her 'own personal effects' to her because she forgot to pack them at no cost?

 

[Mr_Flibble]

If the parents remove all the KEH company logos and the invoice from the package and take it to the post-office to have it shipped as a gift or spares/repair parts or even antiques to you it should not be picked out by Customs.

Of course if your parcel goes missing you never see your money back. 🙁
Same thing if you Undervalueing a package, you will not get the entire value back.

I don't get taxed on every item I order from the US. Sometimes a parcel slips through without any trouble. If it is picked out, they either send you a letter asking for you to pay before they send it on. Or like TNT-post they send you a bill afterwards.

 

[Terao]

1) Ship USPS
2) Declare it under value
3) Remove any invoices, etc
4) Have it shipped to a business address if possible, getting them to indicate on the package that its returned/faulty goods

Downsides:

1) Its illegal
2) If the package goes walkies you don't get your money back because you're not insured for the full value
3) Even with all that it may still not get through the R&C nazis

R&C Officers are not camera experts so they have no idea what your lenses are really worth, particularly if they look s/h anyway (assume they are)

For example, friend of mine just got a 75 'lux through tax-free from Australia (shipped FedEx and underdeclared)

Its a lottery that R&C seem to be winning more these days if my strike rate is anything to go by, but I rarely get stuff undervalued.

Certainly has the desired effect - I'm more likely to buy from the EU now...