I'm just curious to know what other people's experiences are when importing goods from HK to UK since the UK left the EU. I know HK is obviously not part of the EU but I believe the government tightened up on VAT and import duties from all countries at around the same time as we left the EU and as I have not bought anything from HK in the last couple of years I'm just wondering if there has been any significant changes/impact. Previously, small items such as strings were never taxed but I bought a couple of racquets before which were.
I've always had mixed results buying any items from Asia. Some sellers never incurred any import duties but others did. Since UK left the EU the import costs seem to have got more regular and higher priced into and out of UK
Yeah, that used to be the case for me before Brexit. Anyway, I've gone ahead with my order as there is a supply shortage of Yonex strings in the UK for months now so have no choice but to order from abroad. Hopefully won't be stung too much!
I just got strings shipped from mybadmintonstore in Hong Kong to Canada and that was not taxed and came straight to my mailbox at home. Racquets will probably get taxed because it is a larger parcel, and I don't remember if I got taxed on racquets before as it's been a very long time since I purchased racquets from HK.
Ok, so just updating this in case it might help others. I ordered a few packets of strings and a couple of small accessories from e78 on 8th March, arrived today (9 days later) and no fees/charges. I suspect it was because the items were of low value otherwise there probably would have been a charge.
Is there a lower limits of some sort for UK? Here in the US, anything below $800 won't be charged duties. That's a few rackets. Anything above is purely luck whether duties are charged or not.
MBS sends out packages stating for personal use. I think that implies not for resale and profit. A lot of times, racquets don’t get charged duties if it’s one racquet.
I bought a ZF2 from E78 recently and it arrived without any extra fees. They under-declare the value of the package so it gets through customs easily.
So you're not even paying import tax (VAT) for anything below 800 USD? That is just... wow. The EU has lowered this taxfree level to *drumroll* FIVE EUR. Just ridiculous. Yes, e78 has been very flexible in that regard in my previous shipments as well.