Small FAQ/ Overview for British Customers :)

[samba1]

Hello, I have decided to make this thread considering people keep asking about VAT/import costs and what not.
I hope all the English I write will be simple and easy enough to understand.
This guide only applies to the United Kingdom.

As we all know Bad Dragon exclusively uses FedEx on all orders for the time being.

The Sending Process

After ordering your toy, all the information a buyer need is:
          - the invoice
          - tracking information

The only thing you can do is wait, for custom toys you will have to wait for manufacturing, packing and delivery.
For in-stock toys and flops you'll only have to wait for packing and delivery.
Up-to-date time estimates can be found here: http://bad-dragon.com/help/42.

When your order is dispatched, BD will send you an email confirming this with a tracking number.
You can track your parcels either at FedEx themselves or Boxoh

The parcels are dispatched from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) which goes to Memphis International Airport (MEM). From there the parcel leaves the USA to arrive at London Stansted Airport (STN).

When it arrives at London Stansted Airport, all Customs duties and import taxes are worked out by customs officers and paid for by FedEx. This is so your parcel doesn't just sit in customs for a couple of weeks.

After you receive your parcel, FedEx will send you an invoice by letter stating you have to pay all the duties and taxes that are due, they also add an "Admin" or "Clearance" fee on top.
The letter will state how you can pay the invoice.

Short Version:
          - You Order From BD
          - Order is dispatched from the USA
          - Arrives in the UK
          - Buyer receives parcel.
          - FedEx sends out invoice (Taxes and Admin Fee) to buyer
          - Buyer pays invoice.

Import Tax Customs and Other Fees.

The UK government likes to overcomplicate things and makes information kind of hard to find, also sometimes the information you get is either vague or not helpful.

Importing into the UK has two bands in which VAT starts being payable.
For commercial parcels you will pay import VAT if the value of the goods are over £15.
For "gifts" you will have to pay VAT if the value of the goods are over £36.
(Checked 18/01/2013)

The UK currently (18/01/2013) has 3 VAT tax bands.
0% - For essentials such as Food (Ingredients, vegetables .etc).
5% - Reduced Rate VAT for stuff like utilities (Electricity and Gas .etc)
20% - For everything else

Bad Dragon classifies their toys as "Silicone Sculptures" this comes under the category of "Original artwork sculptures" in the UK - this normally falls under the 5% category.

However since BD is a commercial entity, all of their "Silicone Sculptures" attracts the highest 20% vat band.
Happily BD's products come under the category of "original artwork sculptures" so there won't be any customs duty levied on BD's toys.

FedEx then adds their "admin" charge which is £10.50 or 2.5% of the calculated VAT (whichever is greater).
They try to justify this charge since "They provided a device in which they paid your taxes on your behalf so that you can receive your parcel earlier).
Now FedEx aren't the only ones doing this, all the couriers are charging clearance fees and all of FedEx's competitors charge around the same fee.

Below is an example I made to help you calculate your own possible import VAT.

You order a Medium Sea Dragon in natural colouring (5 firmness) with suction cup and cum tube.
This would set you back $165 (price checked 18/01/2013)
Delivery to mainland UK using FedEx International Priority would set you back $37.87
In total this would cost $202.87

Now using paypal exchange rates 1 GBP = 1.54576 USD (18/01/2013)

So total order price in GBP is £131.24 (131.2428838)
VAT at 20% works out to be £26.25 (26.24857675)
FedEx "admin" charge will be £10.50 since it is greater than 2.5%

So the grand total after import costs £167.99 ($258.90)

So the shortened formula is like this:
{[((Price of Toy/s + Delivery Cost)/1.5)*1.2]+10.50}

Where 1 GBP is estimated at 1.5 USD in this case and 1.2 is the VAT being added.

Now the UK government uses a different exchange rate to what paypal uses, so you may pay slightly more or less VAT.

When calculating import VAT, VAT is also levied on the delivery cost if the order (excluding delivery) is over £15.

All of BD's accessories also attract 20% VAT with a Toy order.
However these accessories if purchased on their own are exempt from VAT if the total amount purchased (excluding shipping) is less than £15.

I hope this mini guide has answered some of your questions, also thanks Blackymoon for the layout. Also please tell me if there're any mistakes - I'm only human.

Feel free to ask any questions within this thread, I'll try my best to help and answer.

edit (28/04/2013) - information update.

[FNKWB]

I'd like to say thanks yet again, for being so detailed with this guide. It's really helpful for us UK buyers and can trip you up if you don't remember to keep a good little cushion of money aside before you order something, as it's easy to forget these charges. you can end up realising you don't actually have enough to collect the your awesome toys even though technically Bad Dragon has actually received the entire payment and start panicking about what's going to happen.

[samba1]

No problem, since there's a small guide for Germans I thought there should be one for the UK considering that our taxations aren't the same.

I hope this guide will be helpful to UK customers in general, and I hope it solves most of their tax issues, I will try and keep this guide updated (in the event of price changes or tax changes).

[FNKWB]

Bumping this to say that I think the FedEx invoices for UK customers has this:

DUTY
CLEARANCE
20% VAT

So it maybe £10-£20 more than your predicted total.

[Silver Gunn]

So what you saying is once I've done the checkout thingy, paid for my toy and for the import and all that bo****ks I'd STILL have more to pay :S. I'm starting to have 2nd thoughts about buying owt from this site. Rite well this FedEx thing, is that like paypal? Will I need to create an account wiv them b4 I buy owt?

[Mongrel Vixen]

So what you saying is once I've done the checkout thingy, paid for my toy and for the import and all that bo****ks I'd STILL have more to pay :S. I'm starting to have 2nd thoughts about buying owt from this site. Rite well this FedEx thing, is that like paypal? Will I need to create an account wiv them b4 I buy owt?

Yup! Toys actually end up costing about $50-$100 extra with shipping and customs. When your toys ship, they'll arrive and a few days, maybe weeks later you'll get a letter from fedex asking you to pay extra. It can be anywhere from £10 right through to £40 depending on the cost of your order.

[Silver Gunn]

So what you saying is once I've done the checkout thingy, paid for
my toy and for the import and all that bo****ks I'd STILL have more to
pay :S. I'm starting to have 2nd thoughts about buying owt from this
site. Rite well this FedEx thing, is that like paypal? Will I need to
create an account wiv them b4 I buy owt?

Yup! Toys actually end up costing about $50-$100 extra with shipping
and customs. When your toys ship, they'll arrive and a few days, maybe
weeks later you'll get a letter from fedex asking you to pay extra. It
can be anywhere from £10 right through to £40 depending on the cost of
your order.

Bugger. Well to save money in the long run I'm putting in a large order that'll come to between £200-£300. If I jot up the total ammount could you....could you possibly tell me how much I'll have to pay? Or could you tell me how to find out pweese :) x x

[samba1]

Bugger. Well to save money in the long run I'm putting in a large order that'll come to between £200-£300. If I jot up the total ammount could you....could you possibly tell me how much I'll have to pay? Or could you tell me how to find out pweese :) x x

Well sorry for this late reply, I hope it's still useful anyhow.
I'll make a formula for you to use.

{[((Price of Toy/s + Delivery Cost)/1.5)*1.2]+10.50}

What you work out would be roughly what you'd pay. Barring the exchange rates which I've set to 1.5 for ease.

[Silver Gunn]

Well sorry for this late reply, I hope it's still useful anyhow.
I'll make a formula for you to use.

(((totalcost/1.5)*1.2)+10.50)

totalcost
includes delivery. the 10.50 charge is an admin charge.
What you work out would be roughly what you'd pay. Barring the exchange
rates which I've set to 1.5 for ease.

It's the delivery cost that I'm trying to work out. Or rather the courior (excuse the spelling) cost x x

[Jonny]

Thanks a lot for this: as a UK forum user having all the info in one place is helpful...if slightly worrying.

Still, if it was going to be my main toy I may as well get one I really like. I think it's a way off for me though.

[samba1]

Well sorry for this late reply, I hope it's still useful anyhow.
I'll make a formula for you to use.

{[((Price of Toy/s + Delivery Cost)/1.5)*1.2]+10.50}

totalcost
includes delivery. the 10.50 charge is an admin charge.
What you work out would be roughly what you'd pay. Barring the exchange
rates which I've set to 1.5 for ease.

It's the delivery cost that I'm trying to work out. Or rather the courior (excuse the spelling) cost x x

Although you may have worked out the delivery costs by now I'll give it a vague shot anyways. Assuming you stick to your £200 (300 USD) mark your estimated delivery would cost around £35 (55 USD) for 3 medium toys. However different toys vary in size and weight and may produce different shipping quotes.

Thanks a lot for this: as a UK forum user having all the info in one place is helpful...if slightly worrying.

Still, if it was going to be my main toy I may as well get one I really like. I think it's a way off for me though.

No problem, I decided to make such a thread to help people and to prevent new threads relating to British import VAT and Fedex's admin charges. However I do not understand why you'd find it worrying.

[Jonny]

Because it's pretty expensive!

[samba1]

Fair point, it does however save you from shock that you'd spent more than you have to.

However things aren't really much better between our EU peers (pretty much same VAT rates) nor is it any better for Canada.

People outside the US get stung with VAT/Import duties where due, but that's expected.

[Mongrel Vixen]

I personally have an interceptor in the US that I have my stuff sent to. He reboxes it and sends it on to me as a gift. ^^

[secret170193]

Well sorry for this late reply, I hope it's still useful anyhow.
I'll make a formula for you to use.

(((totalcost/1.5)*1.2)+10.50)

totalcost
includes delivery. the 10.50 charge is an admin charge.
What you work out would be roughly what you'd pay. Barring the exchange
rates which I've set to 1.5 for ease.

It's the delivery cost that I'm trying to work out. Or rather the courior (excuse the spelling) cost x x

Although you may have worked out the delivery costs by now I'll give it a vague shot anyways. Assuming you stick to your £200 (300 USD) mark your estimated delivery would cost around £35 (55 USD) for 3 medium toys. However different toys vary in size and weight and may produce different shipping quotes.

Is there any chance you could put up a list of general shipping quotes to the UK?
Even if it's just an estimate, it'd be nice to know how much I'd have to pay for one small toy but I might not be the only one enquiring so it may be easier to just list a few for those too timid to ask? ^^
Thanks to your nice formula, I could easily calculate the total cost myself, I just wouldn't want to completely empty my poor bank account without knowing ^^;

[Mongrel Vixen]

I dont think it's necessary to put shipping estimates here when you can go to the website and conduct a mock-order right through to shipping before confirming. Generally it's $28-$29 for a small, Right up to $50 for larges or multiple toy orders. Just incase you cannot convert that yourself, That's about £20 give or take to ship the smalls and £35 give or take for larger orders.

[secret170193]

Awesome, thanks! I didn't want to risk going too far into the ordering incase I hit a point of no return that I couldn't pay for ^^;

[Ange]

Well sorry for this late reply, I hope it's still useful anyhow.
I'll make a formula for you to use.

(((totalcost/1.5)*1.2)+10.50)

totalcost includes delivery. the 10.50 charge is an admin charge.
What you work out would be roughly what you'd pay. Barring the exchange rates which I've set to 1.5 for ease.

Is this the total cost of your order altogether, or just the cost of Fedex?

[samba1]

Yes it works out the overall cost of the order. I have updated my formula to be more clear.

{[((Price of Toy/s + Delivery Cost)/1.5)*1.2]+10.50}

I have also added it to my opening post.

[HT-curious]

How do I find out the delivery cost?

I'm wanting to order $174.5 worth of stuff, which adds on an extra $35 or so, bringing the cost up to $209 ish, plus the £10.5 admin fees, which is doable.

Though, I don't know how much it'll cost me in delivery as well, I'm not sure it'll be worth it if I need to drop $80 on delivery fees as well.


Second question is, does delivery cost lower with the mass/weight of the toys? if I only order one thing instead of the two I wanted, would the delivery fee be cheaper?

Edit:
Ack - sorry, didn't realise this was a necropost >.<

Edit 2:
just running through the checkout to see if it tells me delivery costs, apparently I /need/ to put in a telephone number as an international buyer, or it might not reach my address. Why? is this number going to be called? (I'd only use my mobile number, but that's hardly helping with geographical placing is it?)