I had a letter drop on the doorstep today, it was a bit of a bittersweet one though.

It was a Customs bill for £120 along with a parcel reference for my missing item.
At last, it would seem that someone was actually still working in the office - there is indeed light at the end of this tunnel.   

To be honest, I was half expecting a bigger bill, but for the Customs handling, Parcelforce handling, all fees, duties and vat etc, £120 didn't actually seem that bad.
I went online with the reference numbers and a credit card and hopefully they will now release it to me.

Under normal circumstances, paying a Customs bill online usually means a swift delivery - but we shall see 

Sounds like a lucky break there with only £120, I had a much larger bill on my last shipment of a similar value

Sounds like a lucky break there with only £120, I had a much larger bill on my last shipment of a similar value

Shipping in multiple boxes usually works 

Today saw the delivery of a box
All of my parts from Brazil have now arrived   





Going to be a while before this is tackled though as I have just started a full dash swap on my T4 with a few modifications along the way, but at least its all here now and I can stop panicking and start plotting instead

 

Good all had arrived

 

Was wondering... See it utilises berms to allow rack to clear frame head.

I think there would be a market here in the UK for this sort of thing especially right hand drive.

Dave ... just curious.?  The duty you were charged is 50% less than I expected.  My experience has gone like this... Prior to 911 packages from abroad were subject to random selection for duty and anything up to £32 was exempt.

Post 911 things changed re- selection for scanning, as you would expect. From then on the basic system that I experienced was that large items came into Heathrow and once through customs went via Parcel Force and letters, small packages via Royal Mail. In addition you have UPS and the other carriers with their own systems but still going through customs. The seller would raise documentation for say UPS for example. Fill in the details, value etc and therefore the "gift" option disappeared. The value you put on the document was the value the item was insured to via carrier so it was silly to put incorrect value. Carrier would collect package and completed document and your item was in the system. All packages then scanned for content and duty charged according to stated value....

I am just wondering what you think allows multiple packaging to have an apparentl low duty charge. Is it that the customs document is on one of a multiple package only ?

Dave ... just curious.?  The duty you were charged is 50% less than I expected.  My experience has gone like this... Prior to 911 packages from abroad were subject to random selection for duty and anything up to £32 was exempt.

I am just wondering what you think allows multiple packaging to have an apparentl low duty charge. Is it that the customs document is on one of a multiple package only ?

In my experience (and important that this is experience only) I have found that if shipping is split over multiple packages with the full consignment value invoice being included in every package, but also indicating that the shipment is split, then they only seem to(!) apply taxes on a pro rata basis per box as all packages are never in view at the same time. This seems to have happened again. They only seem to charge duty on the packages that have been "inspected" and not on those that slip through the net. Larger high value imports get clobbered every time as they will charge on what is presented. Had the boxes shown an individual and separate invoice in each one, then I would have been expecting 3 customs bills, one for each parcel. It appears to be a bit of a loophole, but one worth exploiting whilst you can.

Was wondering... See it utilises berms to allow rack to clear frame head.

I think there would be a market here in the UK for this sort of thing especially right hand drive.

Agree - I think this could be a bit of a game changer

Just hope I'm right   

I ordered a part from Taiwan 2 months ago and although at £240 it was a lot cheaper than your purchase I worked out how much duty I would have to pay from the relevant information online, when the bill arrived it was a good deal less than I was expecting, shipping was done by UPS and duty payment was made them. The duty payment was £13 and a few pence plus a small brokerage fee to UPS

The duty payment was £13 and a few pence plus a small brokerage fee to UPS

It looks like this is as variable as dvla convolutions....   UPS is by far my preferred courier despite being a little more expensive for the larger items.

This is a true thing..... Once ordered a £2000+ package from the US and seller would only accept UPS as courier. The tracking and email system showed the item being collected from the seller at 11am on Day 1.... 2 days later, and just before noon UPS pulled up outside my house with the item. I don`t see how this could be improved upon delivery wise.

It looks like this is as variable as dvla convolutions....   UPS is by far my preferred courier despite being a little more expensive for the larger items.

This is a true thing..... Once ordered a £2000+ package from the US and seller would only accept UPS as courier. The tracking and email system showed the item being collected from the seller at 11am on Day 1.... 2 days later, and just before noon UPS pulled up outside my house with the item. I don`t see how this could be improved upon delivery wise.

Like most things - you often get the service you pay for - UPS charge top dollar, and worth every bit of it   

https://www.gov.uk/goods-sent-from-abroad/tax-and-duty

Tax and duty
You'll be contacted by Royal Mail, Parcelforce or the courier company explaining how to pay any VAT, duty and fees for dealing with customs.
They'll normally hold your parcel for about 3 weeks. If you haven't paid the fee by then, it'll be sent back.

VAT
You pay VAT on goods sent from non-European Union (EU) countries and EU special territories (eg the Canary Islands) if they're:
gifts worth more than £39
other goods worth more than £15
alcohol, tobacco products and fragrances (eg perfume, eau de toilette and cologne) of any value
You have to pay VAT on all goods sent by mail order from the Channel Islands no matter what their value.
You'll be charged at the VAT rate that applies to your goods. VAT is charged on the total value, including:
the price paid for the goods
postage, packaging and insurance
any duty you owe

Customs Duty
You'll be charged Customs Duty on gifts and other goods sent from outside the EU if they're above a certain value.
The value includes:
the price paid for the goods
postage, packaging and insurance
Type and value of goods
Customs Duty
Anything under £135
No charge
Gifts worth £135-£630
2.5%, but rates are lower for some goods - call the helpline
Gifts above £630 and other goods above £135
The rate depends on the type of goods and where they came from - call the helpline


So buying outside the EU try and keep each 'gift' package below £135

I too like UPS. Mainly because the people driving the trucks that bring the items have always been particularly friendly, professional and capable.

I seem to have unknowingly found myself on a quest over the years to fit every conceivable crap version of LED indicator in the vague attempt that it will work in the sunlight - so far I have failed, as many who follow me will confirm.

I know what many of you will say, and that is why do I not stick to good old fashioned filament bulbs? Well the answer is simple - my rear lights leak like a sieve and every time I put the car away when it is wet, the contacts of the lights will have corroded by the time I want to take it out again. I even tried soldering the bulbs in place to no avail - so waterproof LED's are what I usually play with

With the sun shining, I thought I would have another play with something different, and this time I am going to try the High intensity LED lights that are sold for Motorcycles under the generic name of "Eagle Eye"





These lights come in various colours, so you can use them for sidelights and fog lights as well, but I have gone for the amber ones here. Each unit is supposed to be waterproof (although I have applied an extra layer of sealant on them) and they contain 12 Cob Led's under a magnifying lens.





And with the lens back on, this actually looks quite promising. The sun is shining high in the sky and there is no mistaking the fact that a yellow glow can be seen from the lights in broad daylight.





The bulbs are supplied as 12v ready and all I have done is join them all up together. As with any LED indicator, a 5.6 Ohm 50 Watt
resistor is connected across them to ensure that they flash at the right speed. Cost? Those ten led's only cost me six quid from eBay.

Dave.

I have played with the high brightness red Cob LEDs for my daughters totrod (long way away from being built).

I connected 2 positives to the LED one with a resistor in line and the other without and they work brilliantly for brake and tail feeds. (Brake without resistor and tail with)