Recent Acquisitions (Archive, March 2012 - July 2018)

[Ikessauro]

For UK buyers 
The subject of customs fees.
Up until relatively recently parcels were only randomly selected for customs attention where high value declarations were made on the paperwork. This has now changed. Anything with a declared value above $20 is automatically filtered out by Royal Mail for customs which effectively means that most of us will have to be a lot more selective about what we buy from abroad. The customs charge itself is quite small, just a percentage of the actual declared value of the goods however, the sting on low value goods is that every item filtered out by Royal Mail has a standard surcharge added which is about £8 (approx $12). So, buying say 3 or 4 of the cheaper Kaiyodo's can ultimately cost nearly double what you expected! Basically, Royal Mail are being rather greedy and trying to maximise their profits.
The way I get around this when I buy multiple items is to ask the seller to split the items across multiple small packages where the declared value for each is under $20. Most sellers, in Asia for instance, declare everything as a gift anyway (gifts do not attract a duty charge) but it's best to check before hand. Obviously, asking a seller to under declare the value of a package puts the seller in a difficult position as under declaring is an offence.
Another useful tip is to ensure that packages being sent or received from abroad have a sender address as anything without one is likely to be deemed suspicious and opened by customs thereby delaying you item for some time.

I bought rare model from the USA, for £150, and it was delivered via Parcelforce. I had to pay a customs charge of £50 :S But I think Parcelforce is owned by the Royal Mail too, right..?

I hate the fact that postal services have become such money grubbers.

You guys are lucky... TQ, you paid the equivalent of 33% of the total amount in taxes. Here in Brazil we pay 60% of every package over $50 US. And that includes shipping too. That's a robbery, I hope we can change that soon!

[FUTABA]

Here in Brazil we pay 60% of every package over $50 US. And that includes shipping too. That's a robbery, I hope we can change that soon!

*yuck*

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

It really hurts sellers as well..I couldn't believe the shipping charges to South America for some ebay items I've sold...seemed like about 3 times as much as to other countries. Getting items shipped from there isn't any better from what I'm told though.

[Ikessauro]

It really hurts sellers as well..I couldn't believe the shipping charges to South America for some ebay items I've sold...seemed like about 3 times as much as to other countries. Getting items shipped from there isn't any better from what I'm told though.

Yep, shipping charges are quite high here. For me is hard to keep collecting, since everything I buy is in foreign currency that is worth at least twice the price of my countries currency.
Add to that highly expensive shipping costs and taxes, BAM!, you are in big trouble... Sometime ago I bought 3 Battats on eBay for about $80 each and shipping was expensive. The seller stated in the auction that he would declare full price of the product. I usually don't even ask to under declare prices, since it's usually offensive, but even if I asked he would not mark the package as gift to maybe avoid the customs taxes... the outcome of this was a huge hole in my bank account! In the end I paid almost $200 bucks in taxes! I don't sell my collection, at least I don't intend to, but If I decided to sell the same Battats for a high price on eBay considering today prices, I would have no profit at all, on the contrary, I would be loosing a lot of money.

[Roselaar]

Wow, I thought we had it bad in the Netherlands... glad I'm not alone in condemning this behavior by postal services and customs as greedy and bad for business and collecting!

In Holland the procedure is 20% of the total value of anything over 30 euros or so, plus another 12.50 euros for the administration behind it all. For which they make you wait two more weeks...

[Ikessauro]

Wow, I thought we had it bad in the Netherlands... glad I'm not alone in condemning this behavior by postal services and customs as greedy and bad for business and collecting!

In Holland the procedure is 20% of the total value of anything over 30 euros or so, plus another 12.50 euros for the administration behind it all. For which they make you wait two more weeks...

Another issue here is with EMS packages. Every single one is held, no matter the price of the item inside it. They may hold on to it for as long as 20 days, making the expenses for a fast shipping method not worth it. When I got my Battat Diplodocus I wanted it to arrive fast, so it'd be less likely to be damaged or lost in transit. Big mistake! I had never used EMS and asked the seller to ship it that way; It arrived in Brazil in 4 days, then got stuck in customs for 20 days, then when they had charged me with taxes it was released and took a few more days to arrive. I was really mad about that.
Now that I'm thinking about it, I guess we should make a thread to talk about this kind of stuff instead of posting it at Recent Acquisitions...

[Jetoar]

My first geoworld.   Better then I thought.  Except the fact that the painters were a little sloppy and got orange on the poor guys leg

Troodon is amazing  .

[Patrx]

My first geoworld.   Better then I thought.  Except the fact that the painters were a little sloppy and got orange on the poor guys leg

Troodon is amazing  .

That Troodon's not offensively bad, but what is that makes sculptors so hesitant to include primary feathers on their maniraptors? It's a very off-putting trend. 

[FUTABA]

Now that I'm thinking about it, I guess we should make a thread to talk about this kind of stuff instead of posting it at Recent Acquisitions...

Yeah, I was thinking along the same lines, kinda my fault though for going off on a tangent, sorry guys. I'll be sure to get back on the rails when my WWD Toyways arrive.

[SBell]

Ah okay. Just out of curiosity, how much do you think the Troodon would cost coming from you with P&P?

I will PM you to avoid further derailing the thread (anyone else who wants to know can also PM me).

[tyrantqueen]

You guys are lucky... TQ, you paid the equivalent of 33% of the total amount in taxes. Here in Brazil we pay 60% of every package over $50 US. And that includes shipping too. That's a robbery, I hope we can change that soon!

Yikes. It must be very hard to be a dino collector in Brazil

[sauroid]

a dear old friend gave me this recently as a gift

[tyrantqueen]

Finally...!

Also, sorry about my rhubarb and custard carpet and wallpaper combo

[FUTABA]

Bravo.

[Blackdanter]

For UK buyers 
The subject of customs fees.
Up until relatively recently parcels were only randomly selected for customs attention where high value declarations were made on the paperwork. This has now changed. Anything with a declared value above $20 is automatically filtered out by Royal Mail for customs which effectively means that most of us will have to be a lot more selective about what we buy from abroad. The customs charge itself is quite small, just a percentage of the actual declared value of the goods however, the sting on low value goods is that every item filtered out by Royal Mail has a standard surcharge added which is about £8 (approx $12). So, buying say 3 or 4 of the cheaper Kaiyodo's can ultimately cost nearly double what you expected! Basically, Royal Mail are being rather greedy and trying to maximise their profits.
The way I get around this when I buy multiple items is to ask the seller to split the items across multiple small packages where the declared value for each is under $20. Most sellers, in Asia for instance, declare everything as a gift anyway (gifts do not attract a duty charge) but it's best to check before hand. Obviously, asking a seller to under declare the value of a package puts the seller in a difficult position as under declaring is an offence.
Another useful tip is to ensure that packages being sent or received from abroad have a sender address as anything without one is likely to be deemed suspicious and opened by customs thereby delaying you item for some time.

I bought rare model from the USA, for £150, and it was delivered via Parcelforce. I had to pay a customs charge of £50 :S But I think Parcelforce is owned by the Royal Mail too, right..?

I hate the fact that postal services have become such money grubbers.

Yeah, Parcelforce are a subsidiary of Royal Mail. In my book they're the evil twin, completely useless and unreliable. 

[Blackdanter]

It really hurts sellers as well..I couldn't believe the shipping charges to South America for some ebay items I've sold...seemed like about 3 times as much as to other countries. Getting items shipped from there isn't any better from what I'm told though.

Absolutely right. I won't send anything to South America, Italy or Eastern Europe unless it's registered as the postal services in those areas seem to be full of thieving bandits! Bad news for buyers from those countries as registered and tracked shipping can be nearly double the cost of standard shipping!

[SBell]

For UK buyers 
The subject of customs fees.
Up until relatively recently parcels were only randomly selected for customs attention where high value declarations were made on the paperwork. This has now changed. Anything with a declared value above $20 is automatically filtered out by Royal Mail for customs which effectively means that most of us will have to be a lot more selective about what we buy from abroad. The customs charge itself is quite small, just a percentage of the actual declared value of the goods however, the sting on low value goods is that every item filtered out by Royal Mail has a standard surcharge added which is about £8 (approx $12). So, buying say 3 or 4 of the cheaper Kaiyodo's can ultimately cost nearly double what you expected! Basically, Royal Mail are being rather greedy and trying to maximise their profits.
The way I get around this when I buy multiple items is to ask the seller to split the items across multiple small packages where the declared value for each is under $20. Most sellers, in Asia for instance, declare everything as a gift anyway (gifts do not attract a duty charge) but it's best to check before hand. Obviously, asking a seller to under declare the value of a package puts the seller in a difficult position as under declaring is an offence.
Another useful tip is to ensure that packages being sent or received from abroad have a sender address as anything without one is likely to be deemed suspicious and opened by customs thereby delaying you item for some time.

I bought rare model from the USA, for £150, and it was delivered via Parcelforce. I had to pay a customs charge of £50 :S But I think Parcelforce is owned by the Royal Mail too, right..?

I hate the fact that postal services have become such money grubbers.

Yeah, Parcelforce are a subsidiary of Royal Mail. In my book they're the evil twin, completely useless and unreliable. 

It sounds like parcels from the US that come to Canada sent by UPS--a week later, you get a bill that is mostly UPS fees and charges, and somewhere in there is the actual 5% tax! Most Canadians learn pretty quickly to refuse UPS shipment from outside the country.

[Blackdanter]

Unpainted Schleich Allosaurus.

This figure looks really nice (despite my bad photography!) as an unpainted molding but does Schleich issue any figures like this officially or is this a factory escapee?

[docronnie]

a dear old friend gave me this recently as a gift

Congrats on your fresh Invicta Triceratops! 

[docronnie]

Congrats on your Battat Diplodocus, TQ! 

I have never seen an unpainted Schleich figure before, Black Danter.  Where did you get it?  Congrats BTW!