U.k. Customs Update - Spares From Outside The E.u.

[notimetoulouse]

Hi everyone, this has probably been 'done to death' elsewhere on the forum, but I'm just posting for new members who may query it.

 

I ordered three Knox nibs from xfountainpens at a cost of £17. Plus £8.50 postage (which I thought a tad steep for three EF nibs but hey ho).

The last time I did this the customs threshold sat at £18, and I bought a Bulow FP and nib from XFP without incurring any charges - but I found that this VAT threshold has now been reduced to £15.

With Border Force charging guidelines stating that discretion would be shown if only slightly over that limit, I sent off fingers crossed.

 

I can now state categorically that crossing fingers does not work. I received a Royal Snail card for an outstanding customs and handling fee of £14 which I immediately disputed. I thought, naively, that if charged I would only incur VAT on anything over the £15 limit. Not so. Going over the limit ( and BF deciding not to show any discretion) incurs VAT on the whole package, including any postal charges. I can appeal, but have been told that it has little chance of success, as my actual 'spend' was £26.50, nearly double the limit, I was also told that there is now no such thing as 'discretion'. £15 is £15 and that's that

 

That has made for three very very expensive nibs. I hope they're worth it, and it's a shame not to be able to use XFP again.

With that off my chest, does anyone know an E.U. supplier of Knox, Jowo or Bock nibs who sells them in threes or fives rather than wholesale? I like to swap nibs out if I find one that needs a lot of work and the pen is of little market value.

Hope someone can help.

Thanks in anticipation.

[Chrissy]

This difference started because lots of companies were shipping items into the UK from the Channel Islands, and UK companies who weren't using the Channel Islands as their shipping address became upset about those who were. Many would say, rightly so.

 

So despite the fact that the Customs thresholds have been £18 for Merchandise and £36 for Gifts for many years, and probably still are within the rest of the EU. The UK government, changed the merchandise limit to £15 as a sort of a token gesture. It didn't work, so they changed it again so that merchandise of any value sent to the UK from the Channel Islands was taxable.

 

Somehow, they conveniently forgot to revert the £15 'experimental value' back to it's original value of £18.

[El Gordo]

How about fpnibs.com (Spain, jowo with feed and housing, not sure about single nibs ) (well, as long as you are still in the EU ...) or http://www.mrpen.co.uk/ (Italix brand, for a number of pens sections are pretty similar to JoWo, but better check as there are others as well as far as I can judge. For Bock nibs http://www.beaufortink.co.uk/bocknibs.html

Not affiliated to any of these, just giving partial answers to a question. There might be others as well.

 

Edit: apparently the link does not work : use http://www.beaufortink.co.uk and move to the online shop

Edited October 7, 2015 by El Gordo

[notimetoulouse]

This difference started because lots of companies were shipping items into the UK from the Channel Islands, and UK companies who weren't using the Channel Islands as their shipping address became upset about those who were. Many would say, rightly so.

 

So despite the fact that the Customs thresholds have been £18 for Merchandise and £36 for Gifts for many years, and probably still are within the rest of the EU. The UK government, changed the merchandise limit to £15 as a sort of a token gesture. It didn't work, so they changed it again so that merchandise of any value sent to the UK from the Channel Islands was taxable.

 

Somehow, they conveniently forgot to revert the £15 'experimental value' back to it's original value of £18.

 

This difference started because lots of companies were shipping items into the UK from the Channel Islands, and UK companies who weren't using the Channel Islands as their shipping address became upset about those who were. Many would say, rightly so.

 

So despite the fact that the Customs thresholds have been £18 for Merchandise and £36 for Gifts for many years, and probably still are within the rest of the EU. The UK government, changed the merchandise limit to £15 as a sort of a token gesture. It didn't work, so they changed it again so that merchandise of any value sent to the UK from the Channel Islands was taxable.

 

Somehow, they conveniently forgot to revert the £15 'experimental value' back to it's original value of £18.

Thanks for the background Chrissy, it's greatly appreciated. I was only going to buy two nibs, but added the other one because of the high postage. Ho Hum, live and learn I suppose. It must tick U.S. sellers off no end to lose sales because of this.

[notimetoulouse]

How about fpnibs.com (Spain, jowo with feed and housing, not sure about single nibs ) (well, as long as you are still in the EU ...) or http://www.mrpen.co.uk/ (Italix brand, for a number of pens sections are pretty similar to JoWo, but better check as there are others as well as far as I can judge. For Bock nibs http://www.beaufortink.co.uk/bocknibs.html

Not affiliated to any of these, just giving partial answers to a question. There might be others as well.

 

Edit: apparently the link does not work : use http://www.beaufortink.co.uk and move to the online shop

Thanks for this El G... really timely info. The first I've heard of Beaufort - what a lovely find! Off now to the Spanish site to have a look. Tenuous link...I'm currently writing a WW1 novel based on Wieltje, and visit Ypres and the salient quite a bit. Thanks again.

[jar]

 

Thanks for the background Chrissy, it's greatly appreciated. I was only going to buy two nibs, but added the other one because of the high postage. Ho Hum, live and learn I suppose. It must tick U.S. sellers off no end to lose sales because of this.

 

The US has had a history of issues with British Taxation.

[lurcho]

Here's a UK source of JoWo individual nibs at £13 each including postage:

 

http://www.springhill-creations.com/jowo-fountain-pen-nibs-uk-supplier-26-c.asp

 

 

[notimetoulouse]

 

The US has had a history of issues with British Taxation.

Thanks for reminding me Jar, it would have been ironic if I'd been trying to import tea!

[notimetoulouse]

Here's a UK source of JoWo individual nibs at £13 each including postage:

 

http://www.springhill-creations.com/jowo-fountain-pen-nibs-uk-supplier-26-c.asp

 

 

Thanks very much for the link lurcho - now I wish I'd asked the experts a lot earlier

[lurcho]

I'm no expert on anything, but you're very welcome. The UK source works out about the same in price as the Spanish, by my calculations, unless you buy several at once from the latter.

[Sasha Royale]

Thank you. Very enlightening.

Burdensome taxation of every aspect of daily life. That's why American did that thing, back at the end of the eighteenth century. Alas, taxation WITH representation is not much better.

[Chrissy]

I forgot to mention that the Channel Islands are tax free, and that's why some Companies thought it would be great to import from there.

 

Good point about the US and UK tax history

[lurcho]

By the way - and this is only for British members:

 

At the risk of patronising some people, and I know this information has been revealed before (including by me), the facts about UK customs charges are as follows:

 

If what you bought is worth £15 or less INCLUDING shipping charges, you will pay nothing.

 

If one penny over £15, you will pay 20% VAT, PLUS £8 to Parcelforce for something I don't understand.

 

If the value of your goods are over about £136, you'll ALSO pay 2.5% DUTY. But this is next to nothing, so forget it,

 

Think of it this way: If you buy a pen for £100 from the USA , or Japan (or anywhere outside the EU), then expect to get a card through your door demanding £20 VAT plus £8 handling.

 

Because government = protection racket.

[Bigeddie]

Just to add, should your package be sent by any service that sounds in any way 'premium' (e.g. 'express' services) RM/Parcel Force may decide to put it through the express customs service... this will incur a £13.50 handling change rather than £8 - there would seem to be no difference in the service.

[Chrissy]

By the way - and this is only for British members:

 

At the risk of patronising some people, and I know this information has been revealed before (including by me), the facts about UK customs charges are as follows:

 

If what you bought is worth £15 or less INCLUDING shipping charges, you will pay nothing.

 

If one penny over £15, you will pay 20% VAT, PLUS £8 to Parcelforce for something I don't understand.

 

If the value of your goods are over about £136, you'll ALSO pay 2.5% DUTY. But this is next to nothing, so forget it,

 

Think of it this way: If you buy a pen for £100 from the USA , or Japan (or anywhere outside the EU), then expect to get a card through your door demanding £20 VAT plus £8 handling.

 

Because government = protection racket.

 

The additional amount that you pay to Royal Mail or Parcelforce is allegedly charged by them, as an additional delivery charge, because they have to pay the VAT to Customs up front.

 

If the item you bought is called Merchandise on the Customs form, and it's worth GB£15 or more inc shipping charges, you will be charged VAT on it.

 

However, if you receive a gift, or a sample, then it can be worth GB£36 plus the cost of shipping, before you are charged VAT on it. And, interestingly, you can receive more than one gift, for more than one person, in the same parcel, as long as they are wrapped separately, and declared separately on the Customs form.

[BayesianPrior]

As a Channel Islander who is ashamedly pleased about the low levels of taxation (I'd gladly pay more in tax if I knew it would be spent on health, education, and necessary road works), this conversation has make me wonder about sending nibs to a nibmeister in the UK for custom grinding.

 

I'm about to send an M800 nib to the UK for custom grinding. The retail price of a nib is somewhere around £120. Will the nibmeister have to pay VAT etc. on my nib despite the fact that he will be sending it right back to me? If I include a letter to that effect with the nib, will that be satisfactory for UK Customs (I doubt it)? I won't knowingly misrepresent the value of the nib on form CN 22.

 

I will ask these questions of the nibmeister before I send my nib away, but I'd be grateful for any thoughts from the board.

[Chrissy]

As a Channel Islander who is ashamedly pleased about the low levels of taxation (I'd gladly pay more in tax if I knew it would be spent on health, education, and necessary road works), this conversation has make me wonder about sending nibs to a nibmeister in the UK for custom grinding.

 

I'm about to send an M800 nib to the UK for custom grinding. The retail price of a nib is somewhere around £120. Will the nibmeister have to pay VAT etc. on my nib despite the fact that he will be sending it right back to me? If I include a letter to that effect with the nib, will that be satisfactory for UK Customs (I doubt it)? I won't knowingly misrepresent the value of the nib on form CN 22.

 

I will ask these questions of the nibmeister before I send my nib away, but I'd be grateful for any thoughts from the board.

Absolutely not. If you send your property to a nibmeister (or anyone else in the UK for that matter) then you would never declare it as 'merchandise' because it isn't. It's 'your own property for repair and return' so no-one has to pay any tax on it.

[lurcho]

 

The additional amount that you pay to Royal Mail or Parcelforce is allegedly charged by them, as an additional delivery charge, because they have to pay the VAT to Customs up front.

 

If the item you bought is called Merchandise on the Customs form, and it's worth GB£15 or more inc shipping charges, you will be charged VAT on it.

 

However, if you receive a gift, or a sample, then it can be worth GB£36 plus the cost of shipping, before you are charged VAT on it. And, interestingly, you can receive more than one gift, for more than one person, in the same parcel, as long as they are wrapped separately, and declared separately on the Customs form.

 

I didn't know that. Hope you're right.

[Phil_Dart]

I realise this is a bit off topic, but it's been mentioned here - I've seen that my website has received a few visits from this thread, so I thought it might be appropriate to say a quick hello. I'm Phil, and I own Beafort Ink, which is where a few people here have been looking at Bock nibs recenlty.

 

I think I glanced a section where I can introduce myself properly, so I'll go and do that now,

[Ink Stained Wretch]

I realise this is a bit off topic, but it's been mentioned here - I've seen that my website has received a few visits from this thread, so I thought it might be appropriate to say a quick hello. I'm Phil, and I own Beafort Ink, which is where a few people here have been looking at Bock nibs recenlty.

 

I think I glanced a section where I can introduce myself properly, so I'll go and do that now,

 

Well, I'll have to look at your Web site. Perhaps you can add to the discussion about the seemingly complicated tax, etc. stuff going on with the UK. And .