this sort of thing is what i do for a living so heres the legal side of things.

if you import goods from out with the EC then you will be expected to pay import duty and vat on them.

goods sent by post are liable for duty and vat on the price of the goods if they are worth more than £18 in value. goods which are gifts, sent from one private individual to another are still liable for duty and vat but only if worth more than £36. in both caes the full amount of the goods is charged for, not just the amount over the limit. shite but true.

any goods sent by any other means than post, such as a courier service(fedex etc) will be liable for the same duty and vat, but based on the full cost you pay, including shipping and insurance costs.


upon delivery, the post office will demand payment before they hand over the goods, as they pay it on your behalf to release it from HMCE. they also charge a handling fee which has nothing to do with HMCE and that ranges from £4 to £14.
with goods sent by post, theres a strong chance that the post office will not declare it to HMCE, and they arent to stringent on checking whats a gift, so you can get away with it sometimes.

if delivered by a courier then they noramlly hand over the goods and then invoice you for the duties within 14 days, as they also pay the duty and vat to HMCE to be release it from the port/airport. couriers handling fees are a percentage of the costs, and varies between companies.


if you get away with not paying the duties or even loose the receipt from the delivery people for the paymet of the duty and vat, but try to claim for the item in the future due to theft etc under your household contents insurance, then some companies demand receipts for payment of the duty, if you dont have it for what ever reason or cant produce it from the couriers, no payment.


if you buy anything from another ec memberstate then as long as vat was paid at the time of the sale in that ec country, theres nothing to pay upon arrival and wont even be seen by HMCE.

you can call hmce to find out what the duty is and work out the price from there, but expect to be on the phone for at least half an hour with them.


hope this helps.