As I mentioned earlier, we ordered the full set of Seeds Family Worship bible memory song cds. They cost a bargain $65 for 5 double sets. Or so we thought…
We had a delivery slip – more to pay. So the Vicar went off to the sorting office, where we were charged an extra £14.70 = £6.70 VAT + £8.00 ‘Royal Mail International Handling Fee’.
Not as cheap as we thought - but still great value
Hrmph. According to the sticker provided, ‘Goods purchased and imported into the EU with a value over £18 (for VAT purposes) … are subject to Customs charges.’
The cds were still fairly cheap (less than £7 each) and we are really enjoying them so far, but I need to remember to factor that in next time I get enthusiastic about a US shopping site.
The Vicar's Wife 
I’d challenge this. Royal Mail is wholly owned by the Government, but they charge you £8 for collecting £6.70 VAT! The handling they are supposed to do free under the International Postal Union arrangements, I thought. Then they add a sticker saying you shouldn’t have to pay VAT………….Seems unjust, and odd to me!
Did Royal Mail give you a receipt? Did you pay cash? Have you taken this undoubtedly suspect charge up with HMRC and postwatch (www.postwatch.co.uk)?
Hello Troublemaker. You seem to have a point here. I will check up on postwatch and find out more. Thanks.
Hi Troublemaker. Sadly postwatch (now Consumer Direct) have the same info as Royal Mail gave me. See this page http://www.consumerdirect.gov.uk/EnergySupplyandPost/post/yourmail/internationalpost. Looks like the charge stands (Seeds Family Worship had declared a value over £18 on the customs label).