CAUTION HOBBY KING - VAT AND ADVANCEMENT CHARGES

[milesallen]

NOW IT DOES STATE ON THE HOBBY KING WEBSITE IN THE FAQ SECTION THAT ALL PRICES ARE TAX FREE AND YOU SHOULD PAY ANY TAXES LOCALLY IF APPLICABLE.

WELL HEADS UP ON THIS, THEY CLAIM A UK WAREHOUSE SO WHY DOES STUFF SHIP DIRECT FROM HONG KONG?

ANYWAY BE SURE TO ADD VAT AND ADVANCEMENT TO WHATEVER YOU BUY AND A BILL IN THE POST FROM THE COURIER A WEEK OR TWO AFTER

I SPENT 174.99 USD + 24.90 USD SHIPPING TOTAL 198.89 USD THATS ABOUT £125 THEN HIT FOR £25.87 VAT AND ADVANCEMENT FEE OF £10.75

(THE COURIER CHARGE £10 TO PAY £25 ON YOUR BEHALF - AND I THOUGHT THOSE PAYDAY LOAN COMPANIES HAD THE MONOPOLY ON LEGAL EXTORTION) THATS NEARLY AS MUCH AS THE SHIPPING COST!

ANYWAY A HEADS UP DO THE MATHS OR BUY FROM UK SUPPLIERS MIGHT WORK OUT CHEAPER IN THE END:woot:

[Pacman]

Is the UK warehouse a Bonded Warehouse? If so that means Hobbyking or the owners of the Bonded Warehouse do not need to pay any duties until the product is sold or exported.

[milesallen]

the package actually came from hong kong via japan according to the tracking, lipos and a charger, i think all the warehouses are bonded now, looking deeper at their site

[MatJohnson]

Is it not import duty and handling fee you paid?

Its about normal that for things coming from over seas. Some you get away with, others catch you and charge you.

[racingdwarf]

I always thought that if the item was being advertised as in the uk warehouse and price in GBP VAT should always be included\invoiced in final price , It should be very clearly show if the items are not in the uk (or in bonded warehouse) at checkout. As if you buy from outside uk in the eyes of the law you should expect to pay vat and handling charges

[milesallen]

FEDEX charge the advancement fee for paying the VAT as they have to do pay in advance, the £10 is for paying the money in advance, the money isn't an issue and I'll not be bankrupt but the web shows it in GBP then takes you to USD to pay then a VAT invoice arrives from FEDEX with their fees on top a week or two later.

Really just as a heads up as if someone ordered big and didn't budget for on costs then they could be in a pickle. expect a VAT bill and a bill for paying the VAT. so all prices +20% unless it slips through the net if sent as a gift for example like a lot of stuff on ebay arrives as from the far east.

No issues with the products - works fine.

I had the gear delivered to my office, FEDEX were billing my company for it as they were billing the delivery address rather than the billing address too:woot:.

[200sx]

The prices shown as GBP is no indication that the item is coming from the UK warehouse. You clearly bought from the international warehouse as FedEx was your courier. The UK warehouse only use parcel force. In fact this is the only shipping option, 24 or 48 hour.

You need to select UK warehouse on the top left and be careful of links within product pages, some default to international items.

If you stick to buying products with '(UK warehouse)' in the title you can't go wrong.

If you must buy from the international warehouse then stick with 'UK direct channel' shipping option.

[Col]

Correct, 200sx.

If you choose the UK warehouse then that is where it comes from. Always.
There is never any excess duty on items from the UK warehouse.

[AdamBurgess]

Yep as above, never had any issues when ordering from the UK warehouse which is in Ipswich I believe, and only send via parcel force.

[milesallen]

Yep lesson learned, did look at the UK warehouse for what i ordered, the charger is on back order and they don't do the shorty LIPO's anyway their stuff did turn up prompt all the way from HK,

APEX models however, thats a different matter, JE quick Apex slow - Same place!:woot:

[DCM]

Correct, 200sx.

If you choose the UK warehouse then that is where it comes from. Always.
There is never any excess duty on items from the UK warehouse.

Funnily, I nearly tripped myself up, put some lipo's in my cart on the UK warehouse section then somehow was looking at global, it wouldn't allow me to add to the cart then.

But as been said, when buying from the UK Warehouse, it is up to Hobbyking to sort out tax etc, but it is up to you to ENSURE you buy from the UK warehouse to, or expect to get charged.

[whittaker52]

I've just had a similar incident with royal mail - the package had been in the UK since the 8th of August and it's literally just come through with a £12 charge, £8 of which was royal mails handling fee. I knew I ran the risk buying things from the International Warehouse (i just wished the UK and European warehouse carried some of the really nice stuff you can get from HK), so now I try to actively buy from the UK or European Warehouse - things arrive super quickly and no VAT and import duty stuff to have to mess around with, and still relatively cheap, both in product prices and shipping.

[200sx]

The delay is caused by customs not royal mail.

[mark christopher]

The prices shown as GBP is no indication that the item is coming from the UK warehouse. You clearly bought from the international warehouse as FedEx was your courier. The UK warehouse only use parcel force. In fact this is the only shipping option, 24 or 48 hour.

You need to select UK warehouse on the top left and be careful of links within product pages, some default to international items.

If you stick to buying products with '(UK warehouse)' in the title you can't go wrong.

If you must buy from the international warehouse then stick with 'UK direct channel' shipping option.

Correct, 200sx.

If you choose the UK warehouse then that is where it comes from. Always.
There is never any excess duty on items from the UK warehouse.

Dito this is down to user error.

[DCM]

The delay is caused by customs not royal mail.

Absolute rollocks, it isn't, it is caused by Royal Snail... If it comes through by UPS etc, it flies through, when I have stuff come from Asia, it takes 3 days to get to the UK and then if UPS, max 48 hrs, Parcelfarce/Royal Snail it can be a week or more, it just vanishes....

[milesallen]

bought some more stuff today off of hobby king, this time its in the UK and will be here Monday. super service and if you hover on the page for a while they give a discount..............covered parcelforce costs............for a next day : ) not bad guys just not that upfront with the import duties.

As for royal mail, better buy a horse and cart or get a carrier pigeon, UPS are the best of all by a country mile, DPD just play knock and run FedEX not too bad either.

Ever see the UPS option take it.:woot:

[jpmatrix]

bought some more stuff today off of hobby king, this time its in the UK and will be here Monday. super service and if you hover on the page for a while they give a discount..............covered parcelforce costs............for a next day : ) not bad guys just not that upfront with the import duties.

As for royal mail, better buy a horse and cart or get a carrier pigeon, UPS are the best of all by a country mile, DPD just play knock and run FedEX not too bad either.

Ever see the UPS option take it.:woot:


I'm going to disagree.

Dpd in my experience have been 100% reliable. I order from mb models and they use dpd and never had issues, you can track your parcel and the driver on a street map and you receive a text message and email regarding th time of delivery. You can have the option of delivering to another address.

I delivered items using royal mail dozens of times and members on here have received items within 2 days. Never ever had any issues

[DCM]

I agree, if sent domestically, parcel force are not an issue (mostly) although speak to some shops and they refuse to use them any longer. It is the international packages that are the issue, although it may get better now they are privatised?

[shark]

__________________
Totally agree
No probs with Royal Mail, and as said , DPD rock !!

[SlowOne]

I agree, if sent domestically, parcel force are not an issue (mostly) although speak to some shops and they refuse to use them any longer. It is the international packages that are the issue, although it may get better now they are privatised?Not likely. Privatisation won't change the staff or the management, and previous track records of British Gas, BT, DVLA, and a score of others show that all they will do is focus on shareholders, not customers.

What makes companies more customer focused in management that understand the simplicity of the values of companies like UPS, Fedex and maybe DPD - our customers come first, our employees come second and our profits come third. Can't see that happening when all the board members of Parcel Force will be on bonuses based on share price not customer satisfaction.

Post Office works for me on the occasions I use it, and a recent delivery from DPD of a bike for my grandson was as exemplary as Jpmatrix says it is. Wiggle use them too, and they are very good. The other one I like is Collect+, which Wiggle use for returns - excellent service and totally reliable.

[DCM]

I am sure the company mantra for UPS etc is customers first etc, but I am sure they watch the bottom line all the time.

As a foot not, the DVLA is not privatised, it is what they call in the Civil Service 'Agency Status' which means the have more control over their budget, management and services, I should know, I got made redundant through the same process from being Ministry of Defence to Defence Agency Repair Agency.