Shopping online (overseas)...advice required!

[BadCoverVersion]

I'm ordering some trainers/sneakers online and the best deal I have found is from an American website.

However, when I go to checkout I get this warning...

* Taxes and Tariffs are not included and will be collected C.O.D from a USPS driver upon delivery
* Brokerage fees are NOT included in shipping cost


I'm a total thicko when it comes to this sort of stuff and I've tried googling but not had much luck. Can anybody explain this in simple terms...and advise me on whether it's likely that I'll have to pay any additional fees when the items are delivered to me.

Kissy kisses to my schmoe friends.

[BlownCamaro]

You have to check with your local customs office to see if there is any extra expenses (usually based on the cost of the item). If it is shipped as a gift, I do not think you have to pay anything extra, just the shipping. Some companies will do this for you, some wont.

[RicochetShaw]

What site are you shopping on?

[Heisenberg]

Last time I read that I got charged like £50 extra for customs. I'd either check how much it'll cost beforehand, or find a different online store.

[BadCoverVersion]

Originally Posted by RicochetShaw

What site are you shopping on?

UBSoutlet.com

Maybe I should just get them from a British site... although they are around $28 more that way.

[Spice]

I bought a coat from the US which cost $140, when the postman turned up , he had a customs form which demanded that I pay a further £24 before he could hand it over. This was the only problem I ever had with any kind of international shopping though. usualy it is fine. I mostly buy my stuff from e-bay, and ask the seller to mark the item as a gift, which as Blown Camaro said, some companies will do for you and some won't, (usually not in my experience). Apparantly the threshold for tax and import duty for any item coming into the UK from outside the EU is £18!! Which is crap! Get the trainers from the UK would be my advice, unless you can find them on e-bay!

[BadCoverVersion]

Thanks for the advice everyone...I think I'm going to go for a UK company that has imported the sneaks just in case.

Spice...is that Louise Brooks in your avatar?

[Spice]

Originally Posted by BadCoverVersion

Spice...is that Louise Brooks in your avatar?

It is indeed, one of the most revolutionary, rebel rousing, anti-establishment actresses of all time.