online shopping

[miz_brunette]

Just ordered a coat from ebay but its being delivered from china. Does anyone want to hazard a guess when ill receive it. I wanted to wear it for a patry next saturday. Thanks!

[freda@kpslc.]

You may be surprised... all depends which courier they use.

If it's UPS they are VERY efficient, we use them in our business as they are the best, so you could we wearing it to the party on Saturday.

The amount charged for the postage should give you an idea how it's being dispatched NEXT DAY, is the most expensive, 48 hours, 24 hours are usually a bit less and usual postal delivery cheaper still, that will be the slowest, but now the Christmas rush is over, you may be lucky.

Good Luck!

[Jules001]

may not help, but we ordered a watch from China on Ebay and it took 2 weeks to get here, but as yours will be a bigger parcel, it may have to be sent by a different method as the first reply suggested.

[Buenchico]

Our Post Office aim to have items going the other way delivered 5 days after posting. If your package is sent in the post (rather than by courier) it will use the same systems, so it seems reasonable to assume that it might take about 5 days to get here.

If the sender has attached a 'CN22' (customs declaration) to the package, it won't be delayed unnecessarily when it arrives in this country. If there's no CN22, it could take Parcelforce Worldwide (who process imports on behalf of HMRC) several days to calculate any payments due.

If the coat cost less than �18, you should avoid having to pay any charges when the postman delivers it. Import duty is charged at 12% but it's disregarded if it comes to less than �7 (which means if the price of the coat is less than �58.34). VAT is charged at 17.5% and is charged on the cost of the coat and also on any import duty payable. (Theoretically, it's also payable on the carriage costs but this seems to be ignored in most cases). You don't pay VAT on items which cost less than �18. If there's either import duty or VAT to be paid, there's also an �8 customs examination fee. Here are some estimates of what the postman will want from you for coats of different prices:

�15 coat: Nothing to pay
�20 coat: �11.50 to pay
�50 coat: �16.75 to pay
�60 coat: �26.96 to pay

Chris

[Buenchico]

PS: I hope that your coat isn't sent by surface mail, rather than by air mail. The Post Office delivery target (for items going in the other direction) is 8 to 12 weeks.

Chris