[tatter06]

I thought I'd risk a purchase from Portugal to see if I'd get stung for VAT + handling charges. The car I bought wasn't available in the UK and even with the extra £20 that could be charged, was worth it...

• Paid for Tuesday evening
  
• Posted from Portugal via 'Expres' airmail Wednesday morning
  
• Delivered first thing this morning (Friday) by Royal Mail
  

The CN22 customs form is clearly marked with a value of 55 Euros and as merchandise... but Royal Mail and HMRC let it sail through.

Was I lucky? Are things changing? I guess I'll have to buy again, just to find out

Great service too. The vendor was Papponni Toys & Hobbies via their eBay store.

If you bought via eBay they collected the VAT and papponi got the amount minus 20%. This should be the same for all marketplaces. Recently I have bought from:

Evotec spain
Papponi portugal (eBay)
Ministry of hobby spain
Shapeways Netherlands


Everything worked as expected, all purchases under £135 so vat collected at point of sale and no import duty or handling charges.

If postage is cheap enough it makes more sense to make several £135 purchases than one big purchase.