Ebay Shipping from UK questions

Hi I don't know where else to ask this question. I assume I would get the best response here than everywhere else since if your into computers than you probably heard of ebay .

So my story is, I wanna get this item off ebay, that will be shipped from UK via Royal Mail Airmail. It says "17.5% VAT tax is presently included in the listed price".

My questions are:
Will I recieve my item from Canada Post? if not than who?
Will there be any surprise fees?
What is VAT?

Will I recieve my item from Canada Post? if not than who?
Yes. It will come in your normal mail if shipped British Royal Mail.

Will there be any surprise fees?
Not in my experience.

What is VAT?
Value Added Tax. Just like our GST.

Originally Posted by GTrance

Hi I don't know where else to ask this question. I assume I would get the best response here than everywhere else since if your into computers than you probably heard of ebay .

So my story is, I wanna get this item off ebay, that will be shipped from UK via Royal Mail Airmail. It says "17.5% VAT tax is presently included in the listed price".

My questions are:
Will I recieve my item from Canada Post? if not than who?
Will there be any surprise fees?
What is VAT?

I've had shipments come from the UK a few times.

It will come by Canada Post.
There might be taxes due on the product. Depends on the value and what they wrote on the slip. All the packages I received were > $100 in value but I don't recall ever paying anything (because they were marked "gift", "warranty repair", and other creative duty-dodgers).
No VAT.

Also, shipping is really fast from the UK. Standard shipping that goes out on a Friday could be expected in your hands on the Tuesday (this happened to me twice). Much much faster then receiving a package from the USA, even by express from the USA.

you will prob pay some customs fees, depending on the price.

VAT included in price is mainly for UK buyers, meaning they won't have to pay anymore VAT when they get it. It can't hurt to see if they will take off VAT for non-UK buyers. I know amazon.co.uk takes off VAT when you buy from them.

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I was wondering if anyone else has had any other experiences with Royal Mail Airmail? I'm currently debating purchasing a keyboard from either a Canadian or UK Ebay seller. (The keyboard is worth about $80USD retail, but the UK seller has it for GBP 29.99.) A friend of mine just purchased the same keyboard from this UK seller without a problem (but my friend is in the US), and it is also about $13 cheaper than the Canadian seller. I have had no experience with this Canadian seller. Both sellers have good feedback.

Just wondering if I should take the risk going with the UK seller. Yes, the difference is only about $13, but I also have the reassurance (from my friend) that this UK seller is good.

Originally Posted by Gigi

Sorry to bump an old thread, but I was wondering if anyone else has had any other experiences with Royal Mail Airmail? I'm currently debating purchasing a keyboard from either a Canadian or UK Ebay seller. (The keyboard is worth about $80USD retail, but the UK seller has it for GBP 29.99.) A friend of mine just purchased the same keyboard from this UK seller without a problem (but my friend is in the US), and it is also about $13 cheaper than the Canadian seller. I have had no experience with this Canadian seller. Both sellers have good feedback.

Just wondering if I should take the risk going with the UK seller. Yes, the difference is only about $13, but I also have the reassurance (from my friend) that this UK seller is good.

Royal Airmail is like our Letterpost. Its going to be 1-2 weeks before you get it. There is also te possibility of tax if it is not marked as a gift. Personally I would get it from the Canadian seller as its a lot easier when there's no customs involved.

Thanks, Kasakato. I think I'll stick with the Canadian seller then.