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Polchraine wrote: If they only have an address, how else can they contact you apart from a letter?

UPS managed it! I assume that the seller gave them my email address.

Triffid

Whenever I have done it, I just took my letter to the local depot, paid the fees and collected the parcel. It wasn't all that difficult really.

So small update....

It wasn't quite as far in the process as I thought. The shipping updates finally got more informative... It arrived at Newark airport on Friday and departed there at 8pm local time (1am UK time). So it should be arriving in the UK this morning and going through customs today. My local parcelforce distribution centre is near Gatwick airport so fingers crossed it moves swiftly and I will have it this week. I am shooting at Bisley this Sunday and it would be very nice to have it for then.

Oh another update, it has left Heathrow airport, presumably on its way to the Gatwick parcelforce distribution centre.

Its amazing how USPS updates on their side were all just "it has passed through another depot" without any detail. As soon as it is leaving the country and in another country the details have exact details of where it is.

As some suggested it took longer in customs than expected but it arrived today. Around 3 weeks so can't complain really.

I haven't had a chance to check it out yet. I will do that at the weekend.

Pippin89 wrote:As some suggested it took longer in customs than expected but it arrived today. Around 3 weeks so can't complain really.

I haven't had a chance to check it out yet. I will do that at the weekend.

What did you get charged in the end?

VAT at 20%
Any duty?
Handling Charge?

Total Costs:
Stock - $204 (£162)
Shipping - $91 (£72)
Import Duty - £5
VAT - £37
Handling Fee - £12
Saturday Delivery Fee - £12 (biggest rip off of the lot!)

Total of exactly £300.

Pippin89 wrote:Total Costs:
Stock - $204 (£162)
Shipping - $91 (£72)
Import Duty - £5
VAT - £37
Handling Fee - £12
Saturday Delivery Fee - £12 (biggest rip off of the lot!)

Total of exactly £300.

About what I expected except the handling fee ... and I think that the VAT/duty is equally the biggest rip off. Reasonable to pay VAT/duty on items coming into the country or services delivered here, however, they charge VAT/duty on the shipping too which is a con especially as you may already be paying tax on it in the country of origin.

The standard RM fee is, according to their website, £8 whereas it seems their subsidiary Parcel Force now charge £12 - what extra service do they give?

Polchraine wrote:

Pippin89 wrote:Total Costs:
Stock - $204 (£162)
Shipping - $91 (£72)
Import Duty - £5
VAT - £37
Handling Fee - £12
Saturday Delivery Fee - £12 (biggest rip off of the lot!)

Total of exactly £300.

About what I expected except the handling fee ... and I think that the VAT/duty is equally the biggest rip off. Reasonable to pay VAT/duty on items coming into the country or services delivered here, however, they charge VAT/duty on the shipping too which is a con especially as you may already be paying tax on it in the country of origin.

The standard RM fee is, according to their website, £8 whereas it seems their subsidiary Parcel Force now charge £12 - what extra service do they give?

Yes agreed, it certainly shouldn't charge VAT on shipping. I think the idea of charging VAT on products is to prop up the UK economy by making it so that you can't just go and buy anything from abroad and avoid paying tax.... This may all change next year of course!

The difference in RM and PF fees I believe is down to parcel size. What bothers me is that it is far more than you would pay to send a parcel within the UK. And that's all they are doing really.
But the same cost again just to deliver on a Saturday? That really stung. It definitely doesn't cost an extra £12 for Saturday delivery on an internal parcel. Unfortunately I am working full time away from home now and Boyds will not deliver stocks to an address different to the billing address so I don't really have a choice.

All that being said, £300 is a good(ish) price for a stock like this. It is still well under half what I would pay for a Form stock in the UK and a third of what I would pay once I had a Form stock inlet for my rifle. As long as the fit is good and there aren't any problems, I will call it a successful purchase.
Next step will be bedding, but I want to fit it and shoot it before I start cutting it up.

I wonder what you would pay in the US for the reverse process?