Royal Mail & customs charge?

[geeman237]

I’m in the USA and sent a small parcel to a friend in the U.K. which contained a birthday gift. I completed the US customs form, marked it as a gift and declared the value around $80. Today my friend messaged me saying she’s had a note from the Royal Mail saying she has to pay £20 customs duty (includes £8 Royal Mail fee!) before it can be delivered.
In 15 years sending similar parcels to family and friends for Christmas and Birthdays I have never experienced this.
Is this correct? Can it be disputed?

[essayer]

Unfortunately, £39 is the upper limit for gifts. Make sure the value is always below this.
What was in the parcel?

[geeman237]

essayer said:

Unfortunately, £39 is the upper limit for gifts. Make sure the value is always below this.
What was in the parcel?

Thank you. A quick google reveals even gifts like this can be charged. Just the luck of the drawer I guess but it kind of kicks the arse out of the recipient having to pay duty for a birthday present. Parcel contained a tee shirt and a costume jewellery ring.

[khushy]

should have bought it from a UK site

[khushy]

should have bought it from a UK site

[geeman237]

khushy said:

should have bought it from a UK site

It was all custom and locally made to personalise the gifts so no U.K. site.

[steveo3002]

a slip up marking the customs form wrong next time would solve this if you choose to

[peterperkins]

If you do nothing will it not be returned to the sender?

Then they/you can resend it appropriately..

From the post office site..

[quote]When do I need to pay the charges by?
You have 21 days from the date on the ‘Fee to Pay’ card. If the charges
are not paid within this time, the item will be returned to the sender.
[/quote]

Edited by peterperkins on Saturday 27th April 14:37

[jsc15]

If you're not insuring it (or needing insurance), and not enclosing a receipt, then there's no point declaring the full value on a gift item. None. Zero.

You're only going to:
- Delay it at customs
- Ensure the recipient is inconvenienced
- Increase the likelihood of theft

I'm surprised it's worked previously but you've probably been lucky those times. The ideal situation here was to declare it as a "gift" of a "t-shirt" valued at "$8", and either forget the ring completely, or totally forget that you've somehow clumsily dropped it in the package accidentally