RebelScum

My TG parcel is currently stuck at Stanford Le Hope, with the rather ominous message: "Your package may be delayed due to a required document inspection by the clearing agency." I rang UPS today and they were less than helpful, asking if a Customs declaration had been completed by the sending company. Given I have already paid the VAT/duty I explained that the Customs declaration would be on there (otherwise you wouldn't know the value), along with all the necessary UKARA details, which is quoted on the UPS tracking. Needless to say, and given everyone else's experience of UPS, I'm not anticipating any delivery soon. It's also worth saying that this appears to be a UPS issue, as I also ordered some kit from Russia with the vendor using DHL about a month ago. Taxes all paid up front. Parcel arrived in two days from Moscow. Postage was about the same price. It is possible that the hubs that are used to processing EU imports without any paperwork are really struggling, whilst hubs that are used to customs duties and third country imports are doing OK. Or it could be that UPS are in meltdown. The UPS Trustpilot reviews are horrifying...

My order was due to arrive today, but has been pushed back to next Wednesday, due to shipping delays.

OK. So on a TG order of £193.32 (including £9.69 postage), I've just been advised that the import charges are as follows: NOTE: the total value used for calculation of all Duty-based fees is 0.00. Government Charges: 47.09 Brokerage Charges: 11.50 Freight Charges: 0.00 VAT: 0.00 Given UPS haven't filled in the VAT total and have zero-rated the duty, I would still hazard a guess that the £47.09 includes VAT and duty. The UPS handling charge is £11.50, on par with what Parcelforce tend charge on import. I honestly think this is pretty much on par with what was expected, as I was looking at about £40 in VAT and under £10 on duty (despite what the UPS receipt says). The handling fee is ridiculous, but I've been paying that on imports from the US for years, so again was expected. Overall, it is probably marginal in terms of whether any additional costs have been incurred. If you meet the minimum spend, it seems about the same, and still cheaper for me than getting the kit/RIF in the UK.

Yes. It was just under £200, so I'm interested to see how this goes. I'll post an update later this week.

Yup. Ordered a couple of days ago. Scheduled delivery is Thursday by UPS. The parcel is in their distribution hub in Poland.

I had an order in the TG basket for a few weeks for a CYMA 700A for £132.76. They kindly sent an email every few weeks to me to remind me it was in there: CM.700A (490FPS) - Olive Drab [CYMA] CYMA | Dostępny £132.76 I've just checked my basket and the same gun has reduced to £110.59. That's about a 17% reduction, so UK customers aren't fully benefitting from not paying the local VAT rate in Poland (23%). However, the RIF is still cheaper than in the UK, assuming you meet the minimum £140 threshold, and other discounts also complicate the calculation.

eBay. You can get A4 sheets of velcro sheets I've used to back patches. Search for "hook and loop sheet"