Over the years I’ve bought quite a few items from some of the UK and EU on-line retailers. My experiences have always been positive until this month. Pulled the trigger on a set of Reserve Wheels from Merlin, and got a surprise e-mail from UPS last night that I’ll owe the delivery driver an additional $135 when he brings the wheels around on Friday. I fully realize that the US has gone bonkers on tariffs and that compliance is not optional and is beyond our control, but I do object to the idea that these costs are not transparent, estimated, and identified up front when the order is placed. Being lead to believe that you know the full cost of an items and you’re paid in full and then getting a big surprise at time of delivery seems so unacceptable.
Deleted. Can’t be bothered with an argument. You have my sympathy, it’s a mistake you only make once. Post Brexit, as a Brit I sympathise.
It’s a weird time. I just bought saddle from Asia on eBay. Around $100 but I keep wondering if something will change and I’ll owe a shipping provider when it arrives. Had this happen to a friend (of course it was on a several thousand dollar auto part that was above the threshold that eBay warns of). Aside from that, I’d imagine lots of scammers looking to capitalize on tariffs and impersonating shipping companies to aquire personal information and money. Keep your wits about you.
From UPS web site:
Who pays duties, taxes or fees on international shipping?
Either the shipper or the receiver will be responsible for payment of duties, taxes and fees. In rare instances, these may be charged to a third party.
When the shipper pays duties, fees or taxes, it is called Delivery Duty Paid (DDP). This can improve the customer experience by providing additional clarity and transparency during the buying process. Delivery Duty Unpaid (DDU) means the receiver will need to pay.
If you do not have a UPS payment account, and are simply paying with a credit card, it will default to DDU, meaning the receiver will have to pay the duties, taxes and fees in order to receive their shipment. By opening up a UPS payment account, you can choose who will pay when you create the shipping label.
If the recipient will be responsible for these charges, we recommend you inform them of this before the transaction, to avoid any surprises. However, if the receiver does not pay, UPS may recover the outstanding amounts from you.
I agree…this is a pain. But this tariff nonsense changes frequently and seemingly on a whim. I can’t blame Merlin for not quoting a duty when it could change between the time you placed the order and when it’s delivered.
You could quote the recent Federal Court Judgement and say that they are illegal and so you don’t have to pay it.
But on a serious note the only people who will benefit from this mess are the lawyers
You can’t honestly expect a UK company or any other company outside the US to give you this info up front? Who can keep track of what your president is doing, and it certainly isn’t the responsibility of every company shipping to the US.
Wonder who could possibly be responsible for this? The tariffs change on a whim, no shipping company should have you pre pay them when the next day they could go up 50% or disappear.
Shipping anything into the us should have you expecting to pay duties at this point, pretending anything else is denying reality.
I agree completely that the international marketplace is a dynamic, chaotic environment. However, I think an up-front acknowledgement or disclaimer during the sales process that additional duties may be imposed by the carrier at time of import may be more appropriate than just providing a “paid in full” receipt. I chatted with the vendor about this and their response was to essentially says the info is in the T’s & C’s on their web site, which is 100% true but takes a lot of hard looking to locate. My take away is I’m going to think long and hard about buying anything from an international retailer. At least if I buy from a domestic source, I’ll still pay the tariffs and fees but I know the final, all-in price when I make the purchase.
Curious what wheels you got, because they’re still probably cheaper from Merlin. Reserve 52|63 for example are $1,799+tax in the US and many places won’t let you use coupons. They’re $1,202 from Merlin so you’re still ahead of the game with an additional $135 duty. 
Presumably that’s the reason for the tariffs.
Well, that sounds like a crappy experience & I’m sorry you had to be the guinea pig @gshotts but thanks for giving us the heads up.
Maybe it’s time for me to make a $20 throw-away order off ali express just to see what will happen…
But as an American, you know anything you buy internationally may have a tariff at this point. The tariffs for the UK are published and they are the responsibility of the importer to pay, and then they ask you to reimburse them. That’s all happening in the US. The seller doesn’t know if this will even happen. It’s basically out of their hands once it leaves the UK.
100% Why would a UK company, who has taken off the UK sales tax add on the sales tax (and then have to deal with it) on the USA and every other country.
You should expect, unless otherwise stated, that all overseas purchases are excluding tax and depending on your countries duty threshold will be paid by you.
In the USA isn’t it common for shops to display a pre sales tax? This is very uncommon in the rest of the world, so you would think this is already in your mind as a possibility, and much much weirder than a UK company displaying a pre tax price to an overseas buyer.
This is in their page about shipping, when selecting to USA:
*United States:*Free shipping is available depending on goods ordered and order value. Shipping costs will be advised at the basket/checkout.
Shipping on wheels and bikes varies depending on value.
Currency: Select US Dollars ($) to be charged in US Dollars – Prices to United States do not include VAT/Tax, which may be charged at import. Please check with your local tax office.
Please note: Import duty may be charged, please check with your local customs office.
Given how many times President Trump has altered the tax rates, if I were Merlin, there is no way I’d quote a price only for the duties being different. Even if they are lowered, customers would complain they have overpaid. It’s a no-win situation.
Just imagine you are a company who wants to ship ship something where your container is at sea for weeks.
It sucks that you had that experience but unless you see it stated on checkout that duties/tarrifs are included it is always on the buyer.. I always check that in their delivery info sections.
Will USA be adopting VAT in the future?
Select Map view. Zoom in to see rates by country.
I’m curious about that, too. I had seen that Merlin was inexpensive relative to US retailers for Reserve Wheels and I wondered if it was legit.
I ordered some stuff from them (in the US). It came quickly and was just as advertised. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy from them again. The only possible issue I could see is if the Reserve warranty is different for US vs international vendors.
I’m not sure what your experience has been ordering internationally in the past.
There are often tariffs and other customs charges that you need to pay to accept the package. Occasionally these will be estimated by the shipper, but this is not usually the case.
IOW this has always been something you needed to be aware of as a buyer. It’s just more annoying for you to deal with now.
This is a tax your government has placed on your purchase. The exact rate of which is capricious and highly volatile, so it’s nonsensical to expect the shipper to know what tariff rates will be when it gets taxed by your government.
It’s not the sellers responsibility to try and predict Trump. That is unfortunately a you problem.
Assuming this risk is now something you unfortunately need to do as an American when you purchase products originating outside the US.