 Poster: A snowHead
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Like it says.
Eldest son is spending a year in a French University / Grand Ecole near Paris. He went by Eurostar in September so could only take bare essentials. He's going skiing with the Uni ski and mountaineering clubs shortly.
So like the amazing dad I am I bought him some new telemark bindings (Rottefella Freedoms- the touring version) - Quiverkillered two sets of skis for them (which was eventful), packed all his ski gear and he sorted DHL.
Imagine his delight on being told there was a €350 customs fee and he wouldn't be able to query it for at least 5 days and then it would takes ages to get an answer. Due to go on first trip very shortly.
FFS. JRM and Jeremy Lady's Front Bottom must be so proud of themselves.
(The trips btw seem to be incredible value, all the societies are massively subsidised by the French Uni (meaning the Uni gives the clubs € several million a year and so the mountaineering club can charge a one off €10 fee for any equipment hire- meaning anything- full rack, ropes, boots, ice axes, crampons - that's not each item each time- it's €10 once only- my mind boggles. Likewise because he's in the photographic society and he will do some photography for the trip- he only has to pay 50%).
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Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
Obviously A snowHead isn't a real person
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@ed123, understandably irritating but why the surprise? It was pretty obvious this would happen 
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Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?
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Really? It's luggage not goods for sale and if he'd taken them by planes trains or automobiles they'd be nothing. How else are students and people relocating meant to get their stuff to France? It would have been cheaper for him to fly home and then back again. Arghh. The British Embassy are actually going to try and help with customs, which is very good of them.
But yes it is madness and I can't see why we aren't all revolting. Imagine what it's like for UK exporters.
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You need to Login to know who's really who.
You need to Login to know who's really who.
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@ed123, We've taken back control - but it seems, just not of our luggage. 
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Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.
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@ed123, they don't know he's not going to flog them once he gets them?
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You'll need to Register first of course.
You'll need to Register first of course.
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@ed123, it used to be arranged with a "Carnet" scheme for things like motorhome/caravan plus equipment etc for temporary import and removal while travelling.
Is that option available at all now ?
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| ed123 wrote: |
| Really? It's luggage not goods for sale and if he'd taken them by planes trains or automobiles they'd be nothing |
Not if you get stopped importing new gear, and you may get surcharged if you don't declare it.
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When I was in Austria a fdw years ago with an American lady , she had some prescription glasses sent ..she had a load of duty to pay on those ...it would have been efficacious to use Glissop or some like them and have it sent from France
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You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
You'll get to see more forums and be part of the best ski club on the net.
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I would guess that two pairs of skis plus one pair of bindings would be over the duty free allowance.
No idea whether I should have a carnet for my ski equipment, most of it was bought in France.
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@rjs, I think technically you should have a carnet, but there's some sort of a derogation for personal use.
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snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
snowHeads are a friendly bunch.
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It is all a bit odd. I don't think we are all expecting to get done for duty when we arrive in France with bags of skis.
Likewise if we buy gear in France then bring it to the UK.
Apart from one pair of bindings all the gear was used. It seems that the duty wasn't that much- but the administration fees were in the hundreds of euros.
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And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
And love to help out and answer questions and of course, read each other's snow reports.
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There are several threads on luggage transfer services but I think most are from before the end of Brexit transition.
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@ed123, I bought something small from the UK some months ago, iirc, duties and taxes were about €8 - DHL admin €42  ... I won't be doing that again!!
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You know it makes sense.
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| ed123 wrote: |
Likewise if we buy gear in France then bring it to the UK.
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you will if you get caught. Lots of people have been charged duty for stuff they've bought on holiday.
If your complaint is that Brexit has made things mroe complex, fair enough.
I was in the UK for a visit this summer. I thought about buying a bike frame and putting it in the boot but in the end decided to just ship it over and pay the duties.
To give a worked example
Frame was 500 UKP
Deduct VAT at 20%
400 UKP
Add shipping
410
Add the couriers charge
440
Add duty at 4.7% (the rates vary depending on the bike parts and original origin, for UK made frames it is zero)
460.80
add VAT back on at 20% and it comes to around 553
Obviously the postage and how much hte courier charges are important.
Clearly only your bindings should have suffered duty.
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