Don't be afraid to buy from overseas ....

Confused by the rules and regulations - worried whether or not you will get charged VAT on overseas purchases?  Here is simplified explanation - hope it helps!

Provided your purchases are NOT Excise goods, such as cigarettes, tobacco, alcohol etc. then you are allowed to purchase items to the value of UK £36.00 to import into the UK provided the seller ticks the "gift" box on the customs form when they post it .... (as at October 2007) this means your items can come to a total of about: 

51.54 Euros

$73.00 US Dollars

$81.87 Austrailian Dollars

8591.00 Japanese Yen

for other currencies or working out other amounts go to eBay's handy currency converter http://pages.ebay.co.uk/services/buyandsell/currencyconverter.html

If the seller ticks the 'merchandise' box then you are only allowed UK £18 before incurring the interest of the VAT man before you will get charged VAT. 

Be warned - Parcel Force also levy a handling charge for having to collect the Customs Duty -  for example, say the VAT charge is UK £20.00, they will charge another £13.50 on top!

Hope this helps!               Good luck to all you bidders out there!