I've been hit with import duty and VAT on stuff from overseas (Armorcast titans via ebay) repeatedly. They tend to come under "Die Cast Soldiers" or "Dolls/Figures".
Plus on top of VAT and duty there's also the courier clearance fee from the courier; in the case of ParcelForce around £13.50 extra for Express items, £8 for others.
http://www2.parcelforce.com/receiving-p ... -clearanceFor instance, a quick dig around spits up this:
http://www.dutycalculator.com/dc/232225 ... om-is-4.7/That's 4.7% duty, plus VAT (which is also chargeable on the shipping, grr), plus the extra fee. So that $299.99 dragon, with say $50 shipping, ends up costing around $435 = £265, plus £13.50 for a total of £278.50, which in USD is $455, which is a hell of a lot more than the $349.99 initial cost.
EDIT: *cough*
