Hello, I have heard that shipping to the UK from the usa has some extra fees. Can someone explain this who has some experience in this area? Thank you
Buyer can be landed with import fees. This depends on the declared value on the package. Under a certain value, no imports to be paid. Above the threshold, there are imports and additional fees.
With regard to imports: any item above £15 can receive import duty and VAT charges along with an admin fee. A £15.01 item usually becomes around £27 instead - which is why I believe card prices in Europe in general are higher, as it’s often cheaper to go for the £26 EU card than the £15 US card.
That said it often feels very random whether import charges will even apply. I’d say a good 30-40% of imports from outside the EU I’ve had have had no import charges applied, even on items with a declared value of over £2,000 - it’s a good day when that happens!
I don’t know whether classifying something as a gift makes it exempt as well - regardless of value. I’m the same as you I seem to randomly get charged and then often not.