"Reinforcements by Post - Credit where due" Topic

I doff my hat to RBP.
Just received my second batch of figs back from Reinforcements by Post. Excellent service and an absolutely excellent painting standard in my humble opinion.
Both batches were 15mm AWI both Brit and American infantry, about 150 figs per batch. RBP send copies, via email, of the paperwork neccessary to be contained in the box sent out together with highlighted instructions of how to do it. Easy to fill in and I've saved the copies on the computer in order to update them as I need them. RBP will guide you through it anyhow. All instructions that I included were faithfully complied with.
For me to have painted the figs would have taken twice as long, or longer, as sending them out to RBP and having them return and I could get no where near this standard. Very very pleased.
Third batch being recruited and prepared for dispatch now!

Did you send them from/ to the States? If so what were your shipping costs?

No, sent them to and from the UK. I can recall that the postage was in the region of about nine pounds GB one way. I took the basic pack with figs in but not sealed to the local post office to get the estimate. The return post is included in the final price which will include basing if you want it (Optional). You get the bank details from RPB and I nipped into my local branch to pay off the whole price all in, over the counter. The RBP account is based with HSBC in UK so no problem. All in, when all is considered basing postage etc, I was still well ahead of the game.

I'm interested as to whether you get hit in the pocket by Customs & Excise once they came back to the UK or not?

Firstly, thanks very much for the review!

Huscarle,
In the UK it depends on the declared value of the goods plus postage and also where the goods come from. Below a certain level (about 70 pounds in the UK?) Customs don't charge anything (verify with a search of TMP topics). Above that threshold you become liable for both VAT and duty.

VAT is at 17.5% of the value (or whatever it is in the UK now). This is the major portion of the charge. Duty is much smaller, like a couple of percent (but verify that with a topic search).

The level of duty depends on the country of origin, what documents you have, and how customs feel on that day.

Bangladesh gets duty 100% remission (zero duty) for the EU, USA, Canada, Aus, NZ, etc. etc. But you have to have a GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) certificate with the package. It isn't normally worth doing this unless the value of goods is large as obtaining the certificate is a hassle.

If you are really interested I'll scan the GSP documents for you and let you have a copy. My email address is modartis at gmail dt com (so as to avoid spam I wrote it this way).

As I mentioned, there have been other threads on TMP discussing this for the UK. A search of topics will reveal the threshold for UK customs and more info on duty for painted minis.

Cheers

Neil
reinforcementsbypost.com

Just got back my first order from RbP. Various 15mm SYW, FIW and Jacobite rebellion figs.

Good quality paint job, but what most impressed me was the speed of the service and Neil's customer service. Package from North America and back in 10 weeks! And Neil responded quickly to all email communication, providing an explanation if there was ever a delay of more than a day in communication. He also provided very clear instructions in how to prepare the package and what information to provide.

I will be sending more as soon as I can get them ready!