UK customs claim that a 100g gold bar is a "restricted commodity"?

[breaktwister]

I recently ordered a gold bar from Singpore which was to be delivered to me by FedEx.  999 gold so meets the criteria for "investment gold".   Prior to shipment FedEx called me asking if I had an EORI number which I quickly googled and told them NO as the bar is for private investment and not related to any import/export trade.  A few days pass and I get another call from FedEx saying that since the gold is worth more than £2500 I need to be an "approved importer" and as I was not on the list I would need to collect it myself from Stansted Airport!   I asked for this to be confirmed in writing and they responded "Customs found this is a restricted commodity.  Need importer numner (EORI)".

I am not able to collect from Stansted and find the whole situation bizarre.  Banks and Central Banks can move tons in and out of London but the private individual is limited to under £2500 of real money?  A disgusting and infuriating attack on my liberty.

Anyone have any relevant experience that you can share?

[ArgentSmith]

this is what Government bureaucrats do best, is this £2500 limit written anywhere or did they just pull it out of their ass?

[TheShinyStuff]

Nothing to do with your gold, which I hope you get sorted, but just noticed your profile pic, that Irish shamrock round was the very first piece of silver I ever bought. From Bairds in 2015. Takes me back, £15 delivered it was!

[breaktwister]

9 minutes ago, TheShinyStuff said:

Nothing to do with your gold, which I hope you get sorted, but just noticed your profile pic, that Irish shamrock round was the very first piece of silver I ever bought. From Bairds in 2015. Takes me back, £15 delivered it was!

Yes, I loved those rounds, I bought a few tubes and was able to sell at a nice markup locally.  Kept a tube for my own investment also  

Unfortunately the gold bar was sent back as I was not prepared to go to customs at Stansted, I am in Northern Ireland ffs.    I find it odd that Customs did not contact me, all the communication was through FedEx.

[Paul]

Im not trying to be a **** asking this question, but was it any reason you chose to order from Singapore? and not from an established/trusted UK dealer like Baird&Co, Sharps Pixley/HGM/Chards/Atkinsons/BBP/UKBullion/ATS/Royal Mint 

I am always weary of ordering anything abroad. given that Brexit has changed the importing landscape and also given the declarations/info that have to be summitted it just brings unwanted attention of what's inside your parcel and increases your chances for "something" happening with your order  

[LawrenceChard]

1 hour ago, breaktwister said:

I recently ordered a gold bar from Singpore which was to be delivered to me by FedEx.  999 gold so meets the criteria for "investment gold".   Prior to shipment FedEx called me asking if I had an EORI number which I quickly googled and told them NO as the bar is for private investment and not related to any import/export trade.  A few days pass and I get another call from FedEx saying that since the gold is worth more than £2500 I need to be an "approved importer" and as I was not on the list I would need to collect it myself from Stansted Airport!   I asked for this to be confirmed in writing and they responded "Customs found this is a restricted commodity.  Need importer numner (EORI)".

I am not able to collect from Stansted and find the whole situation bizarre.  Banks and Central Banks can move tons in and out of London but the private individual is limited to under £2500 of real money?  A disgusting and infuriating attack on my liberty.

Anyone have any relevant experience that you can share?

Some of this may be attributable to Fedex not knowing what they are doing, misunderstanding government or HMRC rules, rather than purely down to HMRC, or they could simply be misinforming you.

My / our experience with Fedex is not great. They frequently refuse to deliver if the item is over some arbitrary value, often about £500, even though the originating depot has a agreement with th sender up to a much higher figure.

You could try asking them to send the information to you by e-mail.

Asking the sender to complain to Fedex at their end might help.

Good luck.

😎

 

[Abyss]

3 hours ago, Paul said:

Im not trying to be a **** asking this question, but was it any reason you chose to order from Singapore? and not from an established/trusted UK dealer like Baird&Co, Sharps Pixley/HGM/Chards/Atkinsons/BBP/UKBullion/ATS/Royal Mint 

I am always weary of ordering anything abroad. given that Brexit has changed the importing landscape and also given the declarations/info that have to be summitted it just brings unwanted attention of what's inside your parcel and increases your chances for "something" happening with your order  

Similar thoughts but why would you want to buy a bar in the 1st instance being located in the United Kingdom it is not like there is a local coin shop in the majority of large cities/towns we only have at most a dozen reputable trusted dealers in the UK. Had to sell the bar the buyer  maybe reluctant  as they would need XRF machine to verify authenticity. Most likely have to sell it back to dealer.

https://atkinsonsbullion.com/sell-to-us/gold-bars/100-gold-bullion-bar

Gold spot £1460.25

100g = 3.215 oz

Even bought the bar for 1% over spot in Singpore cost £4741.65

Sold it Atkinsons give you £4,554.12 stand to lose £187.53. Bought 3 oz Gold (1 oz Gold Brittannias) sold it back to the dealer immediately lose £164.76

Done this calculation many years ago when I started investing in Gold for the reasons that the future private buyer would find it easier to authenticate 1 oz Gold issued by the Royal Mint (has no capital gains tax) exclusively only bought these. Post Brexit not ordered anything from outside of the UK but will look at the most competitively priced international bullion dealers and phone around the UK local dealers asking them to price match (larger orders more willing to budge on price).

Hope issues gets settled and you able to take delivery of you Gold bar.

PS Pre-Brexit when ordered Gold from abroad I often had to fill in Investment Gold Declaration.doc

Go back to FedEx with amendment to the attached form that fits your circumstances and state is this sufficient?

Edited May 31, 2022 by Abyss
amended calculation toy oz for 100 g weight

[reidpj]

100g = 3.215 troy ounces 👍

[CollectForFun]

Intresting development but I am sure some solution will be found.

E.g. when FedEx say you must collect your shipment from Stansted Airport, do they mean it has already been cleared through customs, or that you still need to go through all customs paperwork first?

I would ask them to confirm status of the shipment from the customs perspective as well as provide you with exact reasons for their request including specific reference to legislation or their T&Cs applicable to your case, rather than using vague complex terms and thresholds that are based on noone knows what. Based on that info you can follow up or maybe someone will be able to advise.

Edited May 31, 2022 by CollectForFun

[breaktwister]

Interesting comments guys thanks.  CollectForFun, I am assuming that it did not clear customs or else FedEx would have been free to simply deliver it on as planned.  Quite what paperwork I would have been asked to complete if I had decided to collect at Stansted I do not know as neither FedEx, UK Customers, nor the supplier told me.   Irrelevant really as I had no intention of making the trip to collect.  Gov.uk/eori is very clear that it does not apply to private goods.

I think I will stick to the Britannia's from now on.