Quote Originally Posted by cessna152towser View Post
I would expect you will not be hit for any import tax. I have imported kilts and kilt related items to Scotland from Canada, USA and Pakistan on a number of occasions and apart from two heavyweight kilts, none of my other items were ever held by the Royal Mail pending payment of an import duty.
Lucky you, in that case! I ordered £12-worth of tee-shirts from a US-based online store once, and when they eventually arrived (after a mystifying and very long delay), there were HMRC stickers all over the package, and I had to pay the fees before the Post Office would release the goods. Total (engraved on my memory)? £58.

Since then, I've heard (though this may be apocryphal) that Customs just select (a) anything that looks big and expensive, and (b) a random sampling of the rest. I had the bad luck to be part of the random sampling, I guess. Could happen again, so I'm very careful generally about not buying from abroad.

Hmm, I'm beginning to sound like a HMRC-hater!