Shipping/Customs charges. Aaaaarrrgh!

I bought a second hand laptop from a friend in the US, a totally private sale between friends and I got charged £90 from customs just because it was a computer! It could have been a present for all they knew? They just assumed and charged me anyway! Not a damn thing I could do about it. Ugh!

did your friend mark the parcel as 'gift'? that usually work sometime.