'Brokerage Fee' from UPS :(

why are you so surprised? goods outside the E.U. are liable for duties and taxes, why did you think they would make an exception for you? the fee is partly for them paying the tax due on import then collecting it from you.

The carrier does the job of calculating; paying; and then collecting, duty costs. They do not do this for free.

I get caught out on this alot. I live outside of the EU, and am liable for duty on anything over ~£20.The amount of times I've stupidly gone over the limit by a £ or so and had to pay £13 processing fee (to post office) + 25% of the value.......(grrrr). Thing is companys like UPS seem to demand double the fee, when compared to my local post office so I tend to avoid any special delivery offers.