Photo:BBC.
By Lora Jones, Catherine Snowdon & Howard Mustoe
BBC business reporters
"I had no idea at all I was going to be charged any more for deliveries after Brexit. The extra costs were definitely a bit of a shock."
Ellie Huddleston, a 26-year-old Londoner, thought she would treat herself to some new work clothes in the January sales.
Having spotted a bargain, she placed an order for a coat and a number of blouses from two of her favourite clothes brands based in Europe.
But both deliveries were delayed, held up in customs checks for at least a week, she says.
She was surprised when she then received a text from courier company DPD, containing a link asking her to pay £58 in customs duties, VAT and additional charges for her £180 order.
On top of that, the UPS courier for the second parcel showed up at her door several days later, asking for an extra payment of £82 for her £200 coat.
These charges, imposed by new government rules, have to be collected by the courier firms on the authorities' behalf.
"I didn't even know when the parcels would be coming - so I sent both back without paying the extra fees and won't be ordering anything from Europe again any time soon," Ellie says.
Post-Brexit charges
When the UK was part of the European Union's customs union, goods could move freely between the country and other member states without import taxes being charged.
But Ellie was one of the shoppers caught unaware of the fact that those rules have changed since the UK's official exit.
EU retailers sending packages to the UK now need to fill out customs declaration forms. Shoppers may also have to pay customs or VAT charges, depending on the value of the product and where it came from.
However, these are the responsibility of the customer, not the retailer, who often has no idea of how much the eventual extra cost might be.
They cannot be paid in advance and are levied only when the item reaches the UK.
Anyone in the UK receiving a gift from the EU worth more than £39 may now face a bill for import VAT - with many items charged at 20%.
For goods costing more than £135, customs duties may also apply, which can range from 0% to 25% of the product you're buying if they have not been paid by the sender already.
The extra charges are usually collected by the courier on behalf of the government, with customers asked to pay before they can pick up their package.
Some firms have started charging additional "handling fees" to shoppers to cover costs associated with extra customs checks and paperwork that must be filled out.
Royal Mail, for example, is charging an £8 fee it says "reflects the cost of clearing items through customs and presenting them to Border Force".
Meanwhile, delivery firm DHL says it is charging UK customers 2.5% of the amount paid to clear customs, with a minimum charge of £11.
Mail and freight company TNT is also adding £4.31 on all shipments from the UK to the EU and vice versa. It has said this reflects the increased investment it has had to make in adjusting its systems to cope with Brexit.
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