How To Ship US Brands to the UK

Whenever I talk about Colourpop in posts or on Twitter, I always get tonnes of questions and DM's about how to get it shipped to the UK. I have mentioned how I get american brands shipped to England but I don't think I went into enough detail. Currently Colourpop do not ship to the UK but I have found a way around that, as well as getting many other brands to the UK. This method would work for brands such as Bath and Body Works, Chapstick, MAC and Tarte just to name a few.
How To Ship US Brands to the UK
Forwarding Service

A forwarding service is basically a US address which you can get your packages shipped to then the company used will forward the package onto you. The forward service I would highly recommend is Shipito. I have found this service to be the best from being affordable to having the incredible custom service. When you create your Shipito account you will need to place a $5 deposit which is redeemable against shipping costs of your packages. When your package is received at Shipito you will get an email asking you to pay the shipping charges for the method you select as well as filling in the customs declaration, this email does include images of your package which can also be viewed on your dashboard. The customer service over at Shipito is top level. They have 24 hour online chat support which I have used and they couldn't have been more helpful with my questions! 

Shipito do charge a $2 fee on each package on top of your shipping cost and any insurance charges. The price of your shipping method, I always use the cheapest option which arrives within around 11 days on average, will depend on the size and weight of your package. My Colourpop orders have never cost more than £8/9 with the shipping cost, insurance and the shipito fee. I would recommend always selecting insurance so you have peace of mind. 

Using Shipito is very simple and easy. I must admit the first time I used Shipito I was incredibly nervous but I shouldn't have been worried. When you are on the checkout page of your selected website, you will need to complete payment with PayPal and make sure that it goes through smoothly. 

The address provided with Shipito is what you use for your shipping and billing address to make sure it goes through without any problems. If you use a UK address as your billing address chances are your order will not go through. Make sure you included the Z#---- number in your address so that Shipito know its your package. As soon as you have completed the customs forms and paid for your shipping method and insurance, Shipito will send it out very quickly. 

Custom Charges 

I will go ahead and say anything you order is almost 100% going to get custom charges if it over £19 in value (I believe and this is from personal experience). Depending on how much you spend will depend on how much the custom charges are. I will say that Royal Mail do include a handling fee of £8 before any custom charges. I got charged £3 in custom fees which ended up to be around £11 because of the handling fee. As long as you are expecting a customs fee and have money put aside for it you won't have anything to worry about. I have placed multiple orders, usually from Colourpop at around $30ish and I have only ever got custom charges once. 

If you have any further questions please tweet me and I will help out if I can! 

<3

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