What's changed at the border
If you've ordered from overseas before, you know the drill: pay, wait, then find out whether customs wants a word before you get your gear. Since January, UK Border Force scrutinises the vast majority of inbound parcels. Fine by us — we'd rather you knew the full landed cost before you pay, not at your doorstep. So we've structured UK pricing to make the checkout number the whole story wherever the rules allow it.
Your price, already cut
The prices you see on our website aren't Australian prices converted directly to UK pounds. Australian GST (10%) is stripped out, and UK catalogue prices are set a further 5% below that, roughly 15% in total below Australian retail before you've done anything.
Your shipping, subsidised
At checkout, we've now implemented an automatic credit worth 18% of your subtotal. No code, no conditions. It's there to blunt carrier fees and duties.
The £135 rule
Under the UK's £135 import threshold, VAT must be collected at checkout on any shipping method, postal or DHL. VAT is calculated on the price of your items + shipping fee. This then guarantees your landed cost, and orders proceed straight through customs without any delay.
Above £135, postal shipments change: Australia Post and Royal Mail are not able to collect UK VAT or duties, so UK customs bills you when your shipment arrives in the UK, before delivery. We estimate these amounts at checkout so you're not guessing. But Royal Mail adds an £8 handling fee on top, which we can't show or collect at checkout, and your parcel waits at the depot until you pay the VAT and any applicable duties.
Or you can choose DHL Express: shipping + VAT + duties are settled at checkout on any order value. Your order is then pre-cleared before it flies. No card in the letterbox, no delay, delivered in 2–6 business days.
The maths, done transparently
Example 1 — 1 x SOF Smock
In Australia: AUD$349 plus ~AUD$18 domestic shipping — about AUD$367 delivered. To London via DHL Express: £160 + £62.10 shipping, VAT and duties − £28.80 shipping credit = £193.30 landed. Roughly AUD$374. Near enough the same money, delivered to the other side of the planet, nothing owed at the door.
Example 2 — bigger orders (e.g. 2 x SOF Smocks)
Two smocks. £320 of kit. Now the paths split.
AusPost Standard: £301.62 at checkout plus you pay an estimated £67.56 VAT + £36.19 duty and Royal Mail's £8 handling fee once the package arrives in the UK, before delivery. The true landed cost: about £413.37, but the parcel sits at the depot until you pay the VAT, duty, and handling fee.
DHL Express: £431.11 at checkout. Done. Nothing more to pay, no delay, delivered in 2–6 business days.
About £18 apart on a £430 order. But the £18 buys a price locked at checkout, customs cleared before the parcel leaves Australia, and a courier at your door instead of a card in your letterbox.
For scale: the same two smocks delivered in Australia run about AUD$716. Landed in the UK you're at roughly AUD$799–833 — and that gap is the UK import charges, duty and your 20% VAT. Our UK catalogue is already 15% under Australian retail before the border costs enter the picture.
The short answers
Why is my checkout total higher than the product prices? Those are your country's VAT and duties, itemised. They're not our fees, and they're not hidden in the product price.
Will I pay anything on delivery? Not if your shipping method says "Duties & Taxes Included" at checkout. DHL Express is always DDP (Delivered Duty Paid), at any order value.
Why does DHL show higher duties than post? Commercial carriers apply duty by each product's HS code; postal channels are assessed differently because shipments under £135 generally don't attract duties. We show everything transparently for each shipping service at checkout before you pay.
Can I keep a big order under the threshold? Splitting a large order into separate orders can keep each under £135 - VAT settled at checkout, no duties, smoother delivery.
Full details for every destination are on our shipping page. Otherwise: add to cart, enter your address, and the complete landed cost is on screen before you pay a penny.
Currency conversions approximate and subject to exchange-rate movement. Postal VAT and duty figures at checkout when indicating Duties & Taxes Included are final, The optin to pay taxes and duties on delivery are estimates; final amounts are set by UK Border Force. Royal Mail handling fee correct at time of writing.
The bottom line
None of this is funded by magic. The 5% UK catalogue reduction and the 18% shipping credit come out of our margin - a deliberate call, not a rounding error. Borders got more expensive this year. We decided our UK customers shouldn't carry all of that alone.
The UK has backed us for years, from serving personnel to people who simply want the best kit. We'd rather sell at a thinner margin than watch import charges put proven gear out of reach for you. That trade only works one way: the gear has to keep earning its place. That part isn't negotiable.
We handle the border. You handle the rest.
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