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It's been a while since I imported anything, excluding £5 worth of sintered diamond drills from China .... For some reason I had remembered (incorrectly) anything under the value of £34/£35 didn't attract any form of duty. It doesn't if the item is sent as a gift, but retail purchases aren't gifts, and laws in the US have stiffened to be be quite punitive if retailers lie. (Which used to be quite common - I understand). When Apparelsave offered an ankle boot with a minor blemish at £21 plus £5 delivery, and since I'd almost made a purchase of the same style when it was at the discounted price of £50/£60, I bought the boots. While I wasn't overly happy at being (rightly) charged £5 VAT on the imported goods, I was completely frustrated at the £8-97 charge for 'processing' (paying) the £5 VAT charge. Highway robbery? Oh yeeees. The boots were advertised as a UK8 and US9½ which I know Nine West can be. They are not however, they are at best a UK7½ and I think closer to a 7. They have a 5 inch heel, which is why I liked them, and how far would I usually walk in a 5 inch heel? I'm hoping that damp-ish feet, might help change the shape enough to allow my right foot to become comfortable in them. My left foot, which is slightly smaller, sits in the left boot quite happily. The right boot needs a little more effort. I've had this several times before, and I put it down to a toe that curves under another on my right foot. A bit extreme, but if I had a choice, I'd only have 4 toes on that foot. Honestly, I don't need 5 and that toe is going to cause me problems when I get older. (Get older? ) I think I might be keeping them, rather than selling them on an auction site. I would recommend Apparelsave. Comms were not fast, as a query I had on another style took 3 days to get a reply, but I did get a reply. The dispatch of my boots was fairly prompt, if the courier was not quick. At £5 for carriage, I'm happy with the delivery timescale. I'm not happy with the 'processing' charge though, as I can't see being more than the actual VAT being justifiable. That 'processing' fee might seem more acceptable if the purchase value was £100+ I suppose.