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UK buyers

What a cheap retro handheld really costs to land in the UK

The scary £135 VAT and customs bill on cheap handhelds is mostly a myth. Here's what actually happens at each price point, and how to check before you pay.

By Sam Whitfield

You've found a Miyoo Mini or an R36S on AliExpress for less than the price of a takeaway, and then the doubt kicks in. Someone in a forum says you'll get stung for VAT and customs on delivery. Someone else swears they paid an extra £135. So is the cheap price real, or is there a nasty bill waiting for the postman to hand you?

For the typical cheap handheld, the honest answer is: the price you see is very close to the price you pay. The famous £135 figure gets quoted like a threat, but it's widely misunderstood, and for these little devices it usually works in your favour rather than against you. Here's what that number actually means and what really lands on your doorstep.

The £135 number, and the mix-up everyone makes

Almost every scare story muddles two different taxes: VAT and customs duty. They are not the same thing, and the £135 threshold does different jobs for each.

  • VAT is the 20% you pay on nearly everything in the UK. It doesn't disappear just because the goods came from abroad.
  • Customs duty is a separate charge on imports, and for these cheap gadgets it's usually the one people are actually afraid of.

Here's the part that clears up the confusion. Since 1 January 2021, when an overseas seller sends a consignment worth £135 or less directly to a UK buyer, they are supposed to charge UK VAT at the point of sale. In plain terms, the VAT is meant to be baked into the AliExpress checkout price, collected there, and passed to HMRC. Gov.uk puts it plainly: those consignments "will have UK supply VAT charged at the point of sale" (see VAT and overseas goods sold directly to customers in the UK).

And the £135 threshold for customs duty? Non-excise goods worth £135 or less carry no customs duty at all. HMRC's own table lists the charge for a parcel of that value as "No charge" (tax and duty on goods sent from abroad). So the £135 line isn't a fee you pay. It's the point below which duty doesn't apply and VAT is collected at checkout instead of at the border.

What actually happens at each price

Most of the handhelds people buy first sit a long way under £135. Miyoo, Anbernic, R36S, Powkiddy: the popular models mostly land well under £60, and even the chunkier ones rarely trouble that ceiling. So for the device you're most likely to buy, this is the reality:

  • Under £135 (almost every cheap handheld). The VAT should already be in the checkout total. No customs duty. Nothing extra to pay the courier. The parcel arrives and that's the end of it.
  • Over £135 (a pricier Android handheld, or a big multi-item order). Now normal import rules kick in. The courier collects the VAT before they'll hand the parcel over, customs duty can apply on top, and there's usually a handling fee bolted on for the privilege. This is where the genuine surprise bills come from.

Watch the whole consignment, not the single item. The £135 line is about the value of the consignment, not each gadget in it. Two £80 handhelds shipped together in one parcel can tip a £160 consignment over the threshold and into import charges, even though neither device would on its own. If you're buying a couple of things, splitting the orders can keep each one on the simple side of the line.

How to check before you pay

The theory is tidy. Reality is a bit messier, because not every overseas seller sets their checkout up correctly. A minute of checking saves the worry:

  • Look for VAT shown or included at checkout. A properly set up seller shipping to a UK address will show VAT in the order total, or state that the price includes UK VAT. Set your delivery country to the UK before you judge the price, because the number can change once the site knows where it's going.
  • Trust the total you're quoted, not the sticker. The figure that matters is the final amount at the payment step with a UK address entered. If that total is what you expected, you're almost certainly done.
  • Keep the order confirmation. If a courier ever does come asking for VAT on a sub-£135 parcel, your receipt showing VAT was already charged is your evidence to push back.

None of this needs an accountant. On the big marketplaces, for a cheap handheld, the VAT is handled for you far more often than not. The board on this site quotes what these devices actually go for, and you can watch live prices on Best value or catch the dips on Price drops.

When a bill can still land

Honesty means flagging the cases where you might pay more than the sticker, because they do exist:

  • Your order goes over £135. The clearest one. Above the threshold, expect the courier to collect VAT (charged on the goods plus postage and insurance), possibly duty, and a handling fee. Budget for it rather than being shocked by it.
  • A seller doesn't handle VAT properly. Some smaller or newer sellers don't charge VAT at checkout as they should. Occasionally that means a parcel gets stopped and you're asked to pay before it's released. It's not common on the mainstream stores, but it's the main reason a sub-£135 bill ever appears.
  • Courier handling fees. When any charge is due, Royal Mail, Parcelforce or the courier add their own admin fee on top before they'll release the parcel. On a genuinely cheap handheld under the threshold, this shouldn't arise at all.

If a bill is wrong, you don't have to just pay it. Where VAT was clearly charged at checkout on a low-value order, that confirmation is grounds to query the charge with the courier rather than paying twice.

One change worth knowing about

The rules aren't frozen. The government has confirmed it plans to scrap the customs duty relief on low-value imports of £135 or less, currently timed for October 2028. When that lands, duty could start applying to cheap parcels that are exempt today, which would nudge landed costs up a little. It hasn't happened yet, and the date has already moved once, so treat it as a thing to keep half an eye on rather than a reason to rush or panic. We'll update this page when the detail firms up.

The bottom line for a cheap retro handheld: the terrifying £135 customs bill is mostly a myth for the devices most people actually buy. Under £135 there's no duty, and the VAT should already be sitting in your checkout total, so the price you see is close to the price you pay. The real bills appear when an order tips over £135, or when a scrappy seller hasn't charged VAT correctly. Set your delivery country to the UK, check the total includes VAT, keep your receipt, and you can buy that £40 handheld without waiting for a knock at the door.