Assisted purchase | Virtual address | Happy VAT | eBay order | |
Service fee |
0% for any goods type in any online store |
Free No limit for incoming parcels |
£15 for a first order item, plus additional £5 per every 5 items in an order | 5% of a parcel contents total value. Fee is only charged for a consolidated parcel and not for individual items in a parcel. A parcel can contain several lots from different sellers purchased at any time interval |
VAT Return possibility |
No | No | Yes | No |
SKU, size and colour check |
Free | £2 per request. If a request completing time exceeds 15 minutes then there will be an additional cost of £10 per hour (£6 per 30 minutes) | Free | Free |
Minimum fee for each order |
No fee |
No fee | £15 | £8 |
Free storage of orders at our warehouse, up to 100kg |
90 days | 90 days | 90 days | 90 days |
Free storage of packed parcels that are ready for dispatch, up to 100 kg |
30 days | 30 days | 30 days | 30 days |
Fee for each incoming/dispatching parcel |
No | No | No | No |
Standard packaging, average goods |
£1-5, depending on parcel dimensions |
£1-5, depending on parcel dimensions | £1-5, depending on parcel dimensions | £1-5, depending on parcel dimensions |
Packaging for large sized or fragile goods and large electronics |
£3-10, depending on parcel dimensions | £3-10, depending on parcel dimensions | £3-10, depending on parcel dimensions | £3-10, depending on parcel dimensions |
Special enforced packaging if required** |
Cost of packing materials + labor cost of £12 per hour (e.g. £6 for 30 minutes, etc.) | Cost of packing materials + labor cost of £12 per hour (e.g. £6 for 30 minutes, etc.) | Cost of packing materials + labor cost of £12 per hour (e.g. £6 for 30 minutes, etc.) | Cost of packing materials + labor cost of £12 per hour (e.g. £6 for 30 minutes, etc.) |
Required verification (documents copies submission) |
No | Yes | No | No |
Orders consolidation/split fee |
£1.50 per each consolidation/split | £1.50 per each consolidation/split | No | £1 per each consolidation/split |
Back-order to main order consolidation fee** |
No | £1.50 per each consolidation | No | No |
Disputing and cases opening with sellers |
Free | Service not provided | Free | Free |
Urgent purchase and urgent packaging (within 1 hour), if required |
£5 | £5 for urgent packaging | £5 | £5 |
Instant SMS-notifications on orders, parcels, messages |
Free | Free | Free | Free |
Contents photos |
£2.50 for 3 photos | £2.50 for 3 photos | £2.50 for 3 photos | £2.50 for 3 photos |
Shipment of parcels exceeding 10kg and 20kg |
Fees for shipping parcels over 10kg - £5, over 20kg - £7.50 | Fees for shipping parcels over 10kg - £5, over 20kg - £7.50 | Fees for shipping parcels over 10kg - £5, over 20kg - £7.50 | Fees for shipping parcels over 10kg - £5, over 20kg - £7.50 |
Full list of goods in account |
Free | £2 per request. If a request completing time exceeds 15 minutes then there will be an additional cost of £10 per hour (£6 per 30 minutes) | Free | Free |
Declaration form filling determined by sellers invoice |
Free | Free | Free | Free |
Declaration form filling determined by customers preferences |
£3 per parcel dispatched from Alfa.uk warehouse | £3 per parcel dispatched from Alfa.uk warehouse | Free | £3 per parcel dispatched from Alfa.uk warehouse |
Separate items or whole orders return back to a seller*** |
£10 | £10 | £10 for a whole order return. FREE for partial return. | £10 |
Any other additional services (for example, hangers removal, defects check, functional test etc.) |
£2 per request. If a request completing time exceeds 15 minutes then there will be an additional cost of £10 per hour (£6 per 30 minutes) | £2 per request. If a request completing time exceeds 15 minutes then there will be an additional cost of £10 per hour (£6 per 30 minutes) | £2 per request. If a request completing time exceeds 15 minutes then there will be an additional cost of £10 per hour (£6 per 30 minutes) | £2 per request. If a request completing time exceeds 15 minutes then there will be an additional cost of £10 per hour (£6 per 30 minutes) |
Disputing with postal/courier services |
Free | Free for parcels dispatched from Alfa.uk warehouse | Free | Free |
Item collection from over the UK by Alfa.uk driver |
£1.15 per 1 British mile + £5 service fee (return trip is free). If the distance is less than 50 miles the surcharge is £10 | £1.15 per 1 British mile + £5 service fee (return trip is free). If the distance is less than 50 miles the surcharge is £10 | £1.15 per 1 British mile + £5 service fee (return trip is free). If the distance is less than 50 miles the surcharge is £10 | £1.15 per 1 British mile + £5 service fee (return trip is free). If the distance is less than 50 miles the surcharge is £10 |
* Sometimes online stores do not send a whole order in one shipment due to various reasons such as high quantity of items in an order or out-of-stock items may be sent separately once in stock again etc. Such back-orders arrive at our warehouse later than the rest part of an order. We automatically consolidate such back-orders with the items received for this order at no additional cost providing it is an "Assisted purchase" order. However, should we receive multiple parcels for one order purchased by a client using ‘Virtual Address’ service, a consolidation fee of £1.5 will be applied per each separate order or back-order .
** Special packaging is to be made for all fragile contents. If Alfa.uk employees estimate the approximate cost of a package to be more than £10, an online message is sent to a customer's personal account with a request to confirm the necessity for special packaging.
*** As well as the cost of Alfa.uk returns service fee, a customer is liable to cover the returns delivery cost should a seller does not provide free/prepaid returns.