cannot figure it out!

You won't necessarily have to pay customs. They pick parcels at random. I've ordered from the US many times and only had to pay a customs charge once.

Hmmm ok, will risk it, as long as if I get picked it's not too excessive I'll be ok with that ?

I think the base it on the value of the item, so you should be fine. That seems to be how it works with our work deliveries anyway

Jen where did you decide to order from in the end? Really like the look of these

I got it straight from their website, just couldn't tell if the other were genuine, it worked out about £18 with shipping.

@twoducks mine has just arrived (well in the last day or 2, it went to my mums) and I didn't have to pay customs charges.

You don't pay customs on anything deemed to be under a certain value (I think it's about £15?). Unfortunately, though, even if the sender puts on the customs label that it's worth under that amount, HMRC can decide to open the parcel anyway and, if they think it's worth more, they can charge you. One of the things I hate about customs is that whether they charge, and how much, seems to pretty much depend on how they're feeling.