Wholesale hair extensions UK

Buying wholesale hair extensions into the United Kingdom

PLUCHARM manufactures human hair extensions in Shandong and supplies UK salons,
hair brands and distributors direct from the workshop. This page covers the UK
border reality specifically, because the UK’s treatment of a commercial import is
not the same as the EU’s and not the same as the US’s.

The £135 line is about duty, not about VAT

The most common misconception among first-time UK importers is that £135 is a
tax-free threshold. It is not.

• Consignments with an intrinsic value of £135 or less are free of
  customs duty.
• Import VAT at 20% applies to almost all imports regardless of
  value. The £135 line does not remove it.

So a small first order may well clear without duty and still arrive with a VAT
liability attached.

There is a further distinction that catches people out. The £135 duty
threshold is generally treated as applying to consignments treated as personal
shipments; for commercial shipments the duty de minimis is effectively
£0, meaning commercial goods are subject to UK customs charges. If you are
importing to resell — which is what a trade account is doing — plan on duty
applying and treat any relief as a bonus rather than a baseline.

Postponed VAT Accounting is worth asking for

If you are VAT-registered, Postponed VAT Accounting (PVA) lets
you account for import VAT on your VAT return instead of paying it at the border
when the goods arrive. On a substantial shipment that is the difference between
having the VAT sitting in your working capital and not.

The thing to know is that PVA has to be requested in writing before the
goods arrive, and it has to be selected on the customs declaration. If
your broker submits the declaration without it, the VAT is payable upfront to
release the goods. On a £12,000 shipment that is roughly £2,400 you did not need
to find at the border. Your agent will not necessarily raise the option, so raise
it yourself while the goods are still in production.

What is coming

The UK government announced at the Autumn Budget 2025 that it intends to remove
the customs duty relief on low-value imports by March 2029 at the latest, with a
consultation on the replacement arrangements. The direction of travel is fewer
reliefs rather than more, so a landed-cost model that depends on the £135 duty
threshold is not a safe long-term assumption.

How to keep the customs side simple

• Freight invoiced separately from goods value, so customs
  valuation is not inflated by the freight figure.
• Commercial invoice with per-line specification — method,
  shade reference, length, quantity, unit price — plus country of origin and net and
  gross weight.
• An explicit Incoterm on the quote. An unclear Incoterm is the
  single most common cause of an unexpected duty bill.
• Ask for the paperwork your broker wants, and we will supply
  it. We would rather send documents than have a consignment sit at the border.

Freight and lead time

We ship from our own workshop in Juancheng, Heze, Shandong. Freight is charged on
chargeable weight rather than a flat rate, so you pay for what you order:

• First 300 g — US$35
• Each further 300 g — US$20

Every 100 g set weighs 0.16 kg shipped, so a single set is charged as one 300 g
step. Chargeable weight is 1.6x net hair weight, which covers packaging and
protective wrapping.

Lead time: 5–10 days for in-stock tape and machine wefts, 7–12 days for
hand-tied wefts and strand methods, 7–14 days for moulded or custom work. Repeat
runs are faster once your specification is on file.

What UK buyers tend to order

UK accounts most often need a method that installs quickly and a colour that
stays concealed on light hair, because a large share of professional demand sits
with blonde and highlighted clients.

Tape-in is the highest-volume method for installation speed. Where the seam has
to disappear — fine hair, light colours, hair worn up — invisible tape and
injection tape are the versions specified, because the moulded or ultra-flat base
removes the ridge at the root. For length without bulk at the root, hand-tied and
genius wefts are cut to the head rather than ordered per row, so a pack is not
wasted on a shorter installation. Nano ring suits clients who want a bond with no
heat and no keratin.

All thirteen methods are colour-matched to one physical shade ring, so an
account can carry several methods without the colours disagreeing.

Methods we manufacture

Genius weft, butterfly genius weft, machine weft, hand-tied weft, tape-in,
invisible tape, injection tape, butterfly tape, I-tip, U-tip, flat tip, K-tip and
nano ring — all produced in our own workshop.

Trade terms

• Minimum order: in-stock shades can be ordered in small
  quantities so you can test the grade. Custom colour, custom length and private
  label carry a higher minimum because those goods are made to your specification.
• Samples: available, and we would rather you tested the grade
  than took it on trust.
• Colour matching: send your ring or a physical sample and we
  match to it, so your existing shade numbering stays intact.
• Private label: full OEM and ODM runs under your brand,
  including tags, packaging and your colour ring — see
  private label hair extensions.
• Specification across methods: 100 g sets, 18/20/22/24 in,
  26 shades, 12A cuticle-aligned hair, colour-matched to a single physical ring
  across all thirteen methods.

The full range is on the shop, and the trade overview is on
the wholesale hair extensions page.

Frequently asked

Is the £135 threshold a tax-free allowance?

No. It relates to customs duty. Import VAT at 20% still applies to almost all
imports whatever their value, and for commercial shipments duty is effectively
charged from £0.

Can I postpone the import VAT?

If you are VAT-registered, yes — through Postponed VAT Accounting. It must be
requested in writing before the goods arrive and selected on the customs
declaration, otherwise VAT is payable at the border.

Who is the importer of record?

You are, unless the Incoterm is DDP. Confirm the Incoterm before comparing
quotes, because a DDP price has the duty already priced in.

Do you provide customs paperwork?

Yes — commercial invoice with per-line specification, country of origin, and net
and gross weight. Freight is invoiced separately so the goods value stays clean.

Can I order a sample first?

Yes, in an in-stock shade and in small quantity. Samples are how you verify
grade and colour before a production run.