[woodcote]

UK Customs will look at the outside of the box only. If you mark it with a retail price, they won't look any further - they will charge Graham 20% of that value, plus £8 handling fee.

However, UK Customs communicated with our proxy drag racing group and confirmed that no VAT or customs fees should be chargeable on parcels going to and from proxy races - and the way to alert customs to this is to write "returned goods" on the parcel and the CN22 form. A letter inside (as Leo suggests) is an excellent idea, but it is very rare for a small parcel to be opened, let alone for a customs officer to identify the make and model of a slot car and then look up the retail price online.

We've had 20+ parcels going to and from the US and Canada in the past 14 months - only once did someone forget to mark the package 'returned goods' and I was charged £60 VAT and handling fee. Every parcel marked 'returned goods' has sailed through the system without being held in customs. It is also worth checking with French customs, of course - they may have a different procedure.