I called HMRC a couple of months ago to ask about what sort of charge would be incurred if I bought an iPhone case from overseas and had it shipped to the UK. They have an incredibly detailed list of items and codes, and the amount of the customs charge would vary according to what the item is exactly. For example, I thought that all leather goods would be one category, but in fact not only was there a category for "leather mobile phone case", he also asked me to be more specific...did the case have a snap-type closure? Umm, I think it's a magnetic closure, I said, but I'm not really sure. But actually the customs duty rate on the item was nominal, just 3%, *however* he said that import VAT would also be charged, so that's 17.5%. So you may get charged the VAT on $225, plus whatever small amount of customs charge there is. Though I hope not, I hope they just let it slip through for you!
