Customs/Importing/Charges

£12.70 customs =

£8.00 = admin (more if faster courier)
£4.72 = 17.5% VAT

Be prepared that by January next year, VAT is going up to 20% so the £12.70 becomes £17.40.

Current $ exchange rate is 1.56.

October Customs Exchange Rates

Keep orders below $28 before shipping to avoid extra charges. I won't go above $25 to be sure.

It's been said many times before, but the fact that in your example the Admin fee is almost double the cost of the VAT is scandolous IMO:mad:
 
It's been said many times before, but the fact that in your example the Admin fee is almost double the cost of the VAT is scandolous IMO:mad:

Agree, there has been times I have been just a few pence over the £18 limit solely due to a sudden shift in the £ to $ ratio

And I have received £12 odd customs/royal mail for it.

This works out at exactly two thirds the cost of the item added on to go to grubby royal mail/customs grubby hands, and I paid postage for it too.
 
I'm wanting to get this from amazon.com (US site):

Amazon.com: The Twilight Zone: Season 1 [Blu-ray]: Rod Serling, Anne Francis, Burgess Meredith, Claude Akins, Ida Lupino, Jack Klugman, Martin Landau, Roddy McDowall, Ted Knight, Ron Howard: Movies & TV

It's about £60 if you buy it in the UK but works out to about £36 from amazon.com given the current exchange rate.

What experience do people have of amazon.com and importing? Will I get charged import/duty etc?

I have friends in the USA. Could I get it sent to them and then if they sent it to me marked as 'gift' would I get charged?

Thanks if you can help:thumbsup:
 
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I'm wanting to get this from amazon.com (US site):

Amazon.com: The Twilight Zone: Season 1 [Blu-ray]: Rod Serling, Anne Francis, Burgess Meredith, Claude Akins, Ida Lupino, Jack Klugman, Martin Landau, Roddy McDowall, Ted Knight, Ron Howard: Movies & TV

It's about £60 if you buy it in the UK but works out to about £36 from amazon.com given the current exchange rate.

What experience do people have of amazon.com and importing? Will I get charged import/duty etc?

I have friends in the USA. Could I get it sent to them and then if they sent it to me marked as 'gift' would I get charged?

Thanks if you can help:thumbsup:

You are pretty much guaranteed with Amazon.

The Gift idea ups the amount from £18 to £36, so if your friends mark it £35 you are ok.

I would buy it from here, its cheaper and the postage is cheaper too

Twilight Zone-1st Season Blu-ray | Free Shipping at DeepDiscount.com

And even free in the USA I believe.

If you can wait a couple of weeks DDD often have 20% off everything thanksgiving sales (its also been 25% off the last two years due to the recession).
 
— As an Amazon Associate, AVForums earns from qualifying purchases —
You are pretty much guaranteed with Amazon.

The Gift idea ups the amount from £18 to £36, so if your friends mark it £35 you are ok.

I would buy it from here, its cheaper and the postage is cheaper too

Twilight Zone-1st Season Blu-ray | Free Shipping at DeepDiscount.com

And even free in the USA I believe.

If you can wait a couple of weeks DDD often have 20% off everything thanksgiving sales (its also been 25% off the last two years due to the recession).

Thanks for that. Now what is SO weird is, I was just looking on amazon.com only minutes ago and the price was $57.99. On your link it's $69.99:confused::confused::confused: How weird is that.

Thanks for the advice though...really helpful of you:thumbsup:
 
Has anybody ever had Royal Mail deliver the parcel and then contact you later for customs charges? I bought from a US shop using a discount code and they assured me the discounted price (under the customs limit) would be marked on the package, however they actually put the full price (which I didn't pay) on the item. It arrived today and the postman hand delivered it. No sign of any customs fees to pay at all, which is lucky if true because they marked $38 on it and that's well into fees territory.

I know some couriers deliver first and demand the customs fees down the line, but has anybody heard of Royal Mail doing that? Or is it just that customs missed this package? I've never once had a package that needed fees paying sail through, although others here have spoken of such luck.
 
I know some couriers deliver first and demand the customs fees down the line, but has anybody heard of Royal Mail doing that? Or is it just that customs missed this package? I've never once had a package that needed fees paying sail through, although others here have spoken of such luck.

It's only the couriers that I know do this. If you got it delivered then it slipped through customs unnoticed and count yourself lucky!
 
I bought from a US shop using a discount code and they assured me the discounted price (under the customs limit) would be marked on the package, however they actually put the full price (which I didn't pay) on the item.
Which retailer was that, please?
In the past, the same has happened to me (and others here) with Amazon BOGOFs.
 
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It was actually a US clothing site, MyTeeSpot.com. I'd e-mailed beforehand to find out which price they'd list but they were obviously wrong.

I'm always weary of using discount codes on importing as I know different retailers will handle them differently for customs purposes.
 
You can challenge that with MT pleasant customs and get a full refund.

As the value of the items declared in the parcel did not reflect the true value (what you paid) for the items inside.

I have done this a few times as companies in America do that often.
 
It was actually a US clothing site, MyTeeSpot.com. I'd e-mailed beforehand to find out which price they'd list but they were obviously wrong.
Maybe customs don't bother with clothing, as children's is zero-rated for VAT, and it's probably not worth their time to check when the slip doesn't specify adult clothing.
 
A little heads-up for those DeepDiscount customers out there. They now seem to be using inflated values on their customs declaration forms!

A few weeks back, I ordered 2 BD from them. The order was a little strategic in that I knew one disc would likely be on back-order and hence they would be shipped separately to avoid customs fees. This was exactly how it panned out, which was good: the first disc shipped almost immediately, with the second a week later. Great, or so I thought.

Less than a week after the second disc had shipped, I received a parcel although much to my surprise it was not the first title, but the second. I noticed immediately that rather than have the actual value of the disc ($22.22) on the box it had some other, much higher amount (can't remember exactly what), to the non-customs friendly tune of something like $34.95. Fortunately though, it seemed to slip through unnoticed.

I'd recently began to worry about the whereabouts of the 1st disc; it not having arrived nearly 3 weeks after the shipping date. Yesterday, I received a card from RM asking me for £12.99. When I went to collect the parcel, it seemed DD had marked the box as having a value of $39.95 rather than the $25odd I'd paid for the disc! I contacted HMRC in Mount Pleasant and told them this was a mistake and they told me to send them a copy of the charge form, the invoice for the disc etc and that they would refund me the VAT (£4.99) and advise how I claim back RM's £8 extortion.

I've since contacted DD and let them know my displeasure. If this is how they intend to play from here on in then I am no longer a customer of theirs! You have been warned!
 
Good to know, norliss. My last order with DeepDiscount didn't go too well either. They didn't tell me the product was backordered until after I'd placed the order, then why I contacted them to ask how long it would be there was no response. In the end it arrived okay, but the service was not good. I think they've gone downhill recently.
 
A little heads-up for those DeepDiscount customers out there. They now seem to be using inflated values on their customs declaration forms!
Exactly the same thing has just happened to me! I ordered the Studio One Anthology from DD only because it was briefly $24.89, well under the customs limit, and today I received a bill from Royal Mail for £15.47. I rang the sorting office and they tell me DD has declared the full RRP of $59.98! (Interesting that they haven't even rounded it down to the nearest dollar, as DD have done for years with the amounts handwritten.)

Does your packing slip indicate the discounted price? Presumably that's what HMRC will want (otherwise I have only an e-mail giving the correct amount). And have you checked if your credit card was charged the lower amount?

As DD also now seem to dispatch orders for SecondSpin, I'm worried that they may also declare an undiscounted value on a 20% off order I just made with them...

I might add that even prior to this problem, the DD order was far from smooth as they initially cancelled it for no reason (and didn't even tell me) and I had to ask them to reinstate it - wish I hadn't. I've used them less and less recently, but this will definitely be the last time.

If anyone has a response from DD on this issue, please post here. They will surely lose a lot of international custom over this, as claiming back the VAT and Royal Mail fees sounds like a big hassle, even if successful.
 
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As DD also now seem to dispatch orders for SecondSpin, I'm worried that they may also declare an undiscounted value on a 20% off order I just made with them...
Damn! Me too! However, my SecondSpin order acknowledgement only showed the discounted prices (for each item and the order total), so perhaps we'll be okay!
...claiming back the VAT and Royal Mail fees sounds like a big hassle, even if successful.
Certainly a hassle. I had to write several letters to HMRC and Royal Mail in the good old DVD Soon Diamond Card days. But I got a refund, from HMRC and Royal Mail, in each case.
 
I think it was Deep Discount I gave up ordering some time back as they were charging 2 P&P on a DVD,s if it had 2 disc in it the same rate as for 2 seperate films box's with 1 disc in.
 
I think it was Deep Discount I gave up ordering some time back as they were charging 2 P&P on a DVD,s if it had 2 disc in it the same rate as for 2 seperate films box's with 1 disc in.

Was that not DVDpacific?

I have been ordering from DDD non stop since 2002 and I cannot remember them doing this to me.
 
Was that not DVDpacific?

I have been ordering from DDD non stop since 2002 and I cannot remember them doing this to me.

:facepalm:your right, Im wrong.
 
Has anyone received any response from DD regarding their declarations of full MSRP (RRP) on Customs slips?

I complained by e-mail, asking for confirmation they had charged me the correct lower amount (which they did, since verified by bank statement) and for their comments on their inflated, and in my opinion illegal, Customs declaration (which they ignored).

I wrote again, pointing out that Amazon had compensated their customers when making a similar error, and stating that if they remained silent on this issue I would have to assume full MSRP declarations were now their standard practice. I received no reply. Draw your own conclusions.

My third e-mail requested complete closure of my account and they complied within 15 minutes, the snappiest customer service I've received from DD in nearly a decade with them.

From all I read (and hear from personal friends) about their long-delayed orders, cancelled orders, duplicated orders, incorrect orders and now this new policy, DD seem to be going out of their way to antagonise customers and I can only conclude that it is somehow in the interests of the new owners to make the company fail.

Yesterday, the manager of one of the world's most respected DVD/Blu-ray labels posted on a public forum: "The disc industry will soon be dead." It seems to me that vendors like Deep Discount are accelerating the approach of that demise.
 
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As DD also now seem to dispatch orders for SecondSpin, I'm worried that they may also declare an undiscounted value on a 20% off order I just made with them...
My recent SecondSpin order arrived today, dispatched by DeepDiscount. Fortunately, the customs value was correctly stated as $24. (The actual SecondSpin order value, after discount, was $24.27.)
 
That's reassuring, Paul, though I still haven't received my SecondSpin order (from the beginning of March). And another I made with them last week hasn't even dispatched. If I'd known about the currently rumoured big drop in the VAT import threshold, I probably wouldn't have chanced it - it's well under £18, but not £8!

I'm also still waiting for HMRC to reply to my DD-related claim, posted 1st class a fortnight ago. How long does that usually take?
 
Most of my claims were in 2005, resulting from DVD Soon quoting order values before the 20% Diamond Card discount. I'm not sure they will be representative of current timescales, but, for what it's worth, here are the details for my final DVD Soon claim:

15/8/2005 - letter to HMRC (3 charges, total £22.03 incl RM admin fees)
1/9/2005 - reply from HMRC, agreeing full refund of VAT charges (£10.03; cheque sent separately)
5/9/2005 - letter to RM re admin fees (3 x £4)
12/9/2005 - reply from RM, enclosing cheque for full refund of admin fees (£12)

Since that time, I've only had to make one claim, to UPS (who based their charges on a grossly overestimated shipping cost).

BTW, my SecondSpin order was placed on 26 Feb, and shipped on 28 Feb.
 
VAT: low value consignment relief
The level at which the low value consignment relief (LVCR) applies will be reduced from £18 to £15 from 1 November 2011. This is the threshold below which goods imported from outside the EU are VAT-free.

-----

So the customs limit will be £15 come November. Fantastic.
 
VAT: low value consignment relief
The level at which the low value consignment relief (LVCR) applies will be reduced from £18 to £15 from 1 November 2011. This is the threshold below which goods imported from outside the EU are VAT-free.

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So the customs limit will be £15 come November. Fantastic.

I noticed that myself.
Apparently due to Government being lobbied by high street retailers whining about not being able to compete with the Channel Island sellers like Play.

Whats more they are,according to a BBC report I just heard very likely remove LVCR altogether in the future.

Just another case of big business interests being allowed to trample all over the interests of average Joe punter.

No more Blu's or Vinyl from Amazon.com! :mad:
 

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