a tale of fivestardvd and u.k import charges

Author	Post
whitestar Member 178 Posts 9/02	Posted - Oct 30 2002 : 5:21AM hello everyone especially all the guys and gals in the u.k. no offense u.s.a. just had a card shoved thru my letterbox informing me that my package from the u.s.a. has arrived but can't be delivered as there is a customs charge of £9.72p to pay before delivery. my question is has anyone else in the u.k. had this charge/problem and if so have you managed to avoid this in future purchases from u.s.a.mail order. I have used www.lasersedge.com with no problems and ordered the same amount of dvds as I did from www.fivestardvd.com as they put maximum value of 18 u.s. dollars. fivestar put the full value of the dvds purchased which was like attaching a "look guys import duty" tag on the parcel. I am extremely annoyed at this as I am almost certain they could have been a bit more creative/sensitive with their policies towards overseas customers. so to sum up 10 out of 10 for service speed of delivery etc. 0 out of 10 for creative/accounting. SO PLEASE BEAR THIS IN MIND WHEN ORDERING GOODS TOTALLING MORE THAN $18 CHEERS WHITESTAR. Topic Moved by - Drew Black on Oct 30 2002 [Link]
Rumplestilt Skin Deactivated User 931 Posts 7/02	Posted - Oct 30 2002 : 6:15AM A familiar tale, but alas, not something that's happened to me. A do know of someone who bought some dvds from another leading company that I will not name, and they put on the parcel, "adult dvds" and the cost in dollars. Duty had to be paid on that, I think £13.56. Other USA companies are more discreet. They write on the parcel "computer software". Some advince mate, I steer clear of companies that drop you in the shite. In the long run, it's them who are losing business. [Link]
whitestar Member 178 Posts 9/02	Posted - Oct 30 2002 : 6:24AM Rumplestilt Skin wrote: A familiar tale, but alas, not something that's happened to me. A do know of someone who bought some dvds from another leading company that I will not name, and they put on the parcel, "adult dvds" and the cost in dollars. Duty had to be paid on that, I think £13.56. Other USA companies are more discreet. They write on the parcel "computer software". Some advince mate, I steer clear of companies that drop you in the shite. In the long run, it's them who are losing business. Click to expand HI RUMP can you advise me on companies you use where import duty is not usually charged besides laseredge as I use them, they just take a long time to deliver. CHEERS WHITESTAR. [Link]
David-J Member 155 Posts 8/02	Posted - Oct 30 2002 : 6:44AM Customs are entitled to charge duty and/or VAT on any imported goods above a certain value (£18 or £20 I think). In the old days if they discovered hardcore porn they would confiscate it and send you a nasty letter, so I guess we should be grateful that nowadays they just try and sting you for a few quid duty! I've bought about 25 videos by mail order from the US in the last 2 years. Only 2 of them had a 'charge' sticker on them, and by good luck the postman was too lazy to collect the charge! The value of a single porn VHS or DVD from the main suppliers is usually just below the threshold for duty, so in theory it would help if the supplier would put the dollar price (excluding p&p) on the label. In practice I doubt if it makes much difference. I have got my videos mainly from Excalibur (who put the full invoice price on the label), and Jaded, who usually don't put ANY price on the label, and Customs have put a charge sticker on one of each! [Link]
whitestar Member 178 Posts 9/02	Posted - Oct 30 2002 : 6:56AM David-J wrote: Customs are entitled to charge duty and/or VAT on any imported goods above a certain value (£18 or £20 I think). In the old days if they discovered hardcore porn they would confiscate it and send you a nasty letter, so I guess we should be grateful that nowadays they just try and sting you for a few quid duty! I've bought about 25 videos by mail order from the US in the last 2 years. Only 2 of them had a 'charge' sticker on them, and by good luck the postman was too lazy to collect the charge! The value of a single porn VHS or DVD from the main suppliers is usually just below the threshold for duty, so in theory it would help if the supplier would put the dollar price (excluding p&p) on the label. In practice I doubt if it makes much difference. I have got my videos mainly from Excalibur (who put the full invoice price on the label), and Jaded, who usually don't put ANY price on the label, and Customs have put a charge sticker on one of each! Click to expand so basically the consistency/guidlines as to whats gonna get charged is a grey area to say the least, why can't fivestardvd put £18- £20 max value and "computer discs" after all as rump has said in this thread "in the long run its they that lose business" CHEERS WHITESTAR. [Link]

Rumplestilt Skin Deactivated User 931 Posts 7/02	Posted - Oct 30 2002 : 7:27AM @Whitestar...Adultdvdnow is brilliant! Takes three days from USA to UK...the cost about 11 dollars for four dvds. No problems at all. [Link]
Rumplestilt Skin Deactivated User 931 Posts 7/02	Posted - Oct 30 2002 : 7:33AM @David J... I am not saying people shouldn't pay tax. But if someone in the UK buys a dvd that is ten dollars (UK value about £6.80) why the hell should UK customs decide it's worth £18 and slap £8 tax on it. Good job PM Tony Blair is coming down on UK customs. Have you read the news about the ciggies? We're allowed to import more. UK customs I think I have too heavy handed. NO OFFENCE! Regards, Rump. [Link]
snowden porn Member London 648 Posts 11/01	Posted - Oct 30 2002 : 7:56AM Very happy today Got 5 DVD's through DHL express from USA (not fivestar). No customs hick-ups! No hidden charges! Nice! Edited by - snowden porn on 10/30/2002 7:57:25 AM [Link]
whitestar Member 178 Posts 9/02	Posted - Oct 30 2002 : 11:21AM whitestar wrote: hello everyone especially all the guys and gals in the u.k. no offense u.s.a. just had a card shoved thru my letterbox informing me that my package from the u.s.a. has arrived but can't be delivered as there is a customs charge of £9.72p to pay before delivery. my question is has anyone else in the u.k. had this charge/problem and if so have you managed to avoid this in future purchases from u.s.a.mail order. I have used www.lasersedge.com with no problems and ordered the same amount of dvds as I did from www.fivestardvd.com as they put maximum value of 18 u.s. dollars. fivestar put the full value of the dvds purchased which was like attaching a "look guys import duty" tag on the parcel. I am extremely annoyed at this as I am almost certain they could have been a bit more creative/sensitive with their policies towards overseas customers. so to sum up 10 out of 10 for service speed of delivery etc. 0 out of 10 for creative/accounting. SO PLEASE BEAR THIS IN MIND WHEN ORDERING GOODS TOTALLING MORE THAN $18 part 2 of this saga, so there iam toodling of to the post office to collect my parcel of 3 dvds and when i get the package woah!!!! just over a fiver is customs v.a.t. charge and the rest and this i could not believe was royal mail handling charges doh!!!! say what, greedy bastards. the parcel is very thin and is a global priority letter well packaged and the dvds are in little sleeves with a see thru insert, the artwork is original and good quality. another thing they say they do not ship the boxes, fair enough but how about sending them on seperately like erodvd do technically the boxes are my property, there must be tons of boxes not sent to the u.k. why should fivestardvd keep them. needless to say no reply to my email so if your a member fivestardvd read this posting and give me a logical answer oh! and by the way don't expect any more business from me I don't appreciate being stiched up. you could have easily put "computer discs" and a £20.00 price, just goes to show what you think of your overseas customers, I could not believe the arrogance of your international shipping terms. very pissed off bunny indeed!!!!!!!!!!!! CHEERS WHITESTAR. Topic Moved by - Drew Black on Oct 30 2002 Click to expand CHEERS WHITESTAR. [Link]
Rumplestilt Skin Deactivated User 931 Posts 7/02	Posted - Oct 30 2002 : 1:04PM @Snowdon Strange law in UK. It's LEGAL to buy dvds from the States, but ILLEGAL to buy them via the post WITHIN the UK. Doesn't bother me. I don't mind contributing to the American economy if that's the way it has to be! [Link]
aybesea Senior Member Caroline Cage - Hungarian Hottie! 1485 Posts 5/02	Posted - Oct 30 2002 : 1:52PM Rumplestilt Skin wrote: @Snowdon Strange law in UK. It's LEGAL to buy dvds from the States, but ILLEGAL to buy them via the post WITHIN the UK. Doesn't bother me. I don't mind contributing to the American economy if that's the way it has to be! Click to expand And us Yanks are more than happy to accomodate your porn needs! [Link]
Janitor Retired Porno movies, sexy videos, xxx. Adult DVD Talk at your service. 6409 Posts 11/99	Posted - Oct 30 2002 : 4:39PM fivestar put the full value of the dvds purchased which was like attaching a "look guys import duty" tag on the parcel. I am extremely annoyed at this as I am almost certain they could have been a bit more creative/sensitive with their policies towards overseas customers. Click to expand We've been over this before. I'll say this again for newer members. Please do not fault companies for obeying the law. Please search past threads on this if you need further explanation. Obeying the law does not mean that a company is not sensitive towards their overseas customers. [Link]
Rumplestilt Skin Deactivated User 931 Posts 7/02	Posted - Oct 30 2002 : 5:31PM Fair point, Steph, but surely the whole point of UK customers buying from the States is that: A) We get quality hard-core porn. And: B) It's a lot cheaper than in the UK. I am sure UK customs cannot add up. The way they work the tax out is ridiculous. I am sure they do not use a currency convertor. If they had they would realise $10 does not equal £18. American dvd companies should be aware of that sometimes UK customs just make it up as they go along. I cannot see what is wrong with saying "computer software" rather than "adult dvds". For god's sake we're not murderers, just guys out for a bargain. [Link]
Janitor Retired Porno movies, sexy videos, xxx. Adult DVD Talk at your service. 6409 Posts 11/99	Posted - Oct 30 2002 : 5:56PM Rump - I have no problem with you guys discussing these issues and I find much of it enlightening. All I ask is that people do not bash stores for obeying the law. [Link]
whitestar Member 178 Posts 9/02	Posted - Oct 30 2002 : 6:17PM StephDunn wrote: Rump - I have no problem with you guys discussing these issues and I find much of it enlightening. All I ask is that people do not bash stores for obeying the law. Click to expand HI STEPH RUMP as I started this thread earlier today I have since received a very nice e mail from ethan at fivestardvd explaining everything, and I would like to point out that I did not mean to "bash" fivestardvd and apologise for this. I was incensed by u.k customs charging me at all and thought that fivestar could have done more to help me avoid the vat charge, I know understand that this is illegal so fair enough, but please take into account us poor brit boys and gals stuck over the pond and sometimes in medievil times, though thank god its getting better. I just hope mr blair will "bash customs " on imports as he has just done with cigs and booze over here. rump/ agree with your comments and thanks for the input. steph/ hope this clears things up. I have too add that this forum "rocks" CHEERS WHITESTAR. [Link]

whitestar Member 178 Posts 9/02	Posted - Oct 30 2002 : 6:17PM StephDunn wrote: Rump - I have no problem with you guys discussing these issues and I find much of it enlightening. All I ask is that people do not bash stores for obeying the law. Click to expand HI STEPH RUMP as I started this thread earlier today I have since received a very nice e mail from ethan at fivestardvd explaining everything, and I would like to point out that I did not mean to "bash" fivestardvd and apologise for this. I was incensed by u.k customs charging me at all and thought that fivestar could have done more to help me avoid the vat charge, I know understand that this is illegal so fair enough, but please take into account us poor brit boys and gals stuck over the pond and sometimes in medievil times, though thank god its getting better. I just hope mr blair will "bash customs " on imports as he has just done with cigs and booze over here. rump/ agree with your comments and thanks for the input. steph/ hope this clears things up. I have too add that this forum "rocks" CHEERS WHITESTAR. [Link]
Rumplestilt Skin Deactivated User 931 Posts 7/02	Posted - Oct 31 2002 : 9:49AM @Aybesea. @Steph. @Whitestar. [Link]
Gabriel Nine Senior Member Firecracker 1273 Posts 8/01	Posted - Nov 1 2002 : 9:26AM This isn't really a complaint, just some info I thought it might be useful to know. Pretty much as I expected, I must admit, I recently got hit with a bill for import duty from FedEx, relating to a FiveStar order from September. The order had 8 discs worth about £120, and the charges broke down like this - £28.55, which is made up of £24.05 duty, plus a £4.50 admin charge from FedEx, which is a bit much! Charging you for the pleasure of charging you is ironic. I shall be writing to ask them to justify that - £4.50 for a few minutes of someone's time, a bit of paper, an envelope and first class postage! So as has been well documented here, FiveStar's policy of declaring the full value of the order does have its drawbacks, but then you do get the discs in about 2 days. Laser's Edge obviously are more accomodating, but they have stock issues which can remove the value of using shipping by courier. The old Laser's Edge $1.99 job is still the best, as long as you're not in a rush! [Link]
Rumplestilt Skin Deactivated User 931 Posts 7/02	Posted - Nov 1 2002 : 10:15AM Thanks for that, Gabriel Nine. I think in future I will be sticking with dvd advantage and adultdvdnow. Try adult dvd advantage. Shipping is 30 dollars (about £19) and I think you can order about 18 discs with that. No comebacks, no extra charges. No shocks! Edited by - Rumplestilt Skin on 11/1/2002 2:46:57 PM [Link]
Gabriel Nine Senior Member Firecracker 1273 Posts 8/01	Posted - Nov 2 2002 : 6:50AM Thanks to you to Rumple. I'll look into that, the drawback is they have slightly higher prices on the things I'm looking for, though personally I'm not really that much of a bargain hunter. I just want to make sure I get the goods. I guess it's a matter of swings & roundabouts. You get cheaper postage here, better prices there. [Link]
Rumplestilt Skin Deactivated User 931 Posts 7/02	Posted - Nov 2 2002 : 7:17AM I've used dvd advantage about five times. Had no comebacks with them. Delivery takes about two days; tracking available, right down to saying the van is in your area! Only worthwhile though if you're ordering more than four titles...less than that go with adultdvdnow, that's a three-day delivery, much cheaper shipping 11 dollars I think. [Link]
Topper Member 18 Posts 9/01	Posted - Nov 9 2002 : 4:07PM I import quite alot of 'stuff' from the U.S - including DVD's, and 70% of the items get levied an import tax charge. Some sneak through, but my general advice to anyone is expect to pay - so you are not surprised when the royal mail post the card through the door telling you its got a customs charge on it. On a $50 - $70 order, expect to pay about £11. [Link]
raymond New Member 5 Posts 12/02	Posted - Dec 6 2002 : 9:41AM I order porn at Adultdvdnow. They are great and I never had a problem with customs. [Link]