Ok, I FINALLY received my two American Bukkake DVDs today but was astounded to discover that I had to pay a customs charge of nearly £8. My package was worth about $50 and I can't believe that if you receive something worth $50 from the U.S. that you get hit with £8 worth of customs charges.
I suppose I was lucky that they even let them through. They could have just as easily took the attitude of: "oh, JM is being charged for obscenity, therefore we will claim that it's obscene material and confiscate it"
Does £8 on two dvds worth $50 inc. shipping and handling sound right?
Well, I dunno, Jacco. They claim that you have to pay VAT on anything which is worth more than £18. I got a DVD from California the other day which was worth $40 (exc. shipping) and I was never hit with a charge. The value, inc. shipping, came to about £28.
But you see, I noticed on the package that where it said "value" in $, they just put $0 and left the weight blank, whereas I think CD Universe make a point of declaring everything down to the last bit of info and that's why I got hit with this charge.
If the value is declared you will always have to pay, if the value is declared at $0 you will only have to pay if they check the package, which is basically a lottery. Some companies will refuse to lie on the value declaration, others have no problem with it. A small package with low value is not suspicious, but a box with a bunch of DVD's with a nill value is more likely to be inspected. I run into the same problems when buying DVD's myself.
That's why I only buy from stores I know I won't get into troubles with customs ;-)American laws do not apply in Europe, they can't confiscate movies there are under investigation in the US.
I am afraid Jacco is right, Ryan. If you read para 3.1, you'll see that duty is levied, added to the value of the goods and VAT levied on this total. Royal Mail or courier company as applicable will also levy a fee for their costs in collecting/paying VAT and duty on your behalf.
Yeah, there are one or two who get good write ups in threads close to this one...I don't know how well versed UK customs are on the latest American obscenity cases, but basically you're right, it's up to them to decide whether these movies are obscene based on the kind of material that is currently legally available in this country.
Ok, so why, in that case Gabe, did I get another DVD from California worth over £18 and there weren't any charges? Ok, they claimed that it was worth $0 but surely they would probably check to make sure?
I have also noticed that most of the time they will leave your order alone if there are no boxes in the package, just the discs and artwork even if the full ammount is listed. That's why I never want those boxes, it's better without it.
Well, the only 'box' was the DVD case as far as the one from Cali went. Not exactly huge. But because this time round I bought two DVDs from CD Universe at the same time, the packaging was quite large, plus the fact that it was alot heavier, too. I don't think that C&E would have believed them if they had put $0 for the value.
Correct. The main reason you'll get a charge is if the supplier states a value over the equivalent of £18 on the customs declaration. Sometimes you might even get a package with a stated value over £18 and avoid paying at all! Other than that, it's down to luck if your package attracts inspection, perhaps due to an unrealistically low valuation on the customs declaration - bear in mind that vast volumes of mail are involved here, so there is always an element of randomness in the application of any charges.
Posted - Jun 19 2006 : 12:17PM
I don't know how well versed UK customs are on the latest American obscenity cases, but basically you're right, it's up to them to decide whether these movies are obscene based on the kind of material that is currently legally available in this country.