I oderred Some DVDs and charged £7.32 VAT, and £4 for a "Royal mail Clearence Fee".
My Questions -
1) I have orderred stuff from the states before but NEVER had to pay VAT before. Is it common to have to pay VAT for products from the states? Any of you dudes ever had to pay for VAT on stuff u have orderred?
2) What the FUCK is a clearence fee, have other people ever been charged for one of these? Sounds like an excuse to charge u for no good reason to me.
I can also exclusively reveal that Royal Mail are utter muppets, incase you were in doubt.
According to Royal Mail £7.32 + £4 = £13.32 This answer is incorrect. The correct answer boys & girls is £11.32, but I HAD to pay £13.32 to pick up my parcel. Bitch wouldn't give me my package me unless I paid... felt like giving her a slap.
Anyway I have been screwed out of £2 for absolutely nothing... I am gonna write and complain about this shit, I want my £6 at least!!
Anyway, I got 5 DVDs for £63 in total, so I can't complain really.
This has happened to me once before. VAT is chargeable on all packages coming into the UK from the states, if the value is over 18 GBP I think. It's quite normal and usual, I'm afraid. You have just been lucky before, or maybe your orders were lower in value, or maybe the store put a lower value on the customs label.
That's why it's important, if you're buying larger orders, to shop at an online store that is "creative" in the value they state on the customs sticker. This is the amount that the customs people use to calculate how much VAT you must pay. Some places put a nominal value of $10 on all packages, so that you won't be charged VAT (unless customs open it and decide it's worth more than 18 GBP).
The clearance fee is because Royal Mail do the customs clearance on your behalf, which they get charged for, so they are passing the fee onto you. The other 2 quid sounds like a cockup.
It's not just porn... lots of people thought they'd buy an iPod from a store in the States then got clobbered for the VAT and realised it wasn't such a great deal.
I have only been hit with the customs fee once when buying through retailers on ADT.
That was through Adultdvduniverse who declare the full value of the dvds you order. They also refuse to take dvds out of their boxes, meaning they send parcels (instead of letters with covers and discs only) which are much more likely to get stopped by customs and searched.
I am pleased to report all the other retailers here are much more international customer friendly!
Personally i hate Royal Mail. They have lost a number of packages i sent and now also about 5 'recorded deliveries'. Then there was a 'special delivery' that was delayed by weeks! Needless to say, i always claim compensation where i can for their utter incompetence.
Essentially, you are liable for VAT/duty for any purchase of £18 from outside the EU, although it's pot luck if you get caught for VAT/duty when importing.
The Royal Mail handling fee is something of a pain, but there are real costs incurred in processing the collection of VAT/duty.
I've had to pay 50p over the odds for a 2nd class letter that had inadequate postage before, so it's not surprising Royal Mail put the arm in on a more valuable package. Love the way they charge you duty, then VAT on top of the goods plus duty. Best advice is from Timotei - either stick to retailers who are creative with the value of the package, or only make low-value orders.
Personally I think USPS \ Royal Mail is stunning value, and for me it's proven ultra reliable.
It's always come to me via a separate delivery, door to door in a Royal Mail van, which reassures me some, as I've found ordinary letterpost is sometimes misdelivered.
To be honest, I think there's been plenty evidence from readers here that porn shipments can be opened and sent on safely, just as long as the contents fall within the acceptable boundaries. Given the sheer volume of mail into the UK, as you mention, it's actually more likely you will be unlucky to have a package seized. For the most part, as long as buyers stick to some sensible guidlines, I don't see any real reason to worry about ordering from abroad.
I think that customs are more interested in seizing high value legal products such as ipods, or cigarettes, etc.
CDs and DVDs are generally low value and don't earn them taxes for their efforts unless a high value is put on the customs docket. And being porn they have to seize the goods if they notice, so again no tax revenue.
As regards buying from abroad, I have purchased from companies based in the USA and thoroughly enjoyed the contents and £ vs $ exchange rate, but not the long wait!
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Mojo Deactivated User
1223 Posts 9/03
Posted - Jul 19 2005 : 4:20PM
Almost all the time. it's just another case of Gordon Brown collecting his stealth taxes.Yes.For what good it'll do.That's not happened to mainstream porn movies for years now. These days they only confiscate porn if it includes:
I just received an order from the States & it is somuch better value than buying in the u.k I will continue to do so.
I always order via intl priority letter posting,which means you get the dvd and sleeve but no box - I don't want the box to be honest. Never had any problems.
I wouldn't order anything with the word 'Teen' or 'Young' or 'Schoolgirl' in it though, or even 'Barely Legal' or that matter. I read about a guy who'd had his house raided for importing those sort of dvd's.
