EyeOnAnime Forum

Damo · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 9:27 am Post subject: customs charge increase

Learnt this from the DVD Pacific thread over at AoD,
link - scroll about half way down the page.

according to a PDF on the royal mail website the admin handling fee which currently stands at £4 will be going up to £8 as of 02/04/07

Next time anoybody imports and orders over £18 you're really gonna get stung ordering anything around £19-30 you're liable for a "random" HMCE+admin charge that's going to be nearly if not half the cost of what you're buying.
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Toraman · Shinigami Joined: 08 Aug 2006 Posts: 2122 Location: London

I've never been hit by these before so no idea how it works. (does this mean I can't get the Okami soundtrack from ebay now?)

I usually use UK importers so a lot of my R1 stuff is sent from within the country.

Ordering from the US is a way to dodge their taxes (we get it cheaper than the natives do) so perhaps this is to cover the loss of tax for going outside of the UK market? Hell, I don't know... Confused

IanC · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 10:01 am Post subject:

Ive cut back on my imports a fair bit, and im always careful to make sure i dont go over £18, but it does soemtimes happen (usually with HLJ due to there auto combining of orders) so i am a bit ticked off by this.
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botmaster2005 · Ninja In Training Joined: 08 Aug 2006 Posts: 875

I usually do the same and get my R1s or R0s from a UK based source
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Just Passing Through · Posted: Tue Mar 20, 2007 1:39 pm Post subject:

I only got stung once, (I don't import unless I really have to), and the bastards got me on a UK title for UK release only, just because the company was based in Hong Kong.

Also they screwed me over by charging on something that was £17.99.

I had a go at them about it. They refunded the customs charge, but kept the handling fee.

The next time one of these politicians tells me how wonderful globalisation is, I'm going to take all that correspondence (I kept it y'know), and shove it right up his... constituency.

The package was damaged too... Evil or Very Mad

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Gawyn · Elite Poster Joined: 09 Aug 2006 Posts: 576

The handling fee is a fee charged by the company itself and is not required by Customs and Excise. The charge being referred to is the charge for standard class items. Express items already get a surcharge of £13.50, which is quite annoying when you get charged. (I import quite a lot myself, mostly from Japan but I still don't get hit by charges a lot. I have had up to £70 worth of goods come through without being charged for it.) The surcharge only applies if the package gets an import charge applied to it, which is not guaranteed regardless of the value. It all comes down to random chance in the end. I just recently received a package whose value is approximately £25, was inspected by customs (usually a sign they will apply VAT) and let through without charge.

Damo · Posted: Wed Mar 21, 2007 8:52 am Post subject:

it's not that random, anything and everything I order from DVD Pacific over £18 gets a charge, maning the $4 admin fee the post office add to it is going up to £8. In some cases I think they HMCE end up with your name on file, or they clamp down on specific retailers.

I've never heard of this £13.50 charge for express items though, that's then on top of the vat and such.
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botmaster2005 · Ninja In Training Joined: 08 Aug 2006 Posts: 875

GREEEEEEEEEED!!!! such an ugly thing
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gradian · Hardcore Poster Joined: 07 Aug 2006 Posts: 302

say it post office makeing money that all is, and at our expence Sad