Anyone been hurt by CD-WOW.com import charge?

[directhex]

jersey, guernesy, whatever. channel islands. it's a united kingdon crown dependancy, goods bought in jersey are already counted as bought - no extra taxes are due. however it's not in the eu, so french etc people will have to pay vat.

[bertie]

I am aware of import regulations, just wondering if CD-WOW normally make a habit of undervaluing products when posting so as to save customers from taxes

I won't bother risking it, even though I can get star wars trilogy for 24.49 from them

[Rave]

jersey, guernesy, whatever. channel islands. it's a united kingdon crown dependancy, goods bought in jersey are already counted as bought - no extra taxes are due. however it's not in the eu, so french etc people will have to pay vat.

Yeah, looks like you're right. I ordered some film from MX2 a few years ago and they split my order into two parts, each valued at less than £17.50, so that's where I got the idea that you pay import duty from Jersey. That's good then, I can save a bit on the West Wing box sets.

Rich :¬)

[MD]

I am aware of import regulations, just wondering if CD-WOW normally make a habit of undervaluing products when posting so as to save customers from taxes

I won't bother risking it, even though I can get star wars trilogy for 24.49 from them

Its not worth risking when play.com have it for £27.99

m@

[Saracen]

jersey, guernesy, whatever. channel islands. it's a united kingdon crown dependancy, goods bought in jersey are already counted as bought - no extra taxes are due. however it's not in the eu, so french etc people will have to pay vat.

That's not right, I'm afraid.

The Channel Islands, including Jersey, aren't part of the UK, nor are they part of the EU fiscal area. The UK consists of Great Britain (England, Wales, Scotland) and Northern Ireland, and territories within 12 nautical miles of the coastline, and does not include the Channel Islands or the Isle of Man, though for VAT purposes the Isle of Man is treated as if it were in the UK, and goods bought there are not regarded as imports. That does not apply to the Channel Islands.

If you buy from the Channel Islands then, so far as Customs and Excise are concerned, you are importing into the EU and VAT is due. The Channel Islands are defined as a "Special Territory" (a territory which is outside the EU but connected to a member state) for EU VAT purposes. You won't pay Customs Duty on imports from the Channel Islands (but would pay Excise duty on alcohol or tobacco products). So the total import charges due would be the VAT at 17.5%. Of course, whether you actually get charged is another story, but that's the legal liability.


The general situation is :-

Imports with an intrinsic value of under £18 are exempt from import duty and VAT provided they comply with other conditions, and this does NOT apply to all goods - like alcohol, but in general, it's the rule. "Intrinsic value" is the real value of the goods (i.e. excluding postage, packing, etc).

If the goods imported are a gift, then the limit is £36, but there are number of extra conditions, including (but not limited to) that the gift must be from a private person to a private person, they must be of a private nature (no trade or commercial element, and not paid for directly or indectly by the recipient), and they must be of an occasional nature (like birthday or Christmas present).


The Channel Islands aren't in quite the situation that applies in this general case, as their Special Territory status puts them in a sort of half-and-half situation., with Customs Duty not applying.

However, from those places where Customs Duty does apply, it's very hard to tell exactly what it will be, as it isn't one rate levied on all goods. To be sure, you need to look up the Commodity Code in the Tariff book, and there are some 65,000 different commodity codes - which are updated monthly and therefore liable to change. Rates vary from almost nothing to 40% or more, and you would then apply VAT on top of that.

Most common is a duty rate of about 4%, meaning if you add duty and VAT at about 22%-23%, you'll probably be about right - but no guarantees. Oh, and lot of shipping firms add a handling charge on top of everything else if they have to collect customs charges from you. So it isn't unknown for 23% to be added by Customs, and a further £15-£20 added by the shipping agent.


To add insult to injury, I once had a software company in the US ship me, unsolicited I might add, a review copy of one of their products, and the idiots declared the full retail value of the package at $1000. I subsequently got an invoice from Securicor for the duty, VAT and handling charges of nearly £200! It took a couple of phone calls, and then a very pointed letter stating that the goods were unsolicited and that Securicor were quite welcome to come and take them away again before they backed off and waived the charge. I also tore the software company off a strip. Plonkers!

[MD]

They may have waived the charge, but it cost them 200 quid, by that point they had already paid it. Its quite common for people to complain about taxes and get credits, which is why it amazes me delivery companies make a profit lol..

m@

[Spud1]

hmm i guess i'm just very lucky then =) I've ordered a load of stuff of play [far far too much, damn those cheap prices] and never been charged =) I also order alot off 'yesasia' who ship from hong kong. A fair bit of that stuff has been expensive tho aswell - eg the battle royal II mission box special edition(great film go buy it ) was $100 - about £70 at the time and i wasnt charged. So it much very much be hit and miss if they charge or not

[Saracen]

They may have waived the charge, but it cost them 200 quid, by that point they had already paid it. Its quite common for people to complain about taxes and get credits, which is why it amazes me delivery companies make a profit lol..

m@

Agreed, but having paid up front, that's their problem. As I said, the goods were unsolicited. They delivered, with no mention of outstanding charges, then invoiced afterwards. I had no idea, on delivery, what the goods were. No way was I paying the charges. Had they mentioned charges on delivery, I would not have accepted delivery.

The logical approach seems to me to be for the delivery company to charge on delivery, not three weeks later. Most people receiving goods have, after all, ordered and paid for the goods and probably would be reluctant to just decline to accept and shut the door. My circumstances were hardly normal. I certainly objected to a £200 charge for something I hadn't asked for or ordered in the first place

I think they waived the charges because they knew they weren't getting paid short of a court case, and even then, they'd need to win it.

This case is one reason (there are others) that I now read things before I sign them and if that means the driver stands there while I read the fine print, so be it. Once burnt, twice shy.

[MD]

you are safe anyway, the shipperis ultimately responsible for all charges including duties and taxes, so all securicor did was rebill the shipper.

Hence I only recevie and never send LOL

m@