Forum - View topicCustoms fees: international customers
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Kusanagi_Kei
 Posts: 230 |
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For those who are anime fans and buy their anime from the USA or Japan, do you often find yourself being caught by customs and end paying a large fee when the package arrives to your door?
I get this sometimes, and I tend to hold back and be very selective when buying anime, which isn't good at all. When I buy my anime or any other product from overseas I have to take care and consider about whether it exceeds the clearance fee or customs quota (whatever they call it), which is £18, i.e. around $32. So for all of this time buying DVDs, I'm like vary vigilant about the costs which I have to pay in excess of the original price plus shipping of course. And yes, then there's the shipping cost which is like at least $10 for most online stores. I can't buy anime from this country (UK) either, they have real high prices which from buying online would be much cheaper. There are several methods of reducing the chance of being charged by customs. And those are labelling items as "gift", "commercial sample" or devalue the item. I've requested these methods in a lot of the stores but they do not comply. Does anyone else experience this obstacle? |
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angel_lover
 Posts: 645 Location: UK |
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I live in the UK too, and I find that it varies a lot. Sometimes I'll get caught for the duty, and other times even quite expensive things like box sets get through "duty free". I guess they don't have enough staff to check everything. It's a pretty close calculation, weighing up the shipping costs against duty. I generally play safe and get each DVD shipped separately by the cheapest shipping method rather than trying to combine them to save on shipping but risk paying duty. Play USA ships all DVDs separately anyway.
In general, US companies will not make false customs declarations as I think the employees who make them are personally liable and could get fined or imprisoned if they got found out. I don't know what the situation is for Japan. |
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demonix
 Posts: 49 Location: Hayes, Middx (U.K) |
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And the only time I was thankful for that it didn't work and I got a damaged box for my troubles |
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Insane E
Posts: 87 Location: Sweden |
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I just experience high shiping if I'm unlucky since i don't deal with the customs over here what so ever.
The place I buy from have most stuff in thier stock, if not they import it and then you just hit high shiping costs. For a single DVD you can pay anywere from 30-50% in shiping. So I only buy complete Boxs. |
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Mohawk52
 Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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I found it depended on how large the order was the biger the package the more Customs was involved. One, or two DVD's, no problem. Box set? Ouch.
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Kusanagi_Kei
Posts: 230 |
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I've bought a lot of DVDs and anime merchandise online, well the only place for me to get them is online anyway.
I've made literally dozens of orders, and I've only been charged customs 2 twice, not including my brother's orders. Back then (last year) I was a student, college student, and I had a student credit card, which gives me moneyback when I use it. I don't know whether they saw me account as a student type and let me through by leniance or something. I bought mainly from DeepDiscountDVD last year, and I didn't get charged at all. I bought several times from CDUniverse, and I got caught once and that was when I bought Someday's Dreamers, all DVDs, with a grand total of $75, I then had to pay £10 ($18) for the customs. It's weird. But... I've purchased from RightStuf and I asked them if they could lower the value of the item(s), and they said that if an item is higher than $5 they will write it as $5, and if an item is below $5 then they will write the actual value. I've bought the whole Saber Marionette J collection from them for $70, and I didn't get charged by customs. Then there was my Tenchi Universe Complete Boxset plus the Mihoshi Special from RightStuf also, which costed a total of $105, and I still didn't get charged by customs, even though the package was big and had a value of $5 written on it. That's one thing I'd like to know about, how does RightStuf help you avoid customs charges completely? Do they pay some kind of clearance fee in advance? Oh yeah, and now, I usually order from DVD Pacific, in separate orders to minimize the total value. In the UK, if something that exceeds the total of £18 ($32), will get charged by customs. |
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JackBassV
 Posts: 241 Location: Coventry, England |
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For all those in the UK, as of April this year, the importation limit went up from £149.99 to £1200 per year. You are therefore unlikely to have to pay any import duty. (If you do, it's calculated between 10 and 20% <_<)
BUT, you may have to pay VAT on anything you import, except for books, which are zero rated for VAT purposes. A quick hint though - imports of less than £100 are less likely to be subject to duty than those over. And if you think that you have been taxed unfairly, try claiming it back (you'll need to talk to your local tax office). FYI: I found this info on the (UK) goverment website while looking for european VAT rates. JBV^_^ |
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Kusanagi_Kei
Posts: 230 |
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Really? I recently purchased 2 DVDs which totalled to $35 from DVD Pacific in June 2005, and surely $35 is nowhere £100. I had to pay roughly £7 for that customs clearance. Jeez, the UK really likes to rob us that way. 
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chaos5001
 Posts: 39 Location: anywhere you think im not |
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hey i live in canada does all this dudy crap apply to me? i mean the stuff doesnt have to go as far. i would like to know this before start buying dvds online. so i dont get over charged.
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Kusanagi_Kei
Posts: 230 |
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I'm not sure. But I think you won't get the charges we get in the UK. Besides the shipping costs from the USA to Canada are much cheaper anyway. Rest assured. |
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BoygetsfireD
 Posts: 475 Location: earth |
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...when you buy from overseas, do you pay the tax at the time of ordering it, or when it comes to your house, does it have an extra bill on it?
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smutchi
Posts: 189 |
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You don't pay taxes at the time of ordering. There might be a tax bill attached to your parcel when you get it, but it's also possible that you get a bill after having already received it. I've never had to pay taxes before, maybe because I never order to much at the same time (small price, small package). |
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Preston
Posts: 48 |
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Hmm, the bigger the box the higher the chance of taxes? Not good. Recently ordered both the currently released Burst Angel DVDs and imported (to the UK, where I live), one of the m with the Box/Slipcover thing, thankfully they were shipped separetely. Does anyone know how size effects the time for delivery, the 2nd DVD arrived more than a week ago and the 1st (with box) hasn't come yet, even though they were shipped on the same day. How long does it take for your box sets to arrive from the US (to UK)?
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demonix
Posts: 49 Location: Hayes, Middx (U.K) |
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I just think that they haven't been caught out by customs yet. |
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Mohawk52
Posts: 8202 Location: England, UK |
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I got a VAT invoice that told me to take it to the post office to pay before I even saw my order. But that was long before last April.
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