advertisement


Buying vinyl from the US

G

Guest432

Guest
I received a RM customs charge yesterday for an LP I ordered from the US. It only came to a total of $46 (inc postage) yet the customs charge is £11.68 + RM's £8 admin charge. Are they being frigging serious that's nearly 50% tax, I was under the (probably deluded) idea that imports weren't taxed unless they were more than £38 including postage.
 
It was £18. I think it might be £15 now. Then import tax on the goods if applicable, check HMRC website for tax rates on imported goods by class, then VAT on the lot (possibly including the carriage and any insurance), then the Royal Mail's fee.
 
Just found an online calculator that makes the vat £5.91 and no duty. How the hell did they work it out at £11.68


Calculation results


Edit





Total customs value:

£29.53



- Duty:

£0.00



- VAT:

£5.91



Total import duty & taxes due:

£5.91



Total landed cost:

£35.44 at USD/GBP exchange rate of 0.6283




Calculation notes


Notes on duty & taxes rates
Records Vinyl has an import duty rate of 3.5% and VAT rate of 20% .

Notes on import taxes due
Duty due is nil because the total value of the products does not exceed £135.00
Please note, any insurance charges need to be declared to ensure accurate duty and VAT results.
Please note that your shipping provider may add an additional handling fee
 
The issue is parcelfarce's "admin/handling" fee which is disproportionately expensive the closer to the duty threshold the cost is. It's a piss take IMO.

They already get a share of the shipping cost, but they appear to basically withhold delivery to squeeze this additional fixed charge out of you.

If you visit the depot holding it I think you can take the item and ask them to invoice you. They are not legally allowed to withhold your package and you can then decide whether to pay the invoice.

If you don't live near the depot then that's a massive pain.
 
stopped buying from the usa due to the post offices rip off charges
£8 charge + charges = at least a tenner per Lp
 
Maybe worth pointing out to all UKIP / EU-skeptic Tory nutters that this is what it would be like for EU zone customers & businesses alike if we left Europe. Customs fees are a nightmare for sellers too as they put punters right off buying your stock - just shipping the stuff internationally is expensive enough, the potential for some random tax penalty at the other end ends up being the deal-breaker. It stops the customer buying.
 
Even including the £8 from RM that brings the total to £37 which equals £7.40 in tax, they must have messed up the tax or wrongly charged import duty to come up with a figure that high. Now I'll have to ring some bloody 0845 number to get it sorted that will end up costing what they've overcharged me.

Who wants to help me start a militia, time for a regime change that doesn't charge duty/tax on the import of music me thinks.
 
I don't buy vinyl from the US for the same reason - plus I'd rather support the UK economy in these dark times.

I wouldn't be surprised if the couriers didn't have a system designed to overcharge on a regular basis. After all, how many will bother to phone and go through the hassle of getting it corrected?

I've just got some thing similar from Fedex - trying to charge me for a no value item. It will take 30 minutes of my time at least to correct it. I've always suspected businesses of overcharging but then I'm a bit of a grassy knoll kind of guy!
 
I would have bought it from here ;) but it was a limited edition rerelease of the velvet undergrounds '1969 live in dallas'
 
Chaps

I also vote yes for EU membership.

I have a shed in Spain stuffed with almost new LPs. A lot are still in the plastic wrapping. I probably pay 2p each for them from a local auction. I am always the only bidder. They are totally valueless in Spain and I bring about 50 over in my hand luggage every time I come back.

No hassle, no form filling, no taxes.

Regards

Mick
 
Best to buy from Amazon traders in the USA. Only charge £1.26 for delivery and, so far, no taxes to pay.
 
I'm talking about Amazon UK. Couldn't care less who'se paying the tax as long as it's not me!
 
unfortunately, the very best of our music here(IMO) cant be bought at major retailers...but through the band websites, merch tables, record label direct sales, etc.


things on your end need overhauling.
 
As an American whom purchases a lot of vinyl from Japan - the sellers generally charge $15 for the first record and $4 for per LP afterwards, so I've never has to pay extra on my end.

But - OMG, let me buy some from Canada and I've the postal courier saying I own him/her this or that much extra - which has always caught me off guard.

Case in point ( different story ) I purchased a Nait 2 that I won during a bid this time last year at $938, then was charged $85 for shipping and then was told when it got here I owed an extra $56 for fees. Talk about feeling F_ _ ked over with hidden cost/fees I almost gave the seller a bad feedback - but thought otherwise and just bit my tongue.

I don't know what's going with this GAT - VAT shit?, but it's getting crazy.
The best purchase I've had of late were 3 pairs of tubes from Japan that were shipped through EMS that got to me fee/tax free within 3 days. Whereas on an average tubes I buy from England - Russia or Germany can take up to 14-21 days before I see them.

What the hell is going on?, is it about greed?, or something else?.

o_O scar
 
For me, the greed is the individual trying to avoid paying taxes.

Shop locally or pay taxes - in some countries these are way higher.
 
For me, the greed is the individual trying to avoid paying taxes.

Shop locally or pay taxes - in some countries these are way higher.

you cant get ****y virgin vinyl audiophile pressings of miles davis and famous blue rain coat local dude. these other 1000 pressings wont do, you know. :mad:
 


advertisement


Back
Top