extra costs on amazon ??

[mutantpoodle]

its hopeless trying to contact Amazon and I cannot find answer anywhere on pages of order

I just ordered 2 sets guitar strings from Amazon
cost is £8.95
but on one of the later pages it shows sender is Amazon EU

having seen many 'news' items re extra charges for EU sendings...how does one discover if extra charges will apply............without waiting for the doorbell to ring?

[Watis]

its hopeless trying to contact Amazon and I cannot find answer anywhere on pages of order

I just ordered 2 sets guitar strings from Amazon
cost is £8.95
but on one of the later pages it shows sender is Amazon EU

having seen many 'news' items re extra charges for EU sendings...how does one discover if extra charges will apply............without waiting for the doorbell to ring?

I've recently bought stuff from Amazon that originated from an EU country, with no surprise charges.

Whatever one thinks of Amazon, I don't think they would spring unexpected charges on their customers, or we would have heard about it by now.

Watis

[swill453]

having seen many 'news' items re extra charges for EU sendings...how does one discover if extra charges will apply............without waiting for the doorbell to ring?

If you ordered from Amazon Germany or another EU country, then there may be unpredictable charges.

If you ordered from Amazon UK then the price on your order is the price you pay, no matter where it's actually coming from.

Scott.

[servodude]

its hopeless trying to contact Amazon and I cannot find answer anywhere on pages of order

I just ordered 2 sets guitar strings from Amazon
cost is £8.95
but on one of the later pages it shows sender is Amazon EU

having seen many 'news' items re extra charges for EU sendings...how does one discover if extra charges will apply............without waiting for the doorbell to ring?

I've recently bought stuff from Amazon that originated from an EU country, with no surprise charges.

Whatever one thinks of Amazon, I don't think they would spring unexpected charges on their customers, or we would have heard about it by now.

Watis

Amazon seem very good at ensuring that anything sold through one of their subsidiary companies shows:
- the full and final price before payment (including options for currency exchange)
- or massive disclaimers that import duty and charges could apply

Your strings should also fall well below the import duty threshold even if they were eligible

Incidentally I hadn't considered Amazon for strings - but I'll give them a look as I'm having difficulty finding a set I need for an octave mando (local shops don't seem to stock a range of singles any more!)

-sd

[Mike4]

its hopeless trying to contact Amazon and I cannot find answer anywhere on pages of order

I just ordered 2 sets guitar strings from Amazon
cost is £8.95
but on one of the later pages it shows sender is Amazon EU

having seen many 'news' items re extra charges for EU sendings...how does one discover if extra charges will apply............without waiting for the doorbell to ring?

I've recently bought stuff from Amazon that originated from an EU country, with no surprise charges.

Whatever one thinks of Amazon, I don't think they would spring unexpected charges on their customers, or we would have heard about it by now.

Watis

Not that it would be Amazon 'springing' the charges, rather the UK government applying import duty and/or VAT, surely?

ISTR news reports a few weeks ago on this saying there was a package value floor beneath which charges would not be applied. £100 springs to mind. I noticed specifically as I bought a second hand reconditioned diesel heater on ebay for £500 around xmas without realising it was to be posted from Poland despite it being a UK seller. It took about a moth to get here, getting delayed in customs. When it eventually arrived the box had been opened ad re-sealed with packing take marked (something like) "UK Customs inspection". Fortunately no extra charges were applied, I imagine because it was obviously not new or did not look valuable.

[mutantpoodle]

many thanks everyone...i wasnt thinking Amazoin would stich me up but was wondering if I might get caught by customs or some other nameless government body
i was aware cost was minimal so any extra would be small but wanted to ask...just in case

will advise if ahit at the front door!!

[AF62]

having seen many 'news' items re extra charges for EU sendings...how does one discover if extra charges will apply............without waiting for the doorbell to ring?

If you ordered from Amazon Germany or another EU country, then there may be unpredictable charges.

If you ordered from Amazon UK then the price on your order is the price you pay, no matter where it's actually coming from.

Scott.

It doesn't matter whether you order from Amazon Germany or Amazon UK, or anycompanyyoucanthinkof.uk or anycompanyyoucanthinkof.anywhere_else, what matters is where the goods are coming from, which may not be the UK even if you order from a UK website unless the website specifically says. Even if you order from a Marketplace seller on Amazon UK, if the goods cost more than £135 and they are being shipped into the UK (as lots are) then you will have to pay the VAT, duty, and handling fee.

If the goods coming from outside the UK cost less than £135 then the seller *must* register for VAT in the UK no matter where in the world they are, and pay the VAT they collect from you to UK customs. There is no customs duty. There is nothing for the courier company to collect when the package is delivered.

If the goods coming from outside the UK cost more than £135 then the seller *does not* account for VAT, even if they are registered for VAT because they sell goods costing less than £135. The might be customs duty to pay even if the goods are coming from Europe where there is a Free Trade Agreement because of the rules of origin - the seller might have imported them into Europe. The VAT, any customs duty, and a handling fee will be payable to the courier.

Lots of overseas sellers haven't got a clue about what they are doing (or UK sellers doing things in the opposite direction. A common mistake is continuing to charge VAT when multiple items exceed the £135 limit. For example buy one item costing £60 and the seller has included the £10 VAT which they will hand over. Buy three items and they shouldn't charge you £180 but should charge you £150 as you will now be paying the £30 VAT (plus customs duty plus a handling fee).

[swill453]

If you ordered from Amazon Germany or another EU country, then there may be unpredictable charges.

If you ordered from Amazon UK then the price on your order is the price you pay, no matter where it's actually coming from.

It doesn't matter whether you order from Amazon Germany or Amazon UK, or anycompanyyoucanthinkof.uk or anycompanyyoucanthinkof.anywhere_else, what matters is where the goods are coming from, which may not be the UK even if you order from a UK website unless the website specifically says. Even if you order from a Marketplace seller on Amazon UK, if the goods cost more than £135 and they are being shipped into the UK (as lots are) then you will have to pay the VAT, duty, and handling fee.

If the goods coming from outside the UK cost less than £135 then the seller *must* register for VAT in the UK no matter where in the world they are, and pay the VAT they collect from you to UK customs. There is no customs duty. There is nothing for the courier company to collect when the package is delivered.

If the goods coming from outside the UK cost more than £135 then the seller *does not* account for VAT, even if they are registered for VAT because they sell goods costing less than £135. The might be customs duty to pay even if the goods are coming from Europe where there is a Free Trade Agreement because of the rules of origin - the seller might have imported them into Europe. The VAT, any customs duty, and a handling fee will be payable to the courier.

Lots of overseas sellers haven't got a clue about what they are doing (or UK sellers doing things in the opposite direction. A common mistake is continuing to charge VAT when multiple items exceed the £135 limit. For example buy one item costing £60 and the seller has included the £10 VAT which they will hand over. Buy three items and they shouldn't charge you £180 but should charge you £150 as you will now be paying the £30 VAT (plus customs duty plus a handling fee).

I don't believe anything you've said negates my point - that if you buy from the Amazon.co.uk web site, then the delivery courier isn't going to be ringing the doorbell to ask for more money.

Scott.

[MaraMan]

I have just purchased a Sonos 1 (gen 2) which came from their European HQ in Belgium and I had no extra charges above that which I would have had in the UK (ie VAT). It cost £140 with their upgrade offer, so I assume the £135 is the net price level for incurring import duty etc.

MM

[AF62]

If you ordered from Amazon Germany or another EU country, then there may be unpredictable charges.

If you ordered from Amazon UK then the price on your order is the price you pay, no matter where it's actually coming from.

It doesn't matter whether you order from Amazon Germany or Amazon UK, or anycompanyyoucanthinkof.uk or anycompanyyoucanthinkof.anywhere_else, what matters is where the goods are coming from, which may not be the UK even if you order from a UK website unless the website specifically says. Even if you order from a Marketplace seller on Amazon UK, if the goods cost more than £135 and they are being shipped into the UK (as lots are) then you will have to pay the VAT, duty, and handling fee.

If the goods coming from outside the UK cost less than £135 then the seller *must* register for VAT in the UK no matter where in the world they are, and pay the VAT they collect from you to UK customs. There is no customs duty. There is nothing for the courier company to collect when the package is delivered.

If the goods coming from outside the UK cost more than £135 then the seller *does not* account for VAT, even if they are registered for VAT because they sell goods costing less than £135. The might be customs duty to pay even if the goods are coming from Europe where there is a Free Trade Agreement because of the rules of origin - the seller might have imported them into Europe. The VAT, any customs duty, and a handling fee will be payable to the courier.

Lots of overseas sellers haven't got a clue about what they are doing (or UK sellers doing things in the opposite direction. A common mistake is continuing to charge VAT when multiple items exceed the £135 limit. For example buy one item costing £60 and the seller has included the £10 VAT which they will hand over. Buy three items and they shouldn't charge you £180 but should charge you £150 as you will now be paying the £30 VAT (plus customs duty plus a handling fee).

I don't believe anything you've said negates my point - that if you buy from the Amazon.co.uk web site, then the delivery courier isn't going to be ringing the doorbell to ask for more money.

Scott.

If you chose to buy a Xiaomi Mi 10T* from the Amazon.co.uk web site for £200+ you have a range of suppliers to choose from (http://www.amazon.co.uk/Xiaomi-10T-Lite ... 08B99PHKL/) and for the most part the delivery is 'fulfilled by Amazon' with a delivery date in two or three days time - for those the courier will not be asking for money from you as the goods are coming out of Amazon's UK warehouse even though the supplier may be overseas.

However there are couple of overseas suppliers in the list with a delivery date two or three weeks away. For those where the item is clearly being delivered from not from Amazon's UK warehouse but by the supplier from somewhere outside the UK, so the courier will be asking for money despite you ordering from the Amazon.co.uk website.

*a random selection of something costing more than £135.

[swill453]

However there are couple of overseas suppliers in the list with a delivery date two or three weeks away. For those where the item is clearly being delivered from not from Amazon's UK warehouse but by the supplier from somewhere outside the UK, so the courier will be asking for money despite you ordering from the Amazon.co.uk website.

I don't believe that's the case. If additional fees may be involved, Amazon will take an Import Fees Deposit, which the carrier can charge against https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/custom ... Y8Z3T5WPV3

Any amount not used will be returned.

My point remains.

Scott.

[AF62]

However there are couple of overseas suppliers in the list with a delivery date two or three weeks away. For those where the item is clearly being delivered from not from Amazon's UK warehouse but by the supplier from somewhere outside the UK, so the courier will be asking for money despite you ordering from the Amazon.co.uk website.

I don't believe that's the case. If additional fees may be involved, Amazon will take an Import Fees Deposit, which the carrier can charge against https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/custom ... Y8Z3T5WPV3

Any amount not used will be returned.

My point remains.

Scott.

As that link says, that is for the Amazon Global Service which is where you can order from Amazon.com something sold by Amazon themselves in the US but have it shipped to the UK - www.amazon.co.uk/b?ie=UTF8&node=11125348031

Markeplace sellers don't fall under the Amazon Global Service and if you order something costing more than £135 from Amazon UK which is shipped from outside the UK then you will get hit for the VAT, duty, and courier fee.

[Mike4]

Interestingly I've just become a "Patreon" of one of the many music teachers on youtube.com. Becoming a Patreon means you pay them a monthly fee for access to their restricted videos, so they can earn an income.

Thing is, this teacher is in the USA and I am being charged the price he quotes on youtube, but plus UK VAT. I imagine this is legally correct but there was absolutely no mention of this in the sign-up procedure, AFAICR.

[servodude]

Interestingly I've just become a "Patreon" of one of the many music teachers on youtube.com. Becoming a Patreon means you pay them a monthly fee for access to their restricted videos, so they can earn an income.

Thing is, this teacher is in the USA and I am being charged the price he quotes on youtube, but plus UK VAT. I imagine this is legally correct but there was absolutely no mention of this in the sign-up procedure, AFAICR.

If you sign up to Patreon as a patron in the UK it will go through their Irish organisation thus falling under the rules for levying service taxes in the EU
- which meant that for them the collection of the UK component changed earlier this year (but not the amount they had to take)
- https://support.patreon.com/hc/en-us/articles/360043054911-Patreon-s-Sales-Tax-Requirements

what you've described is probably just the American style of quoting a price ex-tax (which is why you need two on-shipping accounts in different states to be able to avoid "surprises")

you might be able to relocate your Patreon account to somewhere with lower taxes?
- it would however mean that HMRC would lose out on your payments

-sd

[AF62]

Interestingly I've just become a "Patreon" of one of the many music teachers on youtube.com. Becoming a Patreon means you pay them a monthly fee for access to their restricted videos, so they can earn an income.

Thing is, this teacher is in the USA and I am being charged the price he quotes on youtube, but plus UK VAT. I imagine this is legally correct but there was absolutely no mention of this in the sign-up procedure, AFAICR.

It is correct.

You are receiving a digitally supplied service as a consumer because it is a pre-recorded video; if it was live ‘one to one or one to many’ tuition deliver by video it wouldn’t be.

However since it is then the place of supply of that digitally supplied service is where the consumer is not where the supplier is, and as you are in the UK it is supplied in the UK so then the supplier has to register and charge UK VAT.

[stevensfo]

I've been using Amazon in UK, Germany, France, Italy and USA for years, while living in France, UK and Italy. Italian and French made musical instruments and photo equipment were often cheaper if bought from the UK. The limit above which a charge may be levied if from outside the EU is something like 20 quid. Well it was 18 many years ago, so I assume it's gone up.

Most of the rules were ignored until after the Financial crisis. Suddenly, stuff from Hong Kong was being held up and I had to send proof of the amount I'd paid. One silly episode was due to a few plastic coin holders, costing absolute peanuts but couldn't be found elsewhere. I can only assume that the Italian P.O. assumed they were hard drugs?

Anything under 20 quid should be fine.

Steve

PS The rather sad irony here is that for the last 25 years, I've been reminding people that they do not have to fill in any customs declaration forms when sending stuff within Europe. Thanks to Dominic (I've taken back control) Cummings, we're back to the good old days.

Except I don't expect VAT to go back to 7.5% anytime soon.