So far my DVD imports to Malaysia, has been flawless without any problems with the local customs, but recently, my packages was withheld and the customs want me to declare the value even thought its well written on the package.
So have you experienced any similiar problems in your countries?

As an international newbie, replies to this would be excellent, especially regarding LARGE orders from Amazon.com. I'm currently waiting for 3 more titles to be released before they ship it to the UK (about 20 dvd titles including biggies such as X-files season 2).

I bought all of them using GC, and I read somewhere that Amazon will put down $0.00 dollars in value. Anyone know whether customs will be getting a massive box with AMAZON.com printed all over it? Anyone know whether there'll be problems? Thanks.

Amazon ship from the States to warehouses in Amsterdam and then on to the European destination. As such the packages are, as far as customs are concerned, classed as originating from within the EC and therefore are not liable for import duty or VAT.

I've just had X-files Season 1 & Braveheart delivered with no problems. Even though 'Amazon' and the value of $130 is stamped all over the box.

Check out this previous thread: http://talk.dvdtalk.com/ubb/Forum12/HTML/000300.html

Jonathan E. your answer is not totally correct as was already stated in some replys on the same subject a few months ago! Because the american adress of Amazon is still on the cover, next to a return adress in the Netherlands, customs can still pick you out to pay customs as happened to me in may/june with the James Bond box 2.
As I said before, it is a bit like a lottery but your chances of not paying taxes are 50-75 %. If you don't want to pay taxes order from dvdboxoffice or 2 dvd's at the most from the other shops. Also keep in mind the high rate of the $ also affects taxes.

Robbert perhaps I shoud have qualified my statement by saying that this is the way UK customs regards Amazon. I’ve had no experience importing stuff into other countries but my own take on this is that as Amazon choose to ship to their distribution hubs within Europe, they must have already paid some form of duty, so if you also pay then the government in your country will have levied two sets of tax on one package. If I were you I’d complain and demand your tax money back.

I've had one DVD shipped to me here in the Philippines from Amazon (10 Commandments) without any problems. Another shipment had 3 DVDs on them and also no problems.

But a third shipment with 9 DVDs is now currently being held by customs. The package has been with them for the past 3 days now. DHL has assured me though, that I will eventually get my package, but I think I would need to pay some taxes for it. Nuts!

I don`t know if this will work in everybody`s case, but I have heard that if you choose the Giftwrap option at the checkout and send the gift to yourself, the package then comes under a new category and is more likely to get thru OK.

Just a followup to my previous post.
CAUGHT!!!
DHL called me up to say that Customs is holding my order of 9 DVDs from Amazon and is now asking for $57 in Tax and Duties. aaaarrggghhh!!

I will get my package as soon as I pay for it. This is the last time I'll be ordering that many DVDs in one shipment. 3 at the most next time!

Thanks too for the giftwrap option. I'll try that myself next time.


[This message has been edited by Gabriel (edited September 12, 2000).]

Gabriel, the red warning light flashes on any shipments above $100 in value. At most, my orders consist of only 3 DVDs at a time. Have you forked over your $57 yet? You can still get away with it by declaring them as educational materials (this only works if you have titles like documentaries, or classics like your Ten Commandments would have been perfect). If not (and I hate to suggest this but it was a slimy Customs officer who presented me with that option) you can always grease them with a Ninoy Aquino bill.

Same here i had no other way to pass the guys except pay the tax, But talks are on the way to declare them way below the purchased amount.Hope they are gonna considerate it and just give me a warning.
And my order was only 2 dvd's not paid not even $30.

One of my mates ordered about $1000 worth the other day and customs charged him an extra $350 in tax.

It would appear that if you order over $250 worth, custom jumps on you here.

------------------
Regards...

John 3:16

In Finland Amazon-packages can come through or get caught, no matter it says NL somewhere in the package.

The senior clerk in the local customs office told (last time I was there picking up my Amazon shipment) that it is legal for companies to import into EU duty-free if and when duty is collected at the destination. So if it was true what he said, Amazon ships into duty-free warehouse in NL with full knowledge of EU. I don't know if NL-Post takes over already there or if DHL still carries the package until the border of destination country.

I've heard rumours about EU trying to set a law to force foreign companies to register in EU too for VAT purposes. Don't think it would happen but they can always hire more staff to check everything larger than an envelope

Interesting info DVD_fan, thanks for that. I guess we’re alone in the UK in that customs seem to completely ignore Amazon packages which, after the recent price fiasco, is the only thing they have going for them. On a related note has anyone in the UK received packages from DVDEmpire that are over the permitted limit, ie £18? I’ve got my first shipment coming from them and just want to be prepared if customs snag these or if they go through with no charge. Thanks for any help.

Here is the latest 2 of the shipments were relesed after the customs ripped the boxes to see what the hell was inside them. But still one more at the post office still held by the customs.
About Dvdempire i am a bit worried to buy from them as they sell porno also so their packages are more victimized than Express / Amazon.Where in Asian coutries porno material is still illegal.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by jonathan.e:
Robbert perhaps I shoud have qualified my statement by saying that this is the way UK customs regards Amazon. I’ve had no experience importing stuff into other countries but my own take on this is that as Amazon choose to ship to their distribution hubs within Europe, they must have already paid some form of duty, so if you also pay then the government in your country will have levied two sets of tax on one package. If I were you I’d complain and demand your tax money back.<HR>

Not wanting to sound too pedantic, but "Amazon" don't have their own distribution hubs in Amsterdam. Amazon use the DHL "Worldwide" service who DO have a distribution hub in Amsterdam!! Amazon could decide to use another postal/courier service (eg. UPS) and international parcels could well take a different route (eg. direct).

Also, I would think it highly unlikely that Amazon would pay the tax/duty for its overseas customers. If you use Amazon's fast delivery option then YOU will almost certainly get billed for the due duty/taxes.

Hello agian

quote:<HR>Originally posted by jonathan.e:
Interesting info DVD_fan, thanks for that. I guess we’re alone in the UK in that customs seem to completely ignore Amazon packages which, after the recent price fiasco, is the only thing they have going for them. On a related note has anyone in the UK received packages from DVDEmpire that are over the permitted limit, ie £18? I’ve got my first shipment coming from them and just want to be prepared if customs snag these or if they go through with no charge. Thanks for any help.<HR>

In my experience, anything from Express/DVDEmpire over a value of about $30 is nearly always walloped with duty/VAT and PO charges Although, none of my recent Express orders have been opened. The declared value is always about right, but the contents now always appear to be stated as "Software"???


This message has been edited by haggis on September 13, 2000 at 08:54 PM

I had never any problems with Amazon, but all other stuff that had a stated worth of over 50 Marks (about $25) was opened and I had to pay for it (16% tax and 4% customs). But yesterday I reveived an Express.com package that stated $53 and went through without customs. Must have been my lucky day.

For what it's worth....

Australia has a AU$200 limit on postage imports ($400 through the airport). And they will take great pleasure in sending you a bill if you go over!

Thailand is much worse. 500 baht limit through the post. Thats about AU$20. Then they charge 37% tax and duty! Ouch!

FYI, www.DV-Depot.com offers a nice little service. They will (on request) open all DVD before shipping, wrap them in tissue to prevent scratching during shipping. This also allows them to claim that they are **USED** on any customs declarations and they adjust the $$ value accordingly.

This is handy if you are importing AU$1000 worth of DVD in one hit (read above!) ...my question to that one is WHY?

Atiah....

[This message has been edited by atiah (edited September 18, 2000).]

For the Asian DVDtalkers.

As Kumar wrote, you will be caught if you ordered some porno stuff even if you ordered at Amazon, though the possibility is less. Then what's the solution?
I strongly recommended you some minor (and unfamous) Internet shops. The custom will not investigate the package if 'gift' and 'personal' name were written on it. How to find those shops? First, start with one or two items for testing the shop. Then, order some more.... I know this is a quite old and boring way, but it works.

I had bought my DVD from DVD Empire (US), DVD Dynamic (Canada), DVD Plus (UK) and NoizeNet (Australia), and they gave me no problem. Although all the parcels were opened and checked by the local custom (even with only one DVD inside a normal air-bubble envelope), all the parcels were being sealed and sent to me safely.

So far, I ordered maximum of 3 titles in one order. If I were to buy more titles than that, I would simply split the order. My order was in an average of USD$60 per order.

One thing I don't understand is that, although the value of the content is written on the parcel (usually a lower amount), the invoice of the order is inside the parcel. Wouldn't the custom look at the invoice and tax us?

Crayon i am also lost in this matter, they want to tax then they tax and if they dont want they don't, fitst they held 4 dvd's of mine all in 3 seperate shipping dates and seperate company's.But 2 got opened..or shall I say ripped open and they saw the invoice and stuff.But they decided to hold on to 1 more package even the titles are same.They now don't care if its written a gift or toilet paper, they want to open it and see it for themselves.
Worse of all they said the officer is not here when my brother went to pick up the stuff.So they will not release the package and asked me to come back some other time like i got all the time in the world.
Finnaly i got into some phone calls and got me a new way to import DVD's.
But the customs are getting clever every day by day.


[This message has been edited by Kumar J (edited September 20, 2000).]

Following on from Haggis, my only experience with Express is my last order ( 3 DVD's - $50ish), hit by a £9.50 Duty/VAT/PO charge.

This compares with over 20 orders from the now dead Reel that were never stopped.

Given this, and the drying up of BFL offers (and increase to $50 order for free shipping), I'm losing interest in Express.

BTW anyone applied for a free shipping rebate for a "ship separately" order? And what value did you put in as it doesn't compute it?

Cheers

Jeremy, yes I’ve applied and received "ship as available" rebates from BFL. To calculate the figure to enter on the form simply multipy the number of discs (bearing in mind express love to charge extra for multi disc sets) by $7.95 for shipping to the UK. Unfortunately unless you have only 2 $25 titles (Criterion’s for example) in your order you will need to order a minimum of 3 to make up the $50 requirement. This translates into you bearing the extra $3.85 cost above the $20 maximum that BFL will give you back. It’s a pain and means that to get the most bang for your buck you need to be ordering titles that are at least 35% off if not 40%. However this way is guaranteed to avoid customs charges as long as each individual title is under £18 in value. Extra bit of good news is that express does deduct the value of any coupon you may use and declares that value on the package.