If you order any stuff from outside the UK, you will be liable to custom charges - that's for anything, not just DVD's. However, if you order from Play247.com you won't get stung by customs. I found out a little while ago (on the HM Customs website) that the channel island of Jersey (where Play247 are based) is exempt and deemed a special territory. This means you can order as much as you like and you won't pay any duty.

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100% Blue Azul

Maybe true - but when you find you have lots of gift certificates for say Amazon.com then you are going to go there arent you - which is the case for the vast majority who shop at Amazon.com on these forums.

quote:<HR>Originally posted by El Jimador:
If you order any stuff from outside the UK, you will be liable to custom charges - that's for anything, not just DVD's.<HR>

I'm not sure why anyone would post something quite so misleading

First, you are not liable to pay Customs/VAT etc for personal imports unless the value of the package exceeds a certain figure. I've always worked on £18/$30 but have seen people say that items marked "gift" have a higher limit. Second, some imported items don't attract VAT/Customs charges at all e.g. books.

Fellow Importers,

here's one fool-proof way of never incurring any customs charges ever again.

Don't buy from abroad.

Simple, eh?

Yours helpfully,
Lik.

P.S. The "gift" limit for the UK is £36, but then customs may decide that what you've ordered isn't really a gift...

If you read the HMCE website, you will discover that their idea of what a "gift" is is VERY strict. It must be sent from one private individual abroad to another private individual in the UK; and it may not have been paid for in any way by the recipient, directly or indirectly. So, basically, having your Amazon purchases gift-wrapped does NOT make them a "gift" under Customs rules, and so the lower £18 limit applies.

HM Custom and Excise's website has a page specifically devoted to some of the issues regarding Internet shopping; http://www.hmce.gov.uk/public/info/int-shop.htm . Also worth checking out is their guide for international post users; http://www.hmce.gov.uk/notices/143.htm .

I strongly suggest that anyone in the UK who regularly buys stuff from abroad reads the above two pages; it helps matters a great deal once you fully understand the rules regarding import charges and VAT on imported goods.

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It's said that given infinite time, a million monkeys with typewriters would write the finest signature ever created.

This signature? Three monkeys, five minutes.

Jersey Islands is not part of the EU. I've ordered 3 items from them, the first one came in through one customs center and didn't incur any duties, but the 2 last ones did.

I should say that I live in Denmark, the customs might not look on it the same way in other European countries.

I phoned the customs and asked him why the duty had been incurred (at the time, I thought that Jersey Islands were part of the EU, since Play247.com had confirmed that I would not have to pay any duty) and he told me that they were not part of the EU. Hence, duty and VAT had to be applied -- if they were not, it was because those checking the package was not aware of the fact that Jersey Islands are not part of the EU.

Very annoying, as I thought I had just found a great, cheap, supplier of region 1 DVDs.

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Regards,
Kenneth Vestergaard

My DVD collection

OK, I think what the Jersey thing actually means is that, if you live in Jersey you won't be liable for customs charges. However, if you live outside of Jersey, then you are.....the same as if you buy from the US.