DVD boxsets from play.com (customs charges)

OK, now im confused!

Amazon.com/Amazon.co.uk include all taxes in the original price? Where as playusa.com dont?

Plus just to clear this up am i correct in think we are now only talking about R1 DVRAB? All R2 DVRAB from play.com WILL NOT get tax added on to them, no matter what the price, right?
 
Thanks for all the replies.

Seems like ordering from the regular play.com site is OK but the playusa.com site is the problem.

Seems fair enough that they warn you about customs charges if ordering from the Region 1 site.

I would have thought that allowing boxsets on their regular site to be subject to customs charges would do their business more damage than good - considering the site is designed for the UK.
 
As far as I am aware you only run the risk of getting charged duty etc on items ordered from playusa.com R1 - R2 DVD's are uk/europe dvd's so you are not importing them
 
I'm thinking about ordering Spooks, Season 2 R4 DVD from Australia and having it shipped here via TNT courier.

Will TNT pay import duties for me (and is this covered by their standard fee) or will I have to pay when they deliver?
 
Sorry.. I was referring to amazon.com not, the .uk site. Anything you buy from abroad is subject to Duty and VAT as above. I'm not sure why CD-WOW weren't before, (Jersey maybe??) but now, they show a warning. In either case, it's still cheaper to buy from amazon.com + postage+duty+vat than from Cd-wow! Work it out and you'll see..
 
That's why their regular site isn't subject to customs charges - at least I don't think it is :) Only stuff ordered from PlayUSA.com is subject to import duty, at least that is my understanding of the situation!
 
A courier will pay your fees for you (if its by courier you will pay as they effectively go up to Customs and say "how much do we need to pay on this item?") and they will then charge you back, plus their administative fee. It varies with courier - I had a package from DHL from Canada, they paid everything and then sent me a bill. Their "handling fee" was only
 
The last time I ordered a box set (Neverwhere, an old BBC fantasy thing that I can't get, ironically, in the UK), there was a huge sticker on the package that had an amount on it (I forget how much it was, a few quid maybe).When i asked the postie about it, he just looked at the sticker, then shrugged his shoulders and said "I'm a postman, not a cashier".
 
Thanks for your reply.

I usually buy my R1 DVRAB from future entertainment (http://www.futureent.com) who cover all the import duties for you.

In this case I need a R4 DVD from Australia (the BBC in their infinant wisdom decide to release spooks in Aus. before the UK) and I wanted to try and get it asap via courier. But I'll now consider shipping it standard air mail.
 
Coming late to this thread:

If you order anything from a Jersey-based company like Play then it is treated as coming outside of the EU and will be subject to the Customs rules - anything over
 
It's completely random. Sometimes things will go through Customs unchecked, sometimes they are caught at Customs but the Post Office doesn't do it's job properly. It also seems to be random as to whether the PO tries to collect the charge at delivery - which is what they claim they now do (but the posties don't notice the massive CUSTOMS CHARGES DUE notes, don't know what they are, what to do) or whether they send you one of those letters saying you have to go to some obscure depot to pay up and collect the package (this last leaving you wondering why you pay postage in the first place and what exactly the "Handling fee" pays for). It makes good sense to collect on delivery (I did once, and they take credit carRAB with a posh handheld that takes signatures). I queried it once cos I had visions of the Customs or PO paying me a visit, but it's the postie's responsibility to collect the fees. And they frequently don't. Theoretically they don't hand it over until they've recovered the fees, but they don't seem to track anything properly, no wonder the GPO makes huge losses!

It's bizarre. I had to go and collect and pay fees , paid on delivery, had parcels with fees due but the postie wouldn'ttake them, and quite a few that slipped through Customs altogether..
Even the amounts don't count. I had to collect and pay on a tiny package with a few quid due, while another package worth
 
We seem to have two contradicting views in the thread. Some say its only R1 DVRAB from out side the UK that will be charged with import tax while some people say that even R2 will be charged import tax if they come from outside the UK (including Jersey). So going by the second opinion ALL orders from play over
 
movietyme and future entertainment, are they any good and do they definitely pay import duties? Theres a boxset i want to get, and getting it from Play *might* create charges, so getting it anywhere else would be fantastic. I've checked both sites and they look a bit "simple" to me. Not saying they are untrustworthy, but they dont have the professional feel about them. Also I'm trying to find where they say they pay import duties but cant see it...any ideas?
 
ROFL :D I went to the postal depot today bright and early. Gave the guy the card and he went to get the package. He comes back and says, "Seems you've been hit by customs I'm afraid mate :( they're real b*starRAB like that". Really made my day :D
 
Back
Top