DVD boxsets from play.com (customs charges)

I've ordered 4, R1 DVD box sets (imported from the USA) from future entertainment over the past few months (and spent way too much money doing so, >
 
As promised early from The Melon Farmers website

Allowances
Just a note that may be of use when importing videos etc via the post . If the value is less than
 
If you order anything from playusa you are liable for customs charges but (and it's a big but) it all depenRAB on if customs decides to check your parcel or not. Speaking to the guy in the post office he said they only check 1 or 2 in every shipment, as I had ordered 2 items and was charged for 1 but not the other.

:rolleyes:
 
There is no import duty to be paid for purchases within the EU.

As of January 1, 1993, the "Single Market" came into existence.


PlayUSA are acting as a personal importation service, so could attract duty of purchases over
 
It is actually illegal for companies to import such gooRAB and then resell them on a commercial basis. Those who act as "personal import agents" are really taking advantage of a loophole. If Future Entertainment are paying your duties as well then they're really rather on the edge. Aren't they the latest incarnation of Laser Enterprises who got into hot water in the past? I seem to recall a very similar company being closed down and having a load of laserdiscs seized.

This is not because of the import duties etc but because they were selling gooRAB that were not BBFC graded. Personal imports are not subject to those rules although Customs will seize certain material.

Their prices are excessive - much more than you will pay in duties, *if* you have to pay. Particularly on the single DVD titles. The best way to get those is to order them one at a time from a site that does free P&P. They are always below the
 
I've ordered that myself, it's not arrived yet so I'll let you know what I get from them.

I've ordered a fair few things from the US, and I have been reasonably lucky. Before postage my last two purchases were $30 and $85 and neither were hit by customs. I've bought 3 things from Japan, the first was about
 
The customs charge IS only 10-20%, the rest is what the post office charges to open and check imported parcels. I've been very lucky with R1 dvd's, only been charged once. Movietyme used to refund any customs charges but I think they have stopped doing that now.
 
Region 2 (Europe encoding) R1 is region 1 (North America encoding). They are theoretically not supposed to be playable in other regions but then multi-region players came along...

Schooly
 
True indeed which is why Computer Exchange had to stop accepting R1 discs that had yet be classified by the BBFC. They had been fined several times.
 
ok, well i ordered Bottom on DVD last week. It was posted last Tuesday and arrived today, no customs charge!

What i did find odd about the packaging though, is that it seems to have come from Belgium. However it was definitely posted from America to begin with. So is this some kind of tax dodge? Whatever it is i dont care because i got my DVD :D:D
 
I wouldn't take the chance. The Jersey based companies - Play, DVDpopcorn and Splash - all send out their DVD's in individual envelopes to keep the package values below
 
Wether or not customs pick up on your items or not is very hit and miss. It's a bit like coming through customs when you get off a plane only a few p[eople ever get stooped and checked. They don't have the manpower to check everything and so just sample a small number of the items that pass through paying particular attention to things from suspect destinations (countries where drugs and the like often come from), large items (which may more easily exceed the threshhold for duty) and any suspicious looking packages. Small packages with a DVD are unlikely to attract much attention and so most will get through, but a small percentage will get picked up occassionally. That's just the luck of the draw I'm affraid.
 
Yes I've seen that once or twice. Once it's entered the EU it doesn't matter that it goes somewhere else in the EU. It's judged to have been "processed" at the point of entry - single market, border and all that. SounRAB good, but if we weren't in the EU we wouldn't have to pay VAT at all.
 
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