Import issues from US to Europe (Belgium)

[Kyo28]

The oddest thing happened the other day:

I had ordered some BR's from Second Spin (USA store) to Belgium, keeping the total under the taxable amount and got them without any expenses.

I did the same thing, this time with Amazon expedited international shipping (not Priority Courrier!), again keeping the amount under the taxable threshold and guess what? I get slapped with a 10 Euro forfait for administrative expenses at customs.

What happened? Do people from Belgium now have to pay a forfait even though there are no import fees to be levied, just because they check your package? Or is this caused by my choice of using Expedited Shipping instead of Standard Shipping?

This really boggles me and if possible, I'd like to avoid it in the future.

[quexos]

That's odd indeed. I have purchased a couple of times Blurays through Amazon and I was not hit by any of those administrative taxes or whatever. Maybe they pick some parcels at random and decide to tax them.

[DS1975]

Sorry that it happened! However this is a purely Belgium issue and maybe you best ask the postal service and/or the custom guys how you can avoid this problem. I'm sure they'll help....

[Kyo28]

Funny thing:

Called the Belgian post office and they say they collect this for the customs (translation: it's not our fault!)

After checking the website of the customs in Belgium, they say there is no fee to be paid, but that the post office (unlike courriers like DHL or UPS) collect a fee for administrative expenses, which they collect for themselves and not on behalf of customs.

Isn't that just dandy? So even though courrier is more expensive, I'm contempleting to use that shipping method. Sure, I pay more but the extra I pay will go to faster delivery instead of the post office's pockets

[Clark Kent]

Unfortunately importing can be a hassle at times.

[Blu-Boy in BKK]

Originally Posted by Clark Kent

Unfortunately importing can be a hassle at times.

or rather HUSTLE

[geoffc]

try Playusa - just ordered Speed Racer - in stock and already on its way

[Blu-Style]

@Kyo28

How high (€) is the custom limit in Belgium ?

[richieb1971]

Amazon are nasty because they put the billing material on the outside of the package. I get hit by customs 1 out 3 times with them in the UK.

Then I decided to switch to tower.com and never had a problem since.

[Kyo28]

Originally Posted by Blu-Style

@Kyo28

How high (€) is the custom limit in Belgium ?

€ 22 for commercial packages
€ 45 for gifts

So if you tick the 'gift' option with Amazon, you can go up to € 45, but if shipped with the post office (so no courrier), you need to add an additional € 10 for 'administrative customs clearing expenses', like the Post office puts it so nicely

Can someone confirm Tower and PlayUSA don't put commercial values on packages? That way I still get slapped with the € 10 (or instead I can pay courrier), but at least can import more blu's at once, thus less shipments, thus less expenses for me

[Blu-Style]

Originally Posted by Kyo28

€ 22 for commercial packages

Same in Germany...
But we get an upgrade from €22 to €150 on December. ( )

I don´t know if it´s all over Europe...

[alexakajeff]

Importing is a huge pain in the ass, just keep in your own region, that's what I do, so I'm not mixed up like you are.

[Kyo28]

Originally Posted by alexakajeff

Importing is a huge pain in the ass, just keep in your own region, that's what I do, so I'm not mixed up like you are.

Yes, but that's not always possible, because in my case:

• I live in Europe now, which is Region B
• My player is Region A (Japanese PS3)
• I want to buy a lot of releases which are only released in Region A (Japan-only blus such as Keitai Sousakan 7), not in Region B

Add it all up, and well, importing becomes unavoidable.

[Blu-Style]

Originally Posted by Kyo28

Yes, but that's not always possible, because in my case:[*]I live in Europe now, which is Region B[*]My player is Region A (Japanese PS3)[*]I want to buy a lot of releases which are only released in Region A

Same exactly here.

[david2189]

ive had the same problem in the UK, 2 identical deliveries (seperate) from amazon (was 2 seperate bogos) one i got charged for the other i didnt..

[mathieuhatt]

Originally Posted by Blu-Style

Same in Germany...
But we get an upgrade from €22 to €150 on December. ( )

I don´t know if it´s all over Europe...

I believe it is 150€ in France too.

I was once charged taxes because Amazon declared the total value of the pack (including discs that were actually offered in a special offer) instead of declaring the amount paid.
I never had any taxes with dvdpacific.com (more than 15 deliveries now).

[msetten]

Originally Posted by Blu-Style

Same in Germany...
But we get an upgrade from €22 to €150 on December. ( )

I don´t know if it´s all over Europe...

In the Netherlands also and as far as I know in the whole EU.

[Kyo28]

Originally Posted by mathieuhatt

I never had any taxes with dvdpacific.com (more than 15 deliveries now).

Hmm, interesting. Their prices are higher than Amazon but if I can have more blu's sent at once without taxes, they might become more interesting than Amazon. Do they declare the actual value or the value that you ask them to declare?

Originally Posted by msetten

In the Netherlands also and as far as I know in the whole EU.

So far it's still € 22 (€ 45 for gifts) in Belgium. It would be great if they pull that up to € 150 ... then I can order more blu's at once and save on shipping, without worrying about taxes. Any idea of this € 150 limit will take effect in the whole of the EU by the end of this year? Belgium still sticks to their € 22 policy:
http://fiscus.fgov.be/interfdanl/nl/...ns/wagen.htm#B


Anyway, importing from the US is still feasible, as discs aren't too expensive. I just keep the amount under € 45 and declare them as 'gift'.

Japan is a bigger problem. Most discs cost over € 45 so even ordering just one will get me a nice import fee. I need to look for better ways to import from Japan ...

[alexakajeff]

Alright, I've said this many times before and I will say it again, people need to keep to their own region.

[xander]

Originally Posted by alexakajeff

Alright, I've said this many times before and I will say it again, people need to keep to their own region.

And it makes less sense every time I have to read it from you. If I can convice a mod to promote you now to Blu-Ray Guru or King or whatever title you want, would you stop with the incessant post whoring? I'm not trying to go out of my way to be a jerk here, but 99 percent of your comments that flood the board are not relevant to the topic or make zero sense to the context of the discussion.