Regarding imports into the UK for the 4 disc bundle. I don't want to derail the thread but I'm putting this info up to hopefully make people feel better. If I've got anything wrong of course please correct me.
Import duty: This is only payable if the value is over £135. So not a problem for an $80 bundle.
VAT: This is not an extra tax, it is what we would be paying if we bought in this country. So it should be 20% of the package value, so presumably 20% of $80. So not a problem. (I'm assuming that the $79.99 US price is in effect the pre-tax price, so we are not paying US tax - maybe I've got that wrong.)
Shipping: It's not cheap, but when I saw that within the US people were paying $11.99, for us to pay $15.99 seemed like a bargain. So not a problem.
Fee: This will be £8 charged by Royal Mail for collecting the VAT. This is where it gets slightly annoying. I get the impression from the Government and Royal Mail website that there should be no choice in this; if a company is selling to the UK they are meant to be charging VAT at the point of sale for consignments under £135. Both their websites are pretty simple and clear on what should be happening and neither mention anything like, "...if the company has signed up to the scheme." So it does seem like it is Rhino's 'fault'. However, Rhino ought to know more about this than me, and I have already bought the discs from them and praised them for the many good things, which I think far outweigh this problem.
VAT and overseas goods sold directly to customers in the UK "Consignments of goods with a value of £135 or less that are outside the UK and sold directly to customers (not through an online marketplace) in Great Britain (England, Scotland and Wales) will have UK supply VAT charged at the point of sale"
Help with customs fees and the Fee to pay card
"VAT on items under £135 (with the exception of gifts) will now be collected directly at the point of sale."
Given that it was a good bundle deal and there was a voucher code, even with the extra £8 fee it's quite possible that it was cheaper to buy the discs from the States than from the UK. I would have left it to see if they appear on Amazon but when I heard that Paranoid won't be available and it's unlikely that J Geils will be (seeing as Dig aren't taking it) I went for the Rhino US option. I hope they do become available on Amazon UK. It will make it easier in the future and probably cheaper. (I got the Doobies box, new, direct from Amazon, for £36, which is a hell of a deal for 4 Quadios.)
Worth remembering that if these were SDE releases they would be £23 pounds £5 postage each so the discs are cheaper than that as well.
The only thing that worries me is that you see stories of people being charged incorrect amounts. As long as Rhino have stated the correct package value, it should be Ok.
So… it would be great if Rhino set up foreign tax paying but for this instance the fee has been mitigated by the bundle and voucher code. As I said in an earlier post, I don't think it would be technically much work but they probably just don't want the admin of constantly checking they have the correct sales tax rates for foreign countries, especially if there are tiers or limits as per the UK.
Roll on the next batch!
Update: Edited to change "make people better" to "make people feel better"
