Customs Charges Questions

[Mr Ono]

Thanks. Will do.

[egparadigm]

does that mean they can put a note or something on your account so that future orders are also marked down?

Precisely.

[randombs]

well, i got royally bummed in the end

as they apparently didn't have time to arrange the mark-down, i got taxed. tax was £5, ups charge was £11, so altogether it was about £48 for a cd and some kanji flashcards.

that'll teach me to think up last-minute birthday ideas involving importing goods from hong kong

although PA have said they'll mark down all my packages by half from now on, and i got some coupons, too

[Pilotwings]

Everyone else automatically marks it down as cheaper. But oh no play asia doesn't care.

[CMcK]

B*gger. Phoned the other half this morning to see if our copy of Guitar Hero 3 had arrived. For only the second time ever I have been caught for customs charges from Play Asia. But £13.60 for a £20odd order! That's outrageous. How much of that is tax and how much to the Royal Mail?

[Paulos G]

I think Royal Mail charge an eight pound handling fee. Perhaps one of our resident posties could confirm?

[randombs]

that'd sound about right - my tax on £18-odd was £5

[Pilotwings]

that'd sound about right - my tax on ?18-odd was ?5

Your only supposed to get charged with import tax if the item is about ?23 pound or over.

[Pilotwings]

B*gger. Phoned the other half this morning to see if our copy of Guitar Hero 3 had arrived. For only the second time ever I have been caught for customs charges from Play Asia. But £13.60 for a £20odd order! That's outrageous. How much of that is tax and how much to the Royal Mail?

If the game was around £23-£25 mark you should only have got charged about £8 import tax not £13 that's way off.

[randombs]

no he got charged about £5 tax, the rest was the royal mail fee, and import duty is charged on anything over £18. my stuff came up to about £18.50-£19 (apparently customs sets their exchange rates every month)

[Pilotwings]

All I no is that I asked royal mail about it a couple of years ago and they told me ?23. So maybe it has changed or I was wrongly informed.

Plus I ordered a game from play asia that was ?25 pound and I paid ?8 import tax. -This was late last year

[randombs]

was it sent via royal mail? i think they used to charge only £4 if something got taxed, now i think it's about £8 (ups charges £11).

[Pilotwings]

hmmm I think it was royalmail.

[Pilotwings]

PA definitely mark down. If you've already ordered and then asked them to mark it down, then I suppose it's not guaranteed. Once the arrangement's made, they usually mark all your orders down by half.

The fact it's with a courier shouldn't make a difference. Customs generally just look at the amount declared on package and then make their charges accordingly. At least, that's what I reckon.

Dear Andrew,

Thank you for contacting Play-Asia.com.

I am sorry. Please understand you may be subject to import duties and
taxes, which are levied once a shipment reaches your country.
Additional
charges for customs clearance must be borne by you; we have no control
over these charges and cannot predict what they may be.
http://www.play-asia.com/paOS-00-3-helpcustoms-49-en.html

If you have any further questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

Best regards,

Tony
Play-Asia.com

That's wrong mate here's the proof

I have contacted playasia loads of time about marking my items down and all you get are silly replys from the ever more annoying Tony.

Ask any other shop or ebay seller from japan and i'ts not even a problem. Infact they do it automatically.

There a joke I wouldn't use them anymore for being so lazy. They are never any help through emails either. And they have sent me and other people I know faulty items loads of times without testing them.

[egparadigm]

Here is the email I had from Tony last year after requesting:

Play-Asia.com Customer Support message from 2006-12-XX XX:XX:XX HKT

Hello monomaniacpat,

thank you for contacting Play-Asia.com

We can put half price on your future invoices. Please be reminded that you will not be compensated in full in case the parcel is lost or damaged during transit. Further in case customs do not believe the value and seize the goods, it will be out of our control and we will not replace the parcel. Please confirm if you still wish us to go ahead.

If you have any further question, please do not hesitate to ask.

Best regards,

Tony
Play-Asia.com

I can't understand why he wouldn't do this for you my games still come marked down to this day.

Wishing you luck.