exxos's Atari, Amiga & retro forum

I ordered a Book 8086 from Ali Express in April and it came, oddly, via the Netherlands and there was no customs charge.

I recently ordered its bigger brother the Pocket 386. It was from a different Ali Express store, but also shipped through the Netherlands. Interestingly it worked out about £4 cheaper than the other machine.

However, despite the similar prices and the same shipping route, the Pocket 386 has a customs charge of £38!!!

I find this very weird that the cheaper of the two items would attract a charge. It seems nonsensical to me.

I kind of don't want to cause a fuss in case the ask me to pay a charge on the other item!!!

That's Just how it goes at the Game Of Customs. Last time it was overlooked, not this time.

sporniket wrote: 07 Jun 2024 09:30 That's Just how it goes at the Game Of Customs. Last time it was overlooked, not this time.

You're quite right it is a game. I hate lack of consistency...

Maybe the more expensive store prepaid custom / duty charges?

DoG wrote: 07 Jun 2024 12:27 Maybe the more expensive store prepaid custom / duty charges?

Yep, thats it exactly, I just had a deeper look at the order in more detail and the tax was paid at the point of order, but for the latest one it wasn't.

sporniket wrote: 07 Jun 2024 09:30 That's Just how it goes at the Game Of Customs. Last time it was overlooked, not this time.

Indeed. The UK Customs are under staffed and hence only look at random parcels going through the system.

It goes both ways. Sometimes you get a tax free parcel and sometimes…

One time I ordered two pairs of shoes at once, the company shipped them separately but included a copy of the invoice for both in each box. Double customs fun!

It is inconsistent. In 2021 the import VAT threshold was abolished in the so called European Union, meaning that all those low value Chinese goods should be processed and a fee and VAT charged. That doesn't happen very often, probably because there would be no goods at all if they did that.

It's a lesson really.

Always check to see if the VAT is paid before you buy, though sometimes this isn't clear on places like Ali Express.

The other thing with Ali Express is to check the item you order. The site uses a system where the product is defined by a 'colour'. Order the wrong 'colour' and you might not get what you think you should get...

Yup, tell me about it. I got 50pcs of 64pin DIP sockets... but the leg pitch was 2mm (instead of 2,54). Great price but... not really useful.