Got my email six hours ago but off course i was sleeping, this was the only order i placed where i selected FedEx as the shipping method.
I'm glad you upgraded it for others and it would be a great thing to get that upgrade option down the road. 👍🏻
Now i'll just sit back and wait for it to arrive, it's due for delivery on tuesday.
A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies
DHL charged me import duty on my I am legend. Thought it was 0 rate.
Paid it to get the book, but anyone disputed this type of charge with them before?
Going to appeal when I’ve got it.
Nobody likes a clown at midnight
Same here, usually import fees are 0 in the Netherlands and dutytax for books is 9% but DHL charged me for the import fees & duty tax.Originally Posted by shaq
I wouldn't mind paying it if the tax was 9% but it seems they've charged me 21% plus all additional costs.
Now i will wait for the delivery & dispute these afterwards.
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A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies
Pretty sure it should be 0.
I’ve never been charged import duty on a book to the UK.
I shall check when book inhan, then give them a call.
Nobody likes a clown at midnight
Personally, I would not mind the extra charge with DHL in the future as an option. Yes more expensive for me (don't know for you as sender?), but MUCH faster, and more service. Let me explain:All Legend AGE orders have now shipped. Carriers will pick up today. Done and dusted, as they say...
I decided to use DHL for this book on international orders. It cost more, but I felt better about doing it. I won't be upgrading to DHL for every book. As for adding it as an option, that may come down the road a little.
Mike you should have that tracking. Your order has shipped. If you didn't get it send an email to support using the contact page on the website.
With USPS the parcel always gets hold up in Dutch customs and later in a Dutch Postal Service pick up point. So more potential links where they could lose the book. The dutch customs border security will always charge a flat administrative customs clearing fee of €13,00 or €17,50 for an express (EMS) shipment . This is additional to the 9% VAT that is then placed on the parcel value plus shipping costs. So for IAL AGE $75 book + $41,13 USPS International priority mail shipping wil lead to $116,13 * 0,09 VAT for a total $10,45 VAT. But, somehow this always ends up in euro, because they ALWAYS conveniently forget currency conversion. So $10,45 becomes $11,29I can appeal of course but *surprise surprise* that's a bureaucratic nightmare so more often than not forget to do so when daily life goes on I forget about that extra dollar they use to pay my health care for. So the $75 dollar book plus $41,13 shipping will cost me $11,29 VAT and $14,04 (€13,00*1,08 ) customs clearing for a grand total of $141,43. Once customs finally clears the book, a process which can take up to 14 days(!), it is not send to my house, but to a pick up point for the dutch postal service (PostNL). The dutch postal service does not want to handle the required VAT and customs payments at the door (too much hassle and more importantly too much lost time for them in which they could be delivering more parcels) , so they let pickup points handle that money transaction. I can only do this on Saturday (closed on Sundays) or if I am very lucky and manage to reach them on work days before 6 pm at which they close. Very rare are the days I get home from work before 6 pm.
Then DHL: While writing this post DHL just charged me €13,05 VAT and €17,55 advance payment fee (they do not state their exact customs clearance fee but incorporate it in this fee) for a total of €30,60. I got a confirmation yesterday that they will deliver IAL AGE Tuesday May 26th at my doorstep. €30,60 = $33,05. So with DHL it is the $75 book plus $70(Is this correct Paul?)shipping cost + $33,05 VAT and clearing= $178,05
USPS International priority $141,43
DHL international express $178,05
So yes DHL is more expensive but it's an express service and the book arrives in The Netherlands at my doorstep and I get the option to deliver at a time that is convenient to me or leave instructions to leave the book in a secure place (my garage) or a trusted neighbor. All this is coordinated through an app on my iPhone or through text messages which direct me to the dal website.
USPS has an international express service as well which is $77,68 with Suntup. This would increase the clearance cost to €17,50 because it's an EMS shipment like DHL. The total would be $75+$77,68+$13,74 VAT+$18,90 customs clearing for a grand total of $185,32. I have not used this yet because I still have to wait for customs clearance when USPS transfers the parcel to the dutch postal service (because it's EMS they will do it faster as that gets priority but I still have to wait). It will also go to a pickup point still and not my door. So for me, this is never as good option in The Netherlands. More expensive and less service.
So full summary for IAL AGE $75 list price from the beautiful state of California (USA) to The Netherlands (EU):
$141,43: USPS Priority Mail international: Shipping time 10-14 days in normal times. >6weeks in current Corona times. Hold up in customs. No delivery at my door.
$178,05: DHL Express international: Shipping time 5 days. Delivery at my door. Customizable delivery with varying time slots, option to deliver at neighbor or secure location on my property when I am not at home)
$185,32: USPS Priority Mail Express International: (estimate) 5-7days in normal times. Hold up in customs, albeit with priority handling. No delivery at my door.
Especially now in Corona times I will gladly pay those $30+ extra for the service of DHL
P.S. while typing this my 6yr old son asked me who the boy was in the batman shirt. I hope you can live with "a cool book maker" for an answer
Looking for SubPress Lettered:Farseer Trilogy; Shadow of the Wind, Angel's Game, Prisoner of Heaven
Looking for Centipede Press S/L: Dracula
All of the above is specific for The Netherlands. Every EU country can set their own VAT and every EU country has it's own main postal service.
I am very interested in how this plays out for the UK, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland, etc etc
For the UK I know there is 0% VAT on books for example. That is a HUGE difference in cost, especially when you are talking S/L numbered and lettered editions...
Very good point, I hope import tax isn’t the norm, I am uk. A few more signed ltd this year, hopefully without that charge.
Nobody likes a clown at midnight
This has happened to me a few times with Books which should have had no Import duty. For me it has been Parcelforce. You can appeal and potentially get the duty back, BUT what you wont get back is the courier's "Handling Charge" which is usually 4 - 5 x the Duty amount. I have complained repeatedly to Parcelforce and they just say "we can only go by whats on the label". Paul did a great job in improving the labelling to state zero duty items and I haven't been charged since.
"A real limited edition, far from being an expensive autograph stapled to a novel, is a treasure. And like all treasures do, it transforms the responsible owner into a caretaker, and being a caretaker of something as fragile and easily destroyed as ideas and images is not a bad thing but a good one...and so is the re-evaluation of what books are and what they do that necessarily follows." - Stephen King
Cheers, I shall see when the box arrives, I will be too excited by the contents to worry about it by then.This has happened to me a few times with Books which should have had no Import duty. For me it has been Parcelforce. You can appeal and potentially get the duty back, BUT what you wont get back is the courier's "Handling Charge" which is usually 4 - 5 x the Duty amount. I have complained repeatedly to Parcelforce and they just say "we can only go by whats on the label". Paul did a great job in improving the labelling to state zero duty items and I haven't been charged since.
Nobody likes a clown at midnight
This is awesome, no matter what they are.
It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
All kidding aside, this is actually a good idea.
It seems I'm miles above the surface of the Earth
I can see across the whole of London and beyond
I should get mine next Sat. I would probably pay the extra for DHL as well. These books are well worth the extra shipping cost for the "Just to be sure" piece of mind.
My Collection
https://www.thedarktower.org/palaver...ction-MikeDuke
My Suntup Flikr page
https://www.flickr.com/people/190710085@N03/
I should receive my copy on tuesday, before the end of the day.
A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies
Wonderful surprise to receive the Artist Gift of I AM LEGEND today, well ahead of the Tuesday USPS projected delivery date. It is, of course, another very handsome Suntup Gift edition, and I am happy to add it to my Matheson collection. The slipcase is a standout on this, Paul. Well done. The art, as well. I'd post pics (I took a few, along side my Gauntlet edition- they are exactly the same size), but, A) let's let everyone have the thrill of their own reception, and B), despite what Br1an says: I still can't be bothered to do the 12 Step Pic Upload Shuffle
More and more, I am loving these gift editions Paul does. Hope there's more coming as I think it still gets Paul's unique book design aesthetic into the hands of book-lovers who just can't possibly spring upwards of $500- $700 per book.
That's a very welcome surprise indeed!Wonderful surprise to receive the Artist Gift of I AM LEGEND today, well ahead of the Tuesday USPS projected delivery date. It is, of course, another very handsome Suntup Gift edition, and I am happy to add it to my Matheson collection. The slipcase is a standout on this, Paul. Well done. The art, as well. I'd post pics (I took a few, along side my Gauntlet edition- they are exactly the same size), but, A) let's let everyone have the thrill of their own reception, and B), despite what Br1an says: I still can't be bothered to do the 12 Step Pic Upload Shuffle
More and more, I am loving these gift editions Paul does. Hope there's more coming as I think it still gets Paul's unique book design aesthetic into the hands of book-lovers who just can't possibly spring upwards of $500- $700 per book.
I use Tapatalk to upload the pictures, works like a charm.
A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies
Well said!
"...that Siren which called and sang and promised so much and gave, after all, so little." ~ Ray Bradbury
Which is absolutely unreliable at the moment for international shipments. I had a Priority Mail Express International parcel sent to the UK on 13 May. It departed from a Chicago regional facility on 19 May, and is in complete limbo since then. Friends have similar experiences. Fedex works okay.
Priority is not guaranteed. Express is guaranteed. At least in normal times.Which is absolutely unreliable at the moment for international shipments. I had a Priority Mail Express International parcel sent to the UK on 13 May. It departed from a Chicago regional facility on 19 May, and is in complete limbo since then. Friends have similar experiences. Fedex works okay.
"One day you're going to figure out that everything they taught you was a lie."
The parcel is Express. USPS lifted guarantees for most EU shipments for the time being.Priority is not guaranteed. Express is guaranteed. At least in normal times.Which is absolutely unreliable at the moment for international shipments. I had a Priority Mail Express International parcel sent to the UK on 13 May. It departed from a Chicago regional facility on 19 May, and is in complete limbo since then. Friends have similar experiences. Fedex works okay.
Mine came today... first off, the book looks superb. Looks great, thanks Paul.
Secondly, dhl opened it as a security check, saw it was a book, then still charged me import duty on the damn thing. Even though Paul has stated on the front, value $50, and literary content, zero vat to be charged, and they still stung me £20!! Cheeky beggars.
Edited to add. Apparently its a charge for opening the package and checking it is nothing dangerous and it is what is stated on the label.
Nobody likes a clown at midnight
Received my copy of IAL today too. I have to say, it's one of the nicest gift editions I have ever seen!
Paul, you rock!!!!
This is a beaut. Horns has it for me, but still awesome.
Nobody likes a clown at midnight
It's here! Thank you Paul, i absolutely love it!
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A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies
That seems like a silly charge to me. I suppose the safety precautions are well justified in today's world, but it seems kind of goofy for them to do a security check on your package and then charge you for having done said security check.
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