Re: Note : Pi 2 Zero W Now RIP-OFF Price on Amazon

On 2026-08-07, Computer Nerd Kev <[email protected]> wrote:

> s|b <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> On 7 Aug 2026 08:45:52 +1000, Computer Nerd Kev wrote:
>>
>>> s|b <[email protected]> wrote:
>>>
>>>> In Belgium it's 3 euro per item. If you're buying 100 t-shirts, it's 3
>>>> euro. If you're buying 100 t-shirts and 50 phone cases, it's 3+3 euro.
>>>> If you buy 1 t-shirt and 1 phone case, it's 3+3 euro.
>>  
>>> 3 Euro per different type of item, plus a percentage of the total
>>> indicated value for VAT, I believe.
>> 
>> No. 3 euro per article for every package with a total value of 150 euro
>> or less that is imported from a country outside the EU, so not just
>> China. (But obviously targeted at China.)
>
> Well Australia Post claims otherwise:
>
> "From 1 July 2026, all items sent to the EU, except for gifts valued 
>  below EUR45, will be subject to customs duty and VAT:
>
>  Parcels valued under EUR150: VAT will apply to the parcel, along 
>  with a flat-rate customs duty fee of EUR3 per item."
>   https://auspost.com.au/disruptions-and-updates/international-service-updates/global-customs-imports
>
> I've already written code to calculate and charge it (with all the
> different VAT rates for all the different countries in the EU),
> although upon attempting to submit a test order with that it was
> rejected by their system and after the usual few weeks delay I
> finally got a reply the other day to my query to them about that
> saying that in spite of what that webpage (still) says about
> pre-payment using Zonos (at least one USA company that must be
> doing _very_ well off Trump) they haven't implemented EU
> customs/VAT pre-payment yet and are expecting to start rolling it
> out just for parcels sent to Sweden, Denmark and Germany from the
> 14th of Aug. Other EU countries aren't worthy of comment,
> apparantly. At least they did really implement it for the UK and
> Canada.
>
> So I can believe their webpage might be wrong about VAT too, but it
> seems quite unlikely so I'd like to see a cite.

Ah, good old Zonos.  Whenever I do an oil change on the plane,
I take a sample and send it to Blackstone Labs in Indiana.
I've been doing this for years.  It used to be that I'd bring
my suitably-wrapped sample bottle to the local Canada Post
outlet, pay suitable postage (just under $10), and off it would
go.  A couple of years ago Canada Post changed their procedures,
and required me to prepare and print a customs form in advance
(for a small oil sample, fercryinoutloud).  OK, fine, there are
worse hardships.  But then the post office farmed out payment
collection to Zonos.  So off I go into the Zonos web site to
set up an account.  The questions got more and more involved,
and about the time they started asking for my first-born
male child I bailed out.  We live pretty close to the border;
it's less hassle for me to go across the line to a USPS office
in a border town - where I hand them my package, pay my postage
(still $10), and everything is good.

    The only winning move is not to play.
      -- WarGames

-- 
/~\  Charlie Gibbs                  |  In this world there are
\ /  <[email protected]>      |  two kinds of people:
 X   I'm really at ac.dekanfrus     |  1. Those who can extrapolate
/ \  if you read it the right way.  |  from incomplete data.