I actually checked this and Bax do have a registered address in Kent with companies house… I’m no lawyer (and to be clear have no affliation with them) but they look legit
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They’re definitely legit, and that’s good to know about the UK subsidiary - which I do believe is also necessary for VAT payments between the EU /UK now as well.
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Behringer Neutron 167GBP
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Personally I’ve had no problems buying from DV247.
All VAT handled as per normal.
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that was quick, back to £224 now
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Same - other than it says ‘in Romford warehouse’ but really it comes from Germany and takes a couple more days than expected - no added charges in my experience.
Also the Romford place is real - think it was the last in-person music shop I went to a bit before lockdown
was that in the last 6 months then?
I’ve had two friends in recent months got really screwed over with them regarding Brexit related import taxes. They reassured the buyers that they didn’t need to pay anything more as they had sorted that out for them, but then once they got the charges from the courier wanted nothing more to do with them, as the items weren’t in Romford but coming from Germany. And they paid VAT in the UK which shouldn’t be charged if the items are entering the country from the EU.
Perhaps they have resolved these challenges now! That would be good for many people!
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It was January - maybe I was lucky - fairly low price item too /£120 or something…
Thanks for the warning
It’s true that in January things were still adjusting, as I also got away with stuff coming through at that point in time. And yes, the low price of your item would have meant it was under the £135 fee charging, but be warned in future. So many stories of people thinking they’ve picked up a great bargain at Thomann or somewhere, only to find out that it could have been just as easy to get it in the UK at the same price after all.
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Are some rules changes around now ? Something to do with vat charges under the old threshold ?
It confuses me so I mostly buy from uk stores / gumtree in the uk.
DV247? Around early-April. Just paid the online price as advertised - the VAT was included - no extra charges or additional duties.
It did appear from the manifest that the items shipped from Germany.
This is quite helpful to understand the situation. So you shouldn’t be charged VAT in the UK, and then in addition customs charges on entry to the UK, and that’s been the issue with many customers at Bax and DV247. They are charging VAT here but goods are coming from mainland EU, so in an sense you are charged twice. If you challenge them they won’t help you out. I even wrote to them myself to ask about this but they weren’t of any assistance at all unfortunately. Some goods get through without being charged of course, whilst others are stopped. I’ve been lucky with a couple of parcels from the EU and not had to pay anything too
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It ultimately comes down to paperwork. Sounds like it could be hit and miss with Bax/DV247. If lacking the correct paperwork on arrival at the border then customs effectively treat it as vatable.
Best paying with a credit card, claiming through them and telling customs and Bax/DV247 to beat it if they are unwilling to help. No danger I’d be paying the balance and then trying to seek a refund!
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I’ve had various comings and goings in and out of the EU over the last few weeks.
I accidentally sent some gear to Elektron for repair with none of the necessary paperwork, literally just the barcode that the drop off lady put on it. I do not recommend this. It took a fair bit of mucking about and wasted a good bit of Elektron staff’s time, but it got there in the end. I’m a very lucky boy. Thanks to Christian at Elektron and the friendly people at UPS for saving my skin.
However, in the process of bollocking it all up I discovered that it’s actually not that complicated a system if you fill out the forms properly (which isn’t really a big deal). The return journey from Gothenburg took 3 days.
I’ve bought a couple of bits from DV247 over the £135 threshold last month which came from Germany without issue, paid the VAT upfront and delivered without any duties 3 days later. I also sent one thing back to Germany, with the correct forms (which took about 5 mins to sort out and DV247 sent me everything I needed along with very clear instructions). Smooth.
I bought a Eurorack case from Thomann a couple of weeks ago and paid the VAT and other duties to UPS over the phone before delivery, still came in cheaper than any UK stockists (by quite a margin).
I have little to no concerns about buying from companies based in the EU. Still wouldn’t want to do any eBay or private sales though, as that might well be a ballache.
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I had something delivered from Greece that came in unchecked and no taxes added. Just my good luck this time as shouldve been charged. Well happy
I had an absolute nightmare with DV247 in March this year… I’ve never felt the need to document any purchase via Google Reviews but, given it was truly shocking, I did so to warn others… and it turns out there were a lot of others.
They brazenly lied to me on the phone 4 times telling me my item had shipped… when I rang them back on the 5th occasion I was transferred to a guy in Germany who was an absolute tit with an attitude to match… who then lied to me again… I was told repeatedly (for 5 weeks) that the item had shipped so they couldn’t refund it, but they could never give a tracking number, just said I had to let it arrive and send it back… in the end I opened a PP dispute and got the money back.
So, never again will I use DV247.
I’ve bought a few things in from Thomann and everything has been fine, paid the vat to UPS.
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Some postal services are collecting the tax after the fact. I thought I’d got away with paying tax on my Norand Mono, but the I got a letter from DHL almost 3 months later wanting the tax they paid to HMRC.
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Did you get charged VAT on the equipment sent for repair on return to the UK?
I am only buying from Andertons, Signal Sound, Juno and sometimes Gear4Music when the stock is in UK and not in Sweden.
Dv247 stock is mainly in Germany.
Nope, all I paid was the standard shipping fees.
The paperwork is quite simple really, you just put down all the relevant VAT/import/Duty information (which, in this case, all had been done for me) and state what is in the package and that it is a customer return and sign it, then attach it to the outside of the box in a clear plastic pouch. Given that it is going from a private address to a company and back again, it’s a safe bet that that’s what’s going on. Of course Customs operatives have a right to inspect what’s in the box, but what benefit is there for a company to commit tax fraud on behalf of their customers?
The reason I cocked up sending the gear was a mixture of baby brain, a broken printer ande misreading the UPS website and thinking they would just print out the customs forms at the drop off depot.
After my parcel didn’t move out of Tamworth for 3 weeks, I figured I’d buggered something up, but a few calls and emails later and all I had to do was email some guy the correct customs forms and hey presto!
I think where a lot of confusion is creeping in is that there are essentially three different charges for good entering the UK from the EU; VAT, Customs Tariffs and Carriage/Handling charges.
VAT is obviously 20%, the customs Tariffs vary depending on which one of the thousands of different categories of good you are receiving. Having done a fair bit of research, it seems most music gear will be subject to between about 0 and 3% customs tariffs. So far, I’ve not seen carriage/handling fees of more than about 2%.
Importantly, if it’s not goods being traded or gifts being given, it is not subject to either VAT or Customs Tariffs.
I think that a lot of the problems may well be linked to the people sending the goods either not filling the form out properly or getting the tariff code for the item wrong.
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