When you can't find any cds to buy-frustration

[Choo Choo]

Declaring something as a gift does not, sadly, exempt it from import duty.  The threshold for gifts (£36) is twice that for non gifts, thereafter the same rates apply.

What you need is a supplier who'll declare the goods both as a gift and value $10.  That's unlikely to be Tower.

[Mark]

Declaring something as a gift does, not sadly, exempt it from import duty.  The threshold for gifts (£36) is twice that for non gifts, thereafter the same rates apply.

What you need is a supplier who'll declare the goods both as a gift and value $10.  That's unlikely to be Tower.

That's odd. I've had items worth over £36 sent to me from the States and marked as 'gift', yet I've not paid a penny in duty. Perhaps I just got lucky on the three occasions when this occurred.

[Bunny]

Downloads, anyone?

Just about all of the downloads I've ever seen are compressed music.  That's okay for Ipod, but it just doesn't stand up on the big speakers which magnify all the flaws.  Also, there's that nasty problem with drm.  EMI may be drm free, but that's about it, and EMI downloads are still compressed to 192 or 256 kbps MP3 -- not enough quality for speaker playback.  No, Mark, I'll stick with cds until the sound quality offered improves [i/]substantially[/i].

[Bunny]

That's odd. I've had items worth over £36 sent to me from the States and marked as 'gift', yet I've not paid a penny in duty. Perhaps I just got lucky on the three occasions when this occurred.

The interesting thing about that is that "value" is not the same as price.  The value of any item is far lower than the price charged for it.  That lets in a lot of things that would be flagged.  The "value" of a cd is actually pennies, not pounds (or dollars).

[Mark]

Bunny, there's no questioning that big speakers and good systems make MP3s a no-no for most people serious about their music. But as to the question of DRM, not every site sells tracks hampered by this evil technology. In fact, I won't give my custom to any site that DOES add DRM.

[Mark]

The interesting thing about that is that "value" is not the same as price.  The value of any item is far lower than the price charged for it.  That lets in a lot of things that would be flagged.  The "value" of a cd is actually pennies, not pounds (or dollars).

Probably explains why I've got away with books, software and CDs without coughing up.

[Valentino]

Just about all of the downloads I've ever seen are compressed music.  That's okay for Ipod, but it just doesn't stand up on the big speakers which magnify all the flaws.  Also, there's that nasty problem with drm.  EMI may be drm free, but that's about it, and EMI downloads are still compressed to 192 or 256 kbps MP3 -- not enough quality for speaker playback.  No, Mark, I'll stick with cds until the sound quality offered improves [i/]substantially[/i].

I haven't checked for DRM, but Linn Records lets you download uncompressed music.

[Bunny]

Declared value is always very, very low and rarely reflects the price paid when goods are imported in to a country.  It's some sort of blind spot or loophole.  The value of a book can be only the cost of the paper, ink and binding -- pennies.  Try and bring in a work of art and the ballgame changes.  More factors come into play, as an example, age starts to matter.  Antiques (defined as 100 years of age or greater) are usually duty free, especially if you are bringing back an item of historic value or returning an antiquity to its country of origin.  Certain goods, such as unset and/or uncut diamonds, are also duty free.  If they weren't, the diamond trade would wither up and die. 

[Bunny]

I haven't checked for DRM, but Linn Records lets you download uncompressed music.

That's a site I'm going to check out!

[Choo Choo]

Declared value is always very, very low and rarely reflects the price paid when goods are imported in to a country.

This unfortunately is not the view taken by HM Revenue & Customs in the UK:

Duty is charged on the price paid for the goods including any local sales taxes plus postage, packing and insurance costs.

[Bunny]

Yes, but that is usually when you are reentering a country with goods purchased abroad.  When something is sent as a "gift" its declared value does not have to represent the price.  Take a used cd, for instance: the price at auction may be $100, but it's value is merely the cost of the cd, and a used cd is valued lower than a new cd.  Customs officers have formulas for the value of certain items, and I'll bet that cds and books when imported or received as gifts are valued lower than the price.  Without a sales receipt with a dollars and cents (or pounds and pence) bottom line, the value is what the sender assigns it.

[Bunny]

I haven't checked for DRM, but Linn Records lets you download uncompressed music.

Linn downloads are DRM free.