Does anyone know what the customs dues would be to buy a basic framework laptop in the UK (obviously varying with spec/price)? When I have very occasionally bought stuff from the US before I’ve been hit with incomprehensible and unexpected customs dues some time after the purchase.
As far as I understand Framework are covering it all in their standard prices.
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I don’t think that’s possible, is it? I know Framework are covering the VAT, but I thought the customs side of things had to be paid by the recipient? I would be very happy to be proved wrong!
Of course that is possible (and common practice), it’s called Delivered Duty Paid (DDP), where the shipper pays all customs duties and import VAT up front.
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It absolutely is possible and happens all the time. All appropriate fees are prepaid by the sender, rather than paid on receipt by the recipient - as Oliver said.
I import quite a lot of things from various places (US, Canada, China, etc. as well as the EU) and it definitely is possible. It depends on whether the seller is organised enough to be able to collect the right amount of taxes and fees in advance, and on the shipping partner and service they choose - as the courier basically collects everything on behalf of the Government.
Thanks Oliver and Andy
I’d never heard of ‘Delivered Duty Paid’ and weirdly can’t find it on gov.uk (doesn’t mean its not there, but they aren’t making it easy to find) - but its good to know it exists.
So the only question I have left is, have Framework explicitly said anywhere that they include Delivered Duty Paid in their prices? I haven’t seen it, but they could easily be using another term that I’ve missed.
It’s an Incoterms term, see for example here Incoterms - Wikipedia or here DDP – Delivery Duty Paid (Place of Destination) - Incoterms 2020 - Incoterms.
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They now have a UK hub (along with Germany, and the pre-existing Canada and US setup), so if you ordered to UK you’d be getting a domestic product not subject to import/customs fees - so there isn’t anything to factor in after checkout as long as you select UK as your ‘country or region’.
I doubt this, as it states here Framework | Now Available for Pre-order in UK, Germany, and France :
All orders will ship directly from our new warehousing partner in Taoyuan, Taiwan, just a short truck ride away from our final assembly location
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They explicitly state VAT Included - which is the only applicable charge for a laptop import as far as I know, so effectively yeah they have said.
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