Swindle01 wrote:It isnt illegal to tell the store to mark an item as gift considering you are paying them there wages AND your paying for the damn shipping.
You have the option to mark it as gift - hence why its not illegal - the problem you get with items marked as merchandise in the uk is that if i purchased Hegemon for example and paid tfsource $40 for postage then this happens - I pay 80+40 for the postage to have the item sent to the uk - item arrives in customsUK - because the idiots at TFsource cannot do a simple request this then happens - A letter comes for me from customsUK saying i have to pay them £40 YES 40! thats OVER $80 to just be given my parcel. The retards at customs UK seem to think $40 counts as £40 on postage and because its marked as merchandise they then charge me to just be given my parcel
Nonetheless, you're asking them to falsify a customs declaration form. That. Is. Illegal.
You wouldnt walk into a store and pay twice for an item or go to a mcdonalds drive-threw and then be told you have to pay extra for a guy to hand you the bag through your window
That's a false argument because whatever goods you're purchasing, you're keeping within the country. If I'm in the US, and I buy me some merchandise that isn't food, then I drive across the border to Canada, there's a pretty good chance they will ask me for customs charges. Welcome to the dealings of International Trade. That's the system whether you want to complain about it or not.
Besides, according to the
UK Border Agency's site, you're eligible for duty on a gift package if it's over £40, so for this package you're screwed either way.
Is it easy to get around? Sure, and most people (including me) do it. However in the slim chance you get a stickler at the desk, they have every right to either charge you or refuse the package entry into your country. And there ain't nothing you can do about it. If you want to do something about it; might I suggest campaigning for a change in International Tariff laws? Perhaps writing your elected representative?
Also when the insecticons first came out i got all 3 of them for £25 each from a china seller (this was when they first came out so no there not the ko versions)
Congrats, you found a way to beat the system on those. But that isn't what the MSRP on the figure apparently were.
So again - you're asking them to falsify documents and you're PO'd that the figures are on par with what most of the fandom pays for FP stuff.