Theory11 hurt me =(

[Mark]

I recently ordered a brick of playing cards at theory11.com, paid for the products and shipping, had the order ship to me, had the postman ring my doorbell and then.. I had to pay 22.19 euros extra. What for?! Ever since I'm a magician I ordered hundreds of playing cards from the United States but although I ordered decks at tens of different sellers this has seriously never happened to me before. 22.19 EUR (30 USD) is even more than I usually pay for the shipping of packages from the US which include twice as many decks of cards.

So I emailed Theory11 and thought you would all be very curious about this. I apparently couldn't contact them at the email address they put at the order mail though, so I decided to do it through the contact form on their website. Hereby the emails so far:

Originally Posted by Mark Hilkemeijer

Dear Sir/Madam,

I received my order but I had to pay 22.19 euros extra to actually receive it. This apparently is made out of extra taxes (9.69 EUR) and customs clearance (12.50 EUR). I have ordered plenty of cards and bricks from the US (often 24 decks per package) but I never had to pay extra for such things before.

Could you please tell me why those costs were not included in what I paid for on the website? I think this is a bit strange, also because it involves more money than I usually pay for the entire shipping of such and bigger packages.

Thank you and best wishes.

Yours sincerely,

Mark Hilkemeijer

PS: I tried emailing this to the contact email from below the 'order shipment notification' but I keep getting failure notifications about the emails not getting through to that email address.

Originally Posted by theory11 support

Mark,

Thanks for that order - hope your week has been going well.

I apologize for this inconvenience. The VAT (value added tax) charge is no different than any state tax our citizens are liable for. Unfortunately, all members are responsible for their local taxes, including international members, as stated here: http://www.theory11.com/shipping_options.php

Some items imported to the U.K., such as food, are exempt from the VAT tax. That said, most items are charged this VAT tax. I did a quick google search for your convenience, http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/MoneyTax...Tax/DG_4015895

Please let us know if you have any additional questions.

Thanks, and have a Happy New Year!

theory11 support

Originally Posted by Mark Hilkemeijer

Dear Theory11 support,

Thank you for your clarification. I do not understand it very well though, so please allow me to elaborate:

I understand that I had to pay VAT of 9.69 EUR, but because the VAT wasn't included in the costs on your website I had to pay 12.50 EUR on top of it for the clearance and having the package actually being handed to me by the postman. In all orders from the United States I ever made, the VAT prices always were included from the very beginning. In this case it would have saved me not just the 9.69 EUR, but also the additional 12.50 EUR as this is the price we usually pay over here for paying the postman whenever he needs to accept cash.

Nowhere on the article or in the shopping cart it says that the costs are without the VAT charges. Instead, it says 'Grand total' which makes it seem like those really are all the costs the buyers would have to pay. Why wouldn't you guys have all the VAT charges included to begin with, just like all of your concurrents and sellers on eBay and on other online markets who save buyers a lot of money that way? To be honest, the shipping charges on your website already aren't the cheapest, but to pay this many additional costs that end up into nowhere should be both frustrating for the buyers and for you as seller.

This also means that "The more you buy, the more you save!" on decks is rendered invalid because the more people buy, the more additional costs they will have to pay which ends up being much more than the discount they got at first.

I am very sorry for the frustration, but I hope you understand and take this into consideration. This current situation is a big let down to me.

Thank you.

Best regards,

Mark Hilkemeijer

Please let me know what you think about this.