Iherb Food Items - VAT charges + €10 DHL charge over orders €22+

Seanachai

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

Thanks.
I always use airmail but usually keep it under 25 euro but they currently have free shipping on orders over $40 so I was thinking of going for that but no point if I get hit for customs.

I get the impression that customs are latching onto deliveries from iherb through DHL. Maybe they're an easy target and it makes them look good in terms of revenue.

The Davestator

So I'm locked in a battle with a debt collection agency in the UK over my refusal to pay DHL. I'll let you know what happens!

MisterAnarchy

I got caught for 16 euro by An Post the other day for a 40 dollar order.
Pure blackguards charging Vat and duties on vitamins .

Seanachai

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

I got caught for 16 euro by An Post the other day for a 40 dollar order.
Pure blackguards charging Vat and duties on vitamins .

Jesus don't tell me An Post are at it now too :mad: If you don't mind me asking what were the products?

maggiepip

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

I got caught for 16 euro by An Post the other day for a 40 dollar order.
Pure blackguards charging Vat and duties on vitamins .

If you read back over the thread you'll see for most vitamins and fish oils there is no VAT. Theres also a link to revenues site which states this. Did you order items classed as food by any chance?

Seanachai

maggiepip wrote: »

If you read back over the thread you'll see for most vitamins and fish oils there is no VAT. Theres also a link to revenues site which states this. Did you order items classed as food by any chance?

If they get a hint that there's anything herbal in the package they seem to apply a charge. It's ridiculously draconian, I know they have a job to do but they should be focusing on narcotics not legitimate, safe supplements from reliable companies.

maggiepip

Are they trying to put iherb out of business, they seem to have a vendetta against them.

Seanachai

maggiepip wrote: »

Are they trying to put iherb out of business, they seem to have a vendetta against them.

Probably because they're the most common one that people use, they're probably hitting guys ordering testosterone boosting herbs from the bodybuilding sites too. Ginkgo Biloba grows in some people's gardens and it's illegal now, I know that there are dodgy companies out there selling contaminated products but they could bring in a certification system to solve this. You want to take charge of your own health prob because you can't get any good out of our health system and they clamp down on that too. I'm fed up with their meddling and laws at this stage.

maggiepip

We haven't been charged VAT since we were refunded a large sum for wrongly being charged VAT over the period of a year, but for our last order customs held it until we produced proof of payment for the goods, so had to forward order/invoice and bank statement via dhl to customs, which was obviously a pain. Don't know what exactly their reasons for that was.

Seanachai

maggiepip wrote: »

We haven't been charged VAT since we were refunded a large sum for wrongly being charged VAT over the period of a year, but for our last order customs held it until we produced proof of payment for the goods, so had to forward order/invoice and bank statement via dhl to customs, which was obviously a pain. Don't know what exactly their reasons for that was.

I have a feeling that this is policy that is being dictated from Europe, with the ban on very useful herbs. I think the pharmaceutical lobby really got their way this time. I'm reluctant to order online now tbh, I might just be getting a bus up North instead. It could also be the state being so desperate for revenue that they're plugging up the holes by grabbing at any source they can.

nutshell75

So does VAT apply to herbs like Rhodiola and Ginseng? Do irish health food stores charge VAT on them but not on vitamins/minerals/fish oils? I have been using iherb for many years and have only recently been charged VAT on an entire order. I have always used the cheapest shipping option in order to avoid any customs issues.

Seanachai

nutshell75 wrote: »

So does VAT apply to herbs like Rhodiola and Ginseng? Do irish health food stores charge VAT on them but not on vitamins/minerals/fish oils? I have been using iherb for many years and have only recently been charged VAT on an entire order. I have always used the cheapest shipping option in order to avoid any customs issues.

Best bet is the regular mail option, they're going to want to boost the state coffers, that's the nature of revenue. The hit rate with regular mail seems to be a lot less, their resources are limited so there's not enough time in the day for them to get all the packages.

Seanachai

iherb now have a DPD option, it states that the postage charges are all-inclusive and customers will not be charged any more at delivery. I placed my first order in a long time so I'll see how it goes. Hopefully it doesn't go the same way as DHL, I miss being able to get rare products on iherb.

korb

Seanachai wrote: »

iherb now have a DPD option, it states that the postage charges are all-inclusive and customers will not be charged any more at delivery. I placed my first order in a long time so I'll see how it goes. Hopefully it doesn't go the same way as DHL, I miss being able to get rare products on iherb.

DPD don't charge any extras. I am ordering for the last good few months but what are they doing for some reason on my last 3 delivery: at arrival in Shannon they never import scan the parcel, send out until the destination city via Dublin then instead of going out for delivery it is recalled back to Shannon via Dublin and resend back for delivery, so it will have a 2-3 days delay.

Seanachai

korb wrote: »

DPD don't charge any extras. I am ordering for the last good few months but what are they doing for some reason on my last 3 delivery: at arrival in Shannon they never import scan the parcel, send out until the destination city via Dublin then instead of going out for delivery it is recalled back to Shannon via Dublin and resend back for delivery, so it will have a 2-3 days delay.

That's strange, as long as I'm not hit with extra charges though I can wait

bigronnie9

Hi Lads,

Never used iHerb before but was going to and found this thread...

I'm not seeing the option for DPD at all, just DHL or UPS?

Would the likes of Vit D, Magnesium and Omega 3 be subject to the VAT? I dont think so from reading this thread but not 100% sure?

Thanks!

yergrand

i've ordered vitd and magnesium from iherb loads of times, used the cheapest post and the dhl for small-large size orders. never had to pay anything on top of what the website said I'd pay

bigronnie9

yergrand wrote: »

i've ordered vitd and magnesium from iherb loads of times, used the cheapest post and the dhl for small-large size orders. never had to pay anything on top of what the website said I'd pay

cheers for that, ordered last night, hopefully no extra charges so!

vigos

bigronnie9 wrote: »

cheers for that, ordered last night, hopefully no extra charges so!

did everything arrive ok?

bigronnie9

vigos wrote: »

did everything arrive ok?

it did indeed, ordered monday evening for delivery with DHL, and package arrived and ready for collection from one of there swift points on Thursday evening, very quick in fairness!

daveyjoe

Just got stung for €38.42 on a €150 order. Big order in fairness, never got charged customs before though... should have split it up to avoid getting stung.

Transform

daveyjoe wrote: »

Just got stung for €38.42 on a €150 order. Big order in fairness, never got charged customs before though... should have split it up to avoid getting stung.

that was always going to raise a red flag

Keep mine generally 4 or less items and less than 50 in value and have only gotten charged once in many many orders as a result of this

dave13

Anyone used the free local post option as opposed to DHL?
Are An post as stringent?
going to try with a $40 order first

DM-BM

I always use the local post option and never had a problem.

Most of my orders are in the $30-£50 range but I have had a few in the $70-$85 range and was never charged anything extra.

Seanachai

dave13 wrote: »

Anyone used the free local post option as opposed to DHL?
Are An post as stringent?
going to try with a $40 order first

Never had problems with the local post option

MisterAnarchy

I was recently caught for 17 euro by An Post on a $34 dollar order.
17 euro in charges , absolute joke .
I normally keep the order under 25 dollars to avoid the possibility of customs but said I'd chance a slightly higher order as the postage was reduced.
I knew it would backfire on me .

Seanachai

MisterAnarchy wrote: »

I was recently caught for 17 euro by An Post on a $34 dollar order.
17 euro in charges , absolute joke .
I normally keep the order under 25 dollars to avoid the possibility of customs but said I'd chance a slightly higher order as the postage was reduced.
I knew it would backfire on me .

I also got stung with a customs charge on my order this week. I chose the snail-mail with An Post option to avoid extra charges, but they've obviously cottoned on to this now.

nightrave

Does anyone know what local operator does the final mile delivery for them? I've ordered with the cheapest option, the DHL GLobal tracking said it arrived in Athlone on August 21st but I haven't received anything yet. Not even a custom's post to pay taxes. An Post couldn't help and they mentioned it might be Nightline that would be the delivery company. Any suggestions?

paw patrol

I generally order 2 bottles of fish oil from iherb (70e) and never an issue.

last order was 85 cos I threw in a box of protein bars...no issue.
But I won't be going over that

MisterAnarchy

Iherbs delivery charges seem to have shot up .