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Question about shipping cost

Janus NielsenJanus Nielsen
edited August 2008 in Shopping or Activation Support
Hi Telltale.

I just gopt the nice news about the season 2 DVD, and I of course had to get it, since i got the digital version already :).
And like with season 1, i needed the gadgets and sountrack, and got the poster and new Surfing the Highway TPB while i was at it.

But i was quite surprised when i got to the final part of the ordering, and saw that the shipping price increased with over 100% from the last time i bought from you. Paid 9.95$ in shipping on my last two shipped orders, but the price on this one has increased to 21.25$.

Have the shipping cost in the US really increased that much, or is there an error somewhere?
I'll of course buy it anyway, the over 100% price increase in cost just surprised me, so wanted to check here if it could be right, before ordering :)

Comments

  • edhamsteredhamster
    edited July 2008
    Well, I can't say for sure but I know my shipping was not nearly that high. Are you located in the US?
  • MolokovMolokov
    edited July 2008
    My shipping cost (to Australia) has also increased, but that's not such a big deal.

    However, I did get charged $3.00 in tax.... is there supposed to be tax on international orders?
  • Janus NielsenJanus Nielsen
    edited July 2008
    edhamster wrote: »
    Well, I can't say for sure but I know my shipping was not nearly that high. Are you located in the US?

    I live in Denmark, so its a long trip for the stuff. Was just 9.95 the last 2 times i ordered here :)

    Well, as long as we're not forced to use UPS or DHL, whenever theyre involved in shipping, i can add around 30$, and 25% of the items value on top of the original shipping cost. AND fight with them for a few days to get them to deliver to my workplace when they insist they can only deliver during work hours :) After having fun with UPS and DHL a few times, i simply stopped buying from places that only use them to ship their goods :(
  • EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
    edited July 2008
    However, I did get charged $3.00 in tax.... is there supposed to be tax on international orders?

    It depends on where you live. In Australia there is a 10% tax charged on the cost of everything. In the EU there is a 17% tax charged on digital goods, and none on physical goods but sometimes taxes are charged at customs.

    All of the tax calculation is done based on your address, so it's not anything we have control over.
  • SoultakerSoultaker
    edited July 2008
    Now that we're talking about tax; I got charged $3,80 on my $19,99 order of the Sam&Max softcover book. This is 19%, which also happens to be the general VAT rate for goods (in the Netherlands). There are at least three things wrong with this:

    1. VAT applies to companies in the EU; you can't collect VAT according to the Dutch VAT rate unless you also pay VAT in the Netherlands. Do you?

    2. Although the general VAT rate is 19%, there is a lower 6% rate for books (and lots of other stuff). So if VAT is added for the comic, it should be $1,20, not $3,80.

    3. If you are actually legally selling from the Netherlands or somewhere else in the EU (which I doubt) then it's actually illegal to for you to be advertising tax-exclusive prices.

    Basically, what it comes down to, is that if the tax isn't charged by the US then I don't see where it comes from. Can you shed some light on this?

    (It's not that it's about a lot of money, but I don't like to reward companies for overcharging their customers for no good reason, especially considering the extra money won't go to Telltale Games but your distribution partner.)
  • EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
    edited July 2008
    All taxes are calculated by CyberSource, a company that specializes in this stuff (and is used by a lot of ecommerce companies), based on the laws of your country. Telltale charges what CyberSource tells us to charge. The money we collect for taxes isn't kept by Telltale or by a distribution partner. It's sent to your country, to cover the taxes for what you bought from us.

    We can look into the tax rate for books being different than for other items in the Netherlands, but regarding questions #1 and #3, as I understand it we are doing exactly what we're supposed to be doing for tax collection.
  • SoultakerSoultaker
    edited July 2008
    I looked some stuff up and I was wrong; turns out that when importing from outside the EU, VAT has to be paid according to the rate of the importing country anyway. So adding VAT is probably correct.

    That leaves the rate: unless again different rules apply to sales from outside the EU than from sales inside, the 6% rate should apply to books. Could you please look into that, if it's not too much trouble?

    This was all a bit confusing/surprising to me, because I've ordered things from the US before, and I don't recall ever paying VAT according to my local rate (although I think I have paid at least sales taxes on stuff bought in the US). For example, I don't recall ever being charged VAT when buying stuff from Amazon.com. (Maybe they're just dodging taxes, though :P)
  • MickTheMageMickTheMage
    edited August 2008
    OK, I think this is the right topic. I don't know what happend, but if I remeber correctly, the shipping cost was before around $10. And there was an "International post" (or something like that) option. Now, I only see FedEx...but the problem is the shipping cost... Well, $118 is way too much - not only for me :) So, I want just ask - will be there another option, or i am done with buying from telltalestore :((. Because this is really, really too expensive :(

    And yes, I am sorry...my "speaking" english is not very good. :)
  • EmilyEmily Telltale Alumni
    edited August 2008
    There should be an international mail option that's much cheaper. If you could send me a PM with what you're trying to buy and your shipping address, I'll look into it!

    Soultaker - not ignoring you, we're working on the special tax rates for books. :)
This discussion has been closed.