Hello, VuvuBook fanciers.
Progress report:
- Book production is underway. Expecting delivery next week, along with all the packaging and gubbins required to make the magic happen.
- I'll update when the time comes to give an ETA, but my aim is to have everything shipped by Friday 8th. Monday 11th December, I can all but guarantee everything will be in transit.
- Import duty, VAT and other red tape has hit me in the blindside.
Part of The Plan for this caper was to make pricing a one-stop type deal. Single price, single shipping rate for everyone, everywhere. This is part of the reason for the cover price being what it is - it absorbs all the costs associated with shipping variously around the world. The only difference should be on my side where the margin (the amount of "profit" made) will vary by country. Two-thirds of all orders received have come from outside the UK which means I'll have some paperwork to do and payments to make.
So far, all according to plan.
I've got my international commodity codes sorted out, my international VAT number, my import details for the US and Canada... there's a ton of this stuff. Where I've been tripped up is by the EU. Yes, I know my country decided to shoot itself, not in the foot, but in the head when electing to leave the EU, but this has actually led to a situation I'm unable to resolve.
In order to rationalise VAT in the EU you need an IOSS code. You can only get an IOSS code if you are resident in an EU country. If you're outside the country you can use an intermediary agency to act on your behalf in calculating and collecting the appropriate fees. Having signed up to one such intermediary this week, it transpires that I am unable to manually add orders to calculate the appropriate tax. There's a good anti-fraud reason for not allowing this, but it never occurred to me that this would be the case. Essentially, tax has to be charged automatically at checkout.
I simply want to declare the sales and pay the damn tax. I am happy to do this, but it does not look possible (after 2 days of looking for a solution). Even my shipping company is all "yeah, nah" with such regard.
TL;DR - The upshot is that it is possible you will be asked to pay import duty on receipt of your book. My sincere apologies for this. The amount involved should be small, however if you contact me after you have received your package with a photo of the duty receipt I will refund it to you within one working day. It was always my intention to pay this duty, I hadn't anticipated that I wouldn't be able to do so.
This is why Amazon wins, y'know. Next time...
Very sorry for the inconvenience. Obviously, if this is a dealbreaker and you want to cancel your order, just push the appropriate button. I understand. This was not the plan. I was prepared for a certain amount of hassle, not a brick wall.
-CF