This may seem petty to some, but am I the only one who scoffs at Singular Sound charging a $35 shipping fee to ship a single SD card to Germany?
I frequently order items from the U.S. A small padded envelope or box generally costs less then $10 to ship via USPS First Class International Mail.
Asked Singular Sound about this, The answer was that they used “bulk rate shipping.” For a single SD card? Why would anyone do something so ill-advised? That’s a VERY expensive way of shipping something so small.
Guess it’s just my problem. I don’t normally whine, but I really dislike overpaying. Especially when I know exactly what it costs.
Is this a problem for anyone else, or is everyone else ok with this?
Was there a VAT separated out from the $35 or was it part of the shipping fee. The VAT in Germany appears to be set at 19%. 19% of $199 is about $38. I don’t really have a good understanding of who pays what, where, or when, but it would seem plausible that the VAT gets paid up front at the time of shipping.
From Singular’s ‘Cart’ FAQ…
“Additionally, please be aware that orders outside of the U.S. may incur additional VAT fees by customs.”
The $35 is only for shipping. Here’s how it works. An import fee (I believe it’s 3.7% in this case. I would have to look up the category to make sure. It’s usually 3.7% for musical items.) is assessed by adding the cost of the item plus shipping. $199 + $35 = $234. The import tax is added to that number = $242.65. Then 19% VAT is added to that = $288.76. At that price it’s within a few dollars of the cost of the pedal itself. Pricey for a software upgrade.
BTW, in this case all the taxes are paid by the recipient when the item is delivered. Singular Sound pays none of those taxes for you.
So you can see how the overcharge for shipping pushes the total higher then it needs to be.