Grateful Dead

BILLN

We have to accept the random nature of charges on items coming into the UK. I bought the full ‘30 Trips around the sun’ and didn’t pay a penny in import charges, on another occasion I bought a single cd from bobdylan.com and for some reason once the handling charge was added to the import charge I paid more to collect it than to cost to buy it and have it posted to me..
I have come to accept whatever the charge is. I think I am probably still ahead overall on charges.
These charges are why I no longer order non-exclusive items from dead.net. The November release would cost me around £22 from dead.net when postage costs are added and there might be a further cost if the disc attracts import charges. The same disc is no more than £9.99 from Amazon.co.uk since I have a pre-order price guarantee which means it could get cheaper and I don’t have to pay any postage.

My box arrived at the UPS depot in Rotterdam this morning. Had to pay 46.18 Euros - 30.45 Government charges, 13.00 Brokerage charges and 2.73 VAT. How that is arrived at I don't know, but I paid it online so no hassles with having to have the exact amount in cash at the door. Somewhat later in the morning the status of the delivery changed from "By the end of the day" to "Exception - Due to operating conditions, your package may be delayed". I guess that is a catch-all term that means that something has gone awry but they ain't gonna tell you what. I will wait and see what transpires, as if I haven't waited long enough already...

Equally can't understand why I got no charge for the (huge) Woodstock box, but get caught for this???

My copy, #3319, has arrived and looks good. I hope to get some time to listen to it in the next day or so. Thanks to everyone at dead.net for continuing to service our need for further releases. The DaP 2020 subscription should become available soon. That will bring the series up to the same length as DP’s.

My last few listens include:
A 5 cd box set of Morton Feldman’s piano music on the Another Timbre label.
Live in Hyde Park by Gong from their ‘Love from Planet Gong’ box set.
A Love Supreme by John Coltrane.
One World by John Martyn.
The Madcap Laughs by Syd Barrett.

y'all be cool

Could be wrong, but, I believe "Little Ricky" wasn't Little Ricky, but a child actor who played the part!

....to Mr. Weir and Mr. Mayer. 🎂

Vguy, I can't let that question go unanswered a third time. Only Dick and Heady Version spell it Aiko. Oh, and all of the tapes that circulated in the pre-digital days.

I've had some opportunities to listen to a couple of near-entire releases lately. Geocery store Sunday night - DaP 30 sans the repeats. Went in reverse order (Cold Rain & Snow show first), but I have to admit, I did throw the Dark Star / St. Stephen / The Eleven trifecta into the mix early. While it usually takes me a couple hours to find everything on that damn list, I wasn't taking any chances on missing that group of songs.

Then at work I had a long stretch of time to work at my computer without any phone calls interrupting. I put in the Dave's Picks EIGHTEEN shows, also skipping the repeats. I have to admit I put all of it together in an alternate folder and included the Help / Slip / Franklin from opening night of that Orpheum run. It could have been there... It should have been there... The soundboard quality is almost as good as the release... It's there. And and it's a much better release for it. In situations like that I just make a whole new folder and throw it in my soundboard section. I can't very well have my digital library bastardize like that, so the original theatrical release is in its proper place. The moral of the story is oh, I forgot how great Garcia sounds on this release. Jeffrey Norman needs to listen to how loud Jerry is on this to track and then go back and remix all the multi-tracks with him that loud. Actually I take that back, just give me the multitrack tapes and I'll do the work. I've always been an advocate for releasing Europe 72 in computer software format so we can mix it ourselves. A little distortion here little reverb there..

And in the spirit of '71 I go with this concoction:

Dark Star => Wharf Rat 4/26/71
Dark Star 4/8/71

The 1971 dark stars were mostly shorter ones, as is the case with these two. I like mixing them together with that Wharf Rat in between to mimic Port Chester, 2/18/71. What you end up with is about 35 minutes of no-nonsense bliss.

BILLN

Yes. I was charged UKP37.37.

Unfortunately, there is no way to avoid this as importation rules in the United Kingdom state that Value Added Tax (VAT, aka Sales Tax) and Customs Duty must be charged on the total cost (including shipping charges) of all goods arriving from outwith the European Union that have a value of more than UKP15.00. For CD's/DVD's, VAT in the UK is currently set at 20% but there is presently no Customs Duty.

My Giants box was sent with a declared total invoice cost of USD159.98 with no shipping cost meaning it attracted a 20% VAT charge of USD31.996 (around UKP25.11 at today's exchenge rate).

All delivery companies then add their own handling charge to cover the cost of collecting the Tax/Duty of behalf of the UK Government. UPS charge UKP11.50, DHL 11.00 and UK Royal Mail 8.00 at present.

What I don't understand is why different people here in the UK have been charged different amounts varying from no charge to UKP47.00.

Has anyone else in the UK been sent an imports fees invoice by UPS?