Buying abroad help!

Hi everyone,
I live in the UK and would like to buy some LPs from mainly Germany and Japan. I was wondering if you can help me with these two questions:

• Other than Discogs(especially for Japanese releases) what are the best online stores
• How does customs, tax etc actually works.

I would be much appreciated if you can help me.
Many thanks

 

Hi Mojo!

Do you wanna buy new or used vinyl?

For new vinyl I recommend jpc in Germany. I do order there 3-4 times a year.

For used (german) vinyl there is ebay Germany of course, beside discogs. But the shipping costs are quite high, so it only makes sense if you buy at least for 50€.

Bye Andrea

 

No idea what you mean by shipping costs in/from Germany are quite high ? As far as I know Germany has some of the cheapest international postage rates in the world - the postage for one Lp from Germany to the UK is € 4,40 , to the U.S. it is € 3,70 (although not possible at the moment to Covid-19) .
I second Andrea's recommendation for jps for new vinyl- very good service - as to 2nd hand - I think most shops which have their own online shops can also be found on discogs these days

 

you just pay what the seller asks for postage and packaging - at the moment the UK is still being treated as a EU member in postal matters

 

Hi!

The 4,40€ for one LP is not insured, is it?

Ok, if you buy via Paypal and the seller ships it uninsured it is not your risk.

The insured cheapest ones are DHL Paket International. It is 13,99€ for 1 LP.

Bye Andrea

 

#

This is not correct I am afraid - the cheapest including tracking/ insurance is "Warenpost international Tracked " which costs € 7,20

 

If you buy from Japan, there's no import tax on goods valued at under £135.
Import Duty from Japan to the UK: How to calculate import tax

 

Ok, you are right. But this is only for 500g, so max. 1 Double-Lp.

Bye Andrea

 

one double album is over 500 g
but I still can't think of a country with lower postage rates

 

It depends very much what the OP is looking for: new vinyl, vintage collectible vinyl, etc.

Are you looking for something specific, or just looking to browse and see what catches your eye?

Not all Japanese dealers have English-friendly websites, so buying direct from Japan can be difficult. Tokyo Music is a reputable company, run by an Englishman. I’ve bought from him before. He’s honest, friendly, and has some rare stuff:

Tokyo Music Japan

Then there’s CDJapan. As the name suggests, they specialise in CDs, but they do carry some new vinyl:

CDJapan : Japanese Anime, Jpop, Japanese music, Game music, Japanese movie, CD, DVD

Anything worth over £15 is potentially subject to VAT plus an £8 Royal Mail handling fee, so do bear that in mind when importing from outside the EU. You may be able to get the dealer to put a lesser value on the customs form, but that will be at their discretion.

EIL, in the U.K., stock some rare Japanese collectibles. Condition and customer service are excellent, and you won’t pay any import fees, but prices tend to be on the high side:

eil.com rare vinyl records, 7", 12", albums, LPs, singles, CDs, CD singles & music memorabilia including imports, new, collectable, promo, vintage, withdrawn & deleted at esprit. We buy & sell record collections

 

I buy from those countries regularly but only through Discogs.
With Germany it is straight forward. You pay the delivery charge and it arrives, usually within a week (maybe a bit longer now). They are generally reliable and most people speak good English so you could communicate with them even if you buy from other websites in Germany.
With Japan I find that they are very reliable and the records are graded correctly. Delivery charges are higher and it takes up to one week if sent by courier or three weeks with normal airmail. They are obliged by law to put the value of the records on a customs declaration form and when it comes to the UK you usually need to go to the local sorting office and pay the customs fee and VAT.
In reality many (but not all) dealers are happy, if asked, to declare a lower fee so you may not get charged at all or it is a lower fee.
Whatever you do when you deal with Japan you will get fantastic product but need to be ready to pay more. It pays to order more than one to spread the cost. I can't remember the percentage of customs import duty. Last time I think I paid about £18 for an order of around £150. You may find the import duty on the customs and excise website. VAT you know and the post office charges about £1.50 for doing this.
Hope this is useful

 

I noticed that, too, about German postal shipping. Germany to Japan is far cheaper than UK here and the USA as well.

 

This is all so useful many thanks to all.

 

Currently, Japan Post has suspended all international shipping so you'd have to use another service, assuming they operate (like FedEx, UPS, etc).