A Materialistic Rant.

[velvetdahlia]

As an Ugly American, I have come to expect that quality goods should be available at an affordable price

Comments

[veritatem]

ugh i had forgotten about the draconian customs fines. i totally feel your pain. stupid british cost of living.

[velvetdahlia]

I think it's worse because I already felt guilty for splurging, and I thought I was being so sensible, too.

Ugh.

[butcherbaby]

i didn't think customs taxed gifts....i always mark my overseas ebay merchandise as 'gift' for that reason.
customs taxes are stupid and need to be abolished.

[velvetdahlia]

I toyed briefly with the idea of having it shipped to you or maybe another friend and just having it put down as an inexpensive gift, but I feel I've already put my friends out so much.

I have a care package for you I'm going to send out...I've been really lax. Sorry.

[butcherbaby]

OMG- don't even worry about it! it's no problem for me to ship you anything- i am there almost every day anyway since i have most of my mail sent to a PO box. i'd much rather spend an extra 5 minutes in line than see you pay those outrageous fees!

[sourpuss]

Customs is a bastard, golden rule is everything is a gift worth a tenner. Eugene had to fill in some many paged form from customs to be allowed to get his stuff shipped here without paying tax on it, and that's stuff he's owned for years. On the other hand they have to prop up the ailing economy somehow, why not customs income?

[velvetdahlia]

All these regressive taxes are really freaking me out, frankly. I don't know how the poorer middle class really get by here. It's insane.

[sourpuss]

I think they kind of don't for the main part, hence the huge credit card problems and rising insolvencies. A lot of people get helped out by tax credits, we would qualify if I hadn't married a foreigner and that allows there to be shite wages and expensive living costs. It does get depressing, the US seems a lot more free in that regard, like it would be a pretty hard here to buy a smallholding and escape, just because you'd have council tax blah blah. I don't think there should be no taxes but the structure is pretty unfair at the moment (at the moment = throughout history)

[velvetdahlia]

People on benefit seem to live comfortably if not well-- compared to poor people in the US. (I'll admit most of the council estates near our house are identical to the "luxury" flats that have just been built. Except for a couple from the 60's that are just terrifyingly brutal)

But that poor people can have a home and medical care and money to spend (sometimes twice as much as I made at my job) is a healthy benefit to all the taxes. But it seems a permanent condition, poverty--

But if you have a job, but no inheritance, and are not already rich? Maud help you!

[beelavender]

The fact that it is cheaper to fly to France to buy lipstick and shampoo is shocking to me. The fact that I can't buy preferred brands in this town for any price is simply unbelievable!

[velvetdahlia]

I know! In fact, if I were buying my return ticket from American instead of the UK, it would be cheaper just to fly back to the US. Really.

It's crazy to me that in most stores you have two brands to choose from for any particular thing. And cosmetics are so spendy...even drugstore ones of poor quality.

I've tried to find brands that are adequate here but it's been some really expensive trial and error, I'll tell you that!

[pvcdiva]

I certainly remembr having a ranty moment in a cosmetic store in the US when I realised just how much I was paying for Benefit cosmetics in the UK - dollar price just renamed as a GBP price. Just outrageous!

Now that I have a salary I'm squirreling away for a metric arse ton of stuff when I next go out - enough powder and paint to last the year till the next visit. Or maybe I'll just Eurostar to Paris...

Hey, fancy that? Going on a girly shopping bender to Bon Marche???

[velvetdahlia]

Ohhhh....let's do it! I won't have a lot of money to spend, but I can buy a little. Heh.

Maybe in March? After we are settled a bit?

[eugenesucks]

here is a link to the form that allows you to avoid vat on your own possessions if you'd like it.
i'm not positive but i think you're supposed to pay vat on imports valued at more than £50. besides under-valuing things, i've noticed a popular way of getting around this is to ship to a business address and claim the contents are "samples of no commercial value".

[velvetdahlia]

I am wondering why the VAT was so much on my package-- it's more like 50% take rather than 17.5%-- I was charged duty as well. Maybe it's considered a "luxury" item. Ugh.

From now on I will have to think of a different game plan, as you say.