[nottorp]

From which Apple store? If it's your local store of course they have VAT built in.

Interesting about amazon japan, never tried it. Have you tried amazon us?

Edit: interesting, amazon.co.jp seems to be its own thing. My login works on amazon US and all european country sites, but it doesn't work on the JP site.

[terinjokes]

Amazon is pretty good at handling VAT and all the import paperwork if it's sold as "Fulfilled by Amazon", regardless if it's the local Amazon site, or the US or Japan sites. I've ordered from all 3.

Even eBay has sorted this out now for orders from the US, with VAT and import fees baked into shipping costs. They give sellers the address for their warehouse in Chicago. eBay then forwards as the seller of record.

[Symbiote]

Fulfilment doesn't have to go through eBay for this.

If I sell a package on eBay.de to a buyer in the UK, I get a customs tracking number to show eBay has collected the required UK VAT. That goes in the form when buying the delivery label and completing the customs (export) declaration.

The EU prepared for years setting this up. It meant all the national post offices updating their systems, and integrating the private parcel delivery companies. It was planned before Covid, then delayed because of the concern for possible disruption.

The USA seems not to have done this planning, and certainly hasn't allowed the months it will take to prepare for it. At least they may have some of the other half of the system, having set that up for exports to the EU/UK.

[nottorp]

> Even eBay has sorted this out now for orders from the US

Shit. Telling me that can be expensive. I might check ebay US now for some retrocomputing fun...

[poincaredisk]

Same situation, If I buy something from aloexpress I also never had to worry about VAT and the duty office. It's somehow handled in the background.

From some amount I assume I'd have to go to the post office and fill in find paperwork, but I never had to for the cheap junk I get from Ali.