Hidden cost for books from online bookstore

Hidden cost for books from online bookstore

QUIZ:
If you buy 7 books for $190 on amazon.com, how much you pay for shipping&handling and customs clearance/delivery to Prague?
a) nothing
b) $72
c) $190

I was signing invoices this week and I was quite shocked to see the total cost for 7 books that one of the engineer ordered on amazon.com. Freight charge, shipping and handling (Amazon) was $72 and custom clearance (using UPS) $118. The total cost is $380, twice more than  the original cost.

Second case was even more straightforward, books for $51, Amazon shipping&handling $13.50, UPS custom clearance $102.5.

So I went to Amazon UK and calculated the cost without custom clearance, since there is no custom, if you send it within EU.

Surprisingly, the bill looked very different:

	Cost [USD]
Books	255
Postage	51
VAT	16
Total	322

So eventhough the cost of the books was originally $65 higher, we could save  $58 in total, if it'd be ordered from UK.
Amazing, how much money you can save by choosing the online shop that's closer to you.

Posted at 09:31AM Mar 12, 2007 by Pavel Suk in Prague Engineering Center  |