[dvd3500]

We got our Christmas cards from my Mom in the US on the same day we got her Valentine's Day cards: 13 Feb.
Valentine's Day cards were sent 10 Feb
Christmas cards were send 10 Dec.
?!
From what I gather from my British Car friends the problem could be "country of origin".

The duty and tax free rules only apply to things made in the UK so an article with "Made in China" stamped on it will be subject not just to VAT (over a certain amount) but to duty as well as it looks like it was simply passed on through the UK.

This is a lot of speculation on my part of course but I could see it making sense as the types of packages that are getting through are often obviously UK manufacture or exempt (books as Woodcote mentioned).

An acquaintance for example bought car parts from a UK seller. Customers opened it up and charged VAT on the UK stuff but things stamped "made in China" got taxed and levied. These items are usually available within the EU so the buyer was miffed because he added them to the order because it seemed easy... problem was, he couldn't accept just part of the package...

I haven't been desperate enough yet to order from the UK since last Dec. but I will at some point... let's all hope that this bed is comfortable...