On Mon, 2006-09-04 at 17:11 +0100, Tamas Rudnai wrote:
> Gmail address disallows me to get a free sample, but I they accept my credit
> card.
> 
> Destination is Ireland. 

That's going to cost you. The additional shipping and VAT will make a
small order very expensive.

> Is USA VAT free? 

Yes, with a dab of no. The US has it's own sales taxes that work
somewhat differently from the VAT system. The "catch" is there is no
"federal" sales tax in the US, only state level. So, if you are in the
states and you order something from anywhere else in the states other
then your own state, you pay no sales tax. I've heard you are SUPPOSED
to declare these out of state purchases come tax time and pay the tax,
but barely anyone does.

> So you do not have to pay anything
> when you order from Microchip? Not even customs tax or something like that?

Generally how most online stores in the states do things is as follows:

- postage - dependant on your location, for something like ICs, $8 in
the states, $16 to elsewhere in north america, $25+ outside of North
America are good ballpark figures. Postage depends largely on the weight
of the package, and to some extent the size. With things like ICs you
can order many hundreds before postage starts to go up from the base
rate much.

- handling - some stores charge you a little extra if your order is "too
small". Digikey is a good example. If your total comes to less then
$32.50 CND they tack on an $8 handling charge. Don't know if MChip does
something similar.

- taxes - this depends on where YOU are. In the states, zero, unless the
store is in the same state as you, in which case your states' sales tax.
For Canada it's GST/6% (and add a small brokerage charge dependent on
which carrier you choose. USPS/Canada Post is $5. Fedex charges $7. UPS
charges $30+, and yes, that's NOT a typo. Guess what carrier I NEVER
use). For Europe it's VAT, I'm not aware if you Europeans get charged a
brokerage fee.

So, the crux of it is don't bother with small orders. The
charges/taxes/fees can easily double the cost of your order. For orders
to the states I usually set a minimum of about $75, if it isn't $75 I
don't order it. For elsewhere in the world my limit is higher, at least
$100 before I place an order.

TTYL

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