ISLANDERS are increasingly facing difficulties and frustration when trying to buy goods from Amazon and arrange shipping to Jersey.
A JEP investigation has revealed that a wide range of products are now shown as unavailable for delivery to the Island, including many that customers ordered via the online retailer’s “subscribe and save” option.
Toiletries, batteries, protein supplements, vitamins, paperback books and cat litter are among the items that are often reported as being unavailable for dispatch to Jersey. In several cases, such items are immediately shown as “available” if the delivery address is changed from a JE postcode to a UK equivalent.
Carl Walker, who chairs the Jersey Consumer Council, said that some items had formerly been prevented from being transported by plane, with some sellers not yet having realised that the Island’s incoming post now arrived by boat.
He said: “If you’re a small retailer based in the north of England, the chances are you may not be aware that there’s no longer a mail plane to Jersey – the message seems to have taken some time to filter through, but hopefully that will happen.”
Ali Johnson, one of those to voice their concerns, said she was “really fed up” with the situation.
“It says an item is currently unavailable, but that same item is available if you insert a UK postcode,” she said.
“I’m not sure if this is wholly down to the GST changes, but it definitely has become worse, as items we had on reorder are now unavailable – it’s particularly galling when you can’t source these items locally.”
The de minimis threshold – the level at which Islanders pay the 5% sales tax on imported products – dropped from £135 to £60 in July this year, but larger retailers (those which have an annual turnover of at least £300,000) are now subject to the same rules as the Island’s high-street retailers, meaning the charge applies to all goods ordered from Amazon.
Islanders reacted with shock and confusion to the changes at the time, with Dominic Egré, who volunteers at the St Vincent de Paul foodbank, saying they would heap more financial strain on the poorest Islanders, while Reform Jersey Deputy Rob Ward called it “another measure of raising tax by the back door”. Treasury Minister Ian Gorst defended the move in June, calling it “fundamentally an issue of fairness”.
Contacting the JEP following an appeal on social media this week, Matthew Vibert said that Amazon had refused to ship a replacement battery for his laptop, but would send a brand new laptop containing the same battery. Flat-pack furniture is also now unavailable, he added, while an extra charge of £15 was added to his bill when ordering small fruit trees.
Sally Minty-Gravett said she had only been able to obtain descaling tablets for a coffee machine by using a friend’s UK address, and had been unable to order bed linen.
Responding to questions about the difficulties, Amazon said additional shipping requirements could prevent some items from being delivered to the Channel Islands, and that product prices were the same for customers in the UK and the Crown Dependencies outside of any additional local taxes.
A spokesperson for the company said: “We work hard every day to provide our customers in Jersey and the Channel Islands a wide selection of products along with low prices and fast delivery, and this hasn’t changed.
“In some cases, additional shipping requirements prevent some products, including sanitary products and hazardous materials, from being delivered to the Channel Islands and other locations outside of the UK mainland.”
