Hidden Countryside Tax: Bolungarvík Resident Charded 20.000 ISK For Shipping

A resident of Bolungarvík ordered a dollhouse from a toy store in Reykjavík, but was asked to pay over 20.000 ISK for shipping, reports Vísir. He says this amounts to a hidden countryside tax, since a resident of the capital area would only need to pay about 6.000 ISK in shipping costs.

Hjalti Þór Þorkelsson, a resident of Bolungarvík, discussed the issue on Bylgjan radio, where he said that a relative of his in Bolungarvík had ordered a dollhouse from Kids Coolshop at Smáralind, priced at around 25.000 ISK.

“She lives in Bolungarvík, and it cost 22.000 to send it west,” Hjalti said.

“I went back in and ordered a dollhouse, giving an address in Grafarholt. That cost just over 6.000 ISK.”

Hjalti says this is essentially a hidden countryside tax. He happened to be in the capital area, so he ended up picking up the dollhouse himself and taking it to Bolungarvík. When he collected the dollhouse, the store employee confirmed to him that the shipping cost to Bolungarvík was indeed around 22.000 ISK.

“I thought this must be an enormous box and was shocked when the woman told us we were picking it up,” said Hjalti.

The packaging around the dollhouse turned out to be only slightly longer and narrower than a standard carry-on suitcase, and weighed less than four kilos. Hjalti said he received no explanation as to why the shipping cost was so high.

“No explanation at all, the only option in the store is to ship with Pósturinn. Eimskip is the same — there’s just one price, 24.000 ISK for pickup within the city,” he said.

Shipping options issue

Hjalti discussed other options of delivery during the interview.

“They only offer one option, which is Pósturinn. As I’ve documented, Samskip is definitely the best choice,” said Hjalti.

According to him, shipping the dollhouse with Samskip would cost far less if done properly. There, it costs 3.680 ISK to ship the package, but each hour the package waits to be collected costs 18.000 ISK. Samskip divides the hour into three parts, so according to Hjalti, it would be possible to pay 6.000 ISK for shipping. By contrast, he said, Eimskip charges 24.431 ISK for shipping from Smáralind.

“It must end up with the carrier or the big operator. I’ve worked in this myself, and I know it doesn’t cost 18.000 to transport this,” he said.

While the interview was ongoing, the hosts checked whether such shipping costs were still being offered, and found that home delivery now costs only 5.403 ISK. Hjalti said he was relieved that the shipping price had been lowered.

Pósturinn faces U.S. shipping tariffs

This is not the only time Pósturinn has appeared in the news this week. Yesterday, RÚV reported that it is unclear whether Pósturinn will be able to deliver mail to the United States starting next week. Ambiguous customs regulations have led postal distribution companies in the Nordic countries to temporarily suspend shipments there.

Beginning Saturday, Norwegians, Swedes, and Danes will no longer be able to send packages to the U.S. if their value is under 800 USD, or about 100,000 ISK.

Previously, packages under this threshold were exempt from customs duties, but, under new tariff decisions by the U.S. president, they are now subject to duty.

Unlike the Nordic companies, Pósturinn has not announced a suspension of deliveries. However, Kristín Inga Jónsdóttir, head of Pósturinn’s marketing department, confirmed in an interview with RÚV that the issue does affect Iceland. Packages sent this week should still reach their destination.

She added that work is underway to resolve the issue, but declined to give further details for now, noting that an announcement from Pósturinn is expected.