While the price war on the high street in the 90’s forced many smaller UK retailers out of business, the fatal blow was dealt the following decade by a tax loophole called Low Value Consignment Relief, which annulled the VAT on any product worth less than £18 if it was shipped from the Channel Islands. Alongside supermarkets selling CDs as checkout loss-leaders, Amazon’s Channel Islands operation suffocated the market and, unable to compete on price, selection or distribution, hundreds of record shops were forced to close.
