There IS always VAT. Seller is probably not VAT registered so the VAT is in the price. It is totally illegal and by law not possible to avoid VAT.
When I quote a customer a price for say a wedding it is a total price. Sometimes they say is there vat to be added to that and my reply is No ! ………. but the VAT is already in there in the price ! so I assume the seller is doing something like that.
The main reason I do quote non-VAT registered customers with VAT included is that if I do it at “x amount plus VAT” the reply is “what will you do for cash” or “if we give you cash you can knock off the VAT” and I just dont want to go down that road as its too messy and Its just not worth the risks of getting caught and the nightmare it can turn out to be. It would be all for the sake of no gain to the seller as he has just given away the VAT portion that he would not be getting anyway !!!