Overseas Shipments...do private transactions pay duties?

Gresh · #1 09-20-2002, 01:48 PM

Sorry MODS didn't know where to put this.

Looking into quoting a guy a price on shipping my UV to Singapore. Is he gonna have to pay customs and duties on the package? Also, I thought if I shipped via EMS he could possibly avoid that hassle (like Ishibashi does) but the dimension limits are exceeded by the size of the UV case. Any suggestions?

kirk · #2 09-20-2002, 04:46 PM

Yes, the buyer will pay duty on the item. There are certain exceptions to the rules though (for example, Canada and the USA can freely trade items which were made in their own countries.)

Singapore. Isn't that a hotbed of credit card scams?

Rich · #3 09-20-2002, 05:13 PM

Indonesia, but no matter. No merchant account will guarantee any overseas card purchase.

Most post office counters will never look up dimensions in the book, unless the box is HUGE where it's obviously over 108" length+girth.

caprile · #4 09-20-2002, 05:33 PM

are you saying that if you ship thru EMS you don't pay taxes?

at least here in chile you pay 7% customs duties and over that 17% vat, which makes 26% more.

you could undervalue it, but if anything happens, your insurance (if you get one) covers that lowered value.

anyone have an explanation for this?: i once bought some cds from amazon, with standard shipping, and the package got held at customs, and they sent me a bill that was very expensive, so i never picked it up, and emailed amazon claiming i never received it. 4 days later, i got a express fedex box with the cds, no tax or customs....will this happen with a guitar? if so, maybe it would be better to pay fedex or similar????

Ross · #5 09-27-2002, 07:01 AM

I've bought a few guitars from Rich (JEM90, UVMC, UVPBK, JS1) and had to pay duty plus VAT to import them to Ireland- the rest of Europe is probably similar. It adds about 20% to the cost but still a better deal than buying locally- and you get that bitchin' Rich setup!!

Gresh · #6 09-27-2002, 10:23 AM

I believe the EMS tax issues is only a benefit when shipping to or from the US, because it is part of the USPS I think. This is all a little fishy. However, the EMS shipping size restrictions are such that a guitar doesn't fit...at least by the letter of the regulations on the web. Plus, the USPS puts size restrictions on packages that vary by destination.

Some companies avoid having their customers pay duties by rolling it into there internal shipping costs on their end. FedEx, UPS, Emery, DSL.... they all offer that as a service. It's all part of whatever deal can be arranged between the company and the shipping company....contract negotions and all that bull.

I hope I'm not clouding the issue, but at least that's the way it appears to work from where I stand.

Mr Orange · #7 09-27-2002, 10:26 AM

I think if the sender ticks the "gift" alternative on the customs card, it practically goes duty free.

Don't support your local government! You already pay income tax.

Rich · #8 09-27-2002, 12:09 PM

I have nothing but problems and delays when package is marked as a gift. Customs hold them and waits for "proof of value" with some deliveries taking 3 weeks. And in the end all that was saved was the import duty [around 3%], the reciever will pay VAT no matter how it's marked. The ONLY way to lower that is to undervalue and underinsure, with reciever bearing all the risk if something bad happens.