Please educate me on European and Asian Fees you need to pay on my gear

[Steve Barber]

The issue for me (in Europe, non-EU) is shipping exclusively by USPS Priority Mail International and not by any other means. That eliminates a list of issues and the item is either delivered to my home or, if there is any duty to be paid, can be picked up at the post office. This way, I deal directly with customs and I can insure the least amount of tax. There are no brokerage fees or delivery fees added and I can verify the cost as charged by the USPS with no surcharges added. Also, the manual detailing each country's restrictions and requirements are available on-line along with the calculator for all of the charges and fees.

I do not expect the shipper to concern themselves with duties and taxes payable other than to be sure that, on the outside of the package in an attached plastic jacket, they enclose a completed declaration and a copy of the invoice showing the amount paid for the goods with the cost of mailing detailed and included in the total.

[Jim Andrada]

Japan has a 5% sales/consumption tax but no VAT. The sales tax is on shipment value plus duty which is 5% for ordinary items under roughly $1000 (100k Yen)

I don't recall whether UPS/FedEx charge exorbitant customs clearance fees but I never hear my friends complaining about them - I'll check.

[Denis Pleic]

Croatia (EU) applies 25% VAT to the combined item value + total shipping cost, in addition to Customs dues, which range from 0% to about 14%, depending on goods - photo items (cameras, lenses) have no Customs dues.
Items of small value (less than about $30) are exempt from VAT and Customs dues.

So, for a shipment of photo items (cameras, lenses, etc.) declared as being of $100 value plus e.g. $30 postage, I need to pay additional 25% VAT (which for the combined value of $130 comes out as about $33), plus usually some small "processing fee", which can range from $8 to about $12...

Which would mean that, if you apply a discount, the total dues I would have to pay on my side would also be discounted, as per above calculation.

HTH,
Denis

[Photobackpacker]

Okay, I am going to try something to celebrate the introduction of the new RPT P3 backpack. Starting today and through the end of 2013, I will ship any order totalling $350.00 or greater anywhere in the world, free. Shipments will go via USPS Priority Mail. This should help to level the playing field.

Bruce

[Regular Rod]

Okay, I am going to try something to celebrate the introduction of the new RPT P3 backpack. Starting today and through the end of 2013, I will ship any order totalling $350.00 or greater anywhere in the world, free. Shipments will go via USPS Priority Mail. This should help to level the playing field.

Bruce

That's great Bruce. I am selling all sorts of stuff on eBay to raise enough anyway, this gesture will be very helpful indeed. You will have to make me a camera case for my Shen Hao FCL810-A though...

RR

[Ginette]

How about Canada?

As your gears are made in USA, there no duties for Canada because of the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Canadians will pay canadians taxes: federal 5% and provincial (varies, Québec is 9.75%) - globally taxes will be between 11-15% - calculated on the value you declared in your custom declaration for the goods, ex. the real value once discounted and no taxes on the shipping if you didn't declare the shipping in the goods values.
Shippers ask some brokerage fees for theirs services when the value is over 20$ CAN, even if no duty on it, just for collecting taxes.
- USPS - Canada Post charged a fixed 9.95$, same for a 30$ value or a 1000$ value. And some low value shipping (20-60$) pass without any problems.
- UPS brokerage fees depend on the items value!!! $20.01 to $40.00 = $7.00 , $1,000.01 to $1,250.00 = $74.25 fees, etc, this is the amount for theirs fees only, not the canadians taxes and theirs fees are taxable. http://www.ups.com/content/ca/en/shi...clearance.html
And UPS charge for all packages over 20$ CAN, they have a "Low-Value Shipment Amendment" that will cost an additional $15.00 !!
- FEDEX ??, I will see in the next days because I wait for 2 shipments but the online quote for FEDEX ground shipping seems to included their brokerage fees and it look like to be around 40$ for a 1000$ value.
With UPS Ground, the online quote didn't include their brokerage fees, customers have to pay at the delivery. Their UPS Worldwide Express include the fees but this is a much higher final cost.

[Photobackpacker]

UK at least 20% VAT and possibly some Duty. The really "rise-up-and-kill-them-all" rage comes from being charged by the courier for the "service" of holding onto my goods for several days and then charging me for the service of collecting the taxes for the HMRC. You pay the courier at your end, with my money of course, but the courier wants to get paid twice and so stings me for more money, while they hold onto my kidnapped goods that you have tried to send me. In today's global economy there should be no Duty anywhere on anything but until we do actually get round to trying true "Capitalism" we will have a long wait for tariff free borders...

It was the shipping and knowing the above that stopped me clicking on my cart and buying your P3 and all the trimmings for my Shen Hao 8x10.

As for buying locally, your products are not available so that option is out for us. On that subject, living in "Rip-off Britain" the tendency of importers of anything from the USA is to at least charge £1 for every $1 of value and then they often add more. Film in the UK is twice the price for the same film in America.

I have noticed on eBay a number of vendors from overseas offering a single buy it now price including shipping and taking care of all the taxes. I haven't tried anything from these vendors yet but if it works it may be a way forward.

RR

My products are sewn in Asia - the cases in China, the P1 and P2 packs were made in the Philippines and the P3 is made in Vietnam.

Bruce

[Ginette]

My products are sewn in Asia - the cases in China, the P1 and P2 packs were made in the Philippines and the P3 is made in Vietnam.

Bruce

Ah, maybe in this case, it is not the "Made in USA" but the Classication number (9006919000 - Cameras parts/accessories) the real reason I don't have duty on my last purchase from you. On the discounted total of 159.41$ US (total before shipping) (=162,01$ CAN) I paid 0$ Duty, 8.10$ Federal Tax, 16.16$ Provincial Québec Tax and 9.95$ handling fee for Canada Border Services Agency for a total of 34.21$.

[mamypoko]

Singapore, 7% charged on goods entering Singapore worth $400SGD or more, shipping price is included in the calculation.

[Jim Andrada]

1 SGP dollar = 0.78 US Dollar today