Customs duty fees PSA

wolf5391

wolf5391

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Quick PSA,


So Last month I received a long awaited knife form an international knife maker out of South Africa. I do a lot of deals with the South African knife makers because they make some of the best quality knives out there.

So long story short I have never been charged for customs duty's/fees when I usually deal with other makers, but recently I got a letter in the mail saying my payment was over due and had to pay $XX.XX by 12/31.

The letter received stated that I had to pay a 2.7% duties taxes and another % of net item value tax. This letter also stated that the reason I was being charge these duties was because the seller/maker deferred the duties tax (which added another % of money) to the person receiving the package (me).

Anyways I was just sharing my experience for anyone dealing with imported and exported items, as a duties tax can just show up out of nowhere and your expected to pay it. I had no warning that my payment was supposedly due until it was already way past due.

This is quite frustrating and I had no idea that this would happen as the maker stated he would cover all shipping fees...

If anyone else has had these problems please share...

oh and the courier service was DHL.
 
Its completely random whether or not you will receive fees on the customs worker. Sometimes I am expecting to pay fees on a 200 dollar item that comes in and don't have to pay anything or expect to pay nothing on a 80 dollar package and have to pay fees.

I just expect to pay fees and if theres none I call that a positive if there are fees thats the norm. Unless the sender has a custom broker or they prepay the fees or something I would expect to pay (Its extremely confusing how they calculate fees and which carrier has better chances of not getting hit at the border)
 
I'm not surprised that other thread had more drama in it than the last 20 years of soap operas combined.
 
DavidL41 said:
Its completely random whether or not you will receive fees on the customs worker. Sometimes I am expecting to pay fees on a 200 dollar item that comes in and don't have to pay anything or expect to pay nothing on a 80 dollar package and have to pay fees.

I just expect to pay fees and if theres none I call that a positive if there are fees thats the norm. Unless the sender has a custom broker or they prepay the fees or something I would expect to pay (Its extremely confusing how they calculate fees and which carrier has better chances of not getting hit at the border)
Click to expand...

That's good to know. I mean I've had numerous buys from international Buyers and have never even heard of a duties tax.

Maybe I'm considered a lucky one and shouldn't be complaining if that's the case then...
 
RevDevil said:
I'm not surprised that other thread had more drama in it than the last 20 years of soap operas combined.
Click to expand...

Like I said, I'm just glad my hands are clean of it. I will update the thread when more people start receiving there knives but after the wait list is gone, I'm done.
 
DavidL41 said:
Its completely random whether or not you will receive fees on the customs worker. Sometimes I am expecting to pay fees on a 200 dollar item that comes in and don't have to pay anything or expect to pay nothing on a 80 dollar package and have to pay fees.

I just expect to pay fees and if theres none I call that a positive if there are fees thats the norm. Unless the sender has a custom broker or they prepay the fees or something I would expect to pay (Its extremely confusing how they calculate fees and which carrier has better chances of not getting hit at the border)
Click to expand...

This is exactly how it is for me, always expect them, and sometimes I get lucky....
But technically it should be HST + whatever customs handling charges are, around $10-15.00.
(For Canada)
Almost forgot, HST is 13% of the value.

Kinda expensive....
 
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I made a deal for a knife from a collector in Canada this fall, and was surprised to receive a bill from UPS for around $50 in "customs fees". I ended up paying it because it seemed legit, but this was the first time I've run across this issue.
 
I've gotten dinged for ups importing services and "tariffs" on many items I've bought from various countries. Typically in my experiences for the items i have bought which were mainly vintage mechanical heuer and other brands chronos watches. Here is what I learned......it all depends if the sender of said items fills out the paperwork properly or not. If they do, you get dinged. If they don't, you don't. Many know the rules and know ways around them. Others follow the rules and like most things rule followers end up having to pay...which I don't mind doing. Importing is a learning experience for sure.....

I imagine importing knives isn't much different. ....and by importing I mean you buy one item from over seas and you are now an importer basically and subject to importing laws on some items. It is what it is......
 
jbmonkey said:
I've gotten dinged for ups importing services and "tariffs" on many items I've bought from various countries. Typically in my experiences for the items i have bought which were mainly vintage mechanical heuer and other brands chronos watches. Here is what I learned......it all depends if the sender of said items fills out the paperwork properly or not. If they do, you get dinged. If they don't, you don't. Many know the rules and know ways around them. Others follow the rules and like most things rule followers end up having to pay...which I don't mind doing. Importing is a learning experience for sure.....

I imagine importing knives isn't much different. ....and by importing I mean you buy one item from over seas and you are now an importer basically and subject to importing laws on some items. It is what it is......
Click to expand...

story of my life :p
 
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