@radzi, How old are you if you don't mind me asking? @Lushlala, Paypal has a 180-day dispute guarantee, so you can be assured that your items arrive home. And the feedback of the sellers are 100% percent anyway, so I trust them. I don't think they would ruin their feedback stealing a measly amount.
@Lushlala Yes I know, I've heard of it and I've even seen it on TV. It's a bit unfair and I don't know why that happens if you'd buy for personal gain and not to sell or necessarily make profit off of it. @sidney I'm 18 years old, why?
@radzi, Yeah I kinda guessed you are quite young based from your responses. You can still be taxed even if you didn't leave your country. As long as you buy taxable items from abroad you're not exempt.
I ordered a few t shirts from Hot Topic, but living in the UK not only do I get charged on the exchange, I also get charged for handling, and then customs coming into the country, meaning my $9 bargains actually worked out about $30 each!! I was not best pleased, and much as I adore Hot Topic I cannot and will not pay those extra charges!
Typically that isn't "duty." 95% of the time those extra costs that either show up payment upon delivery or that are mailed to you are taxes and broker fee's. The taxes will be usually be the normal sales tax you pay and the fee's are what the customs broker charges you to calculate the tax and process the paperwork. Duty and tariffs are an amount applied to commercial import/exports.
I've seen that happen with me and I didn't have to pay a single thing, it's always even free shipping without any import charges. They always mark it as a gift, who would know anyway if it's a gift or not, they cannot determine, but if they found out that would be against the law I think.
I'm not sure, but in my country you are still obliged to pay for the item that is marked as "gift", although in some cases you aren't when the goods aren't taxable.
When I shop offline, it's rare for me to get hit by large fees. I don't use credit or debit cards outside of the Internet so having to use cash forces me to scrutinize the products I intend to buy for hidden charges. We also have a consumer-friendly law that prevents companies from using devious and deceitful means to lure buyers. It's a different story online because I frequently get hit by medium-scale duties unless I bulk buy (say at least $100 worth of purchase comes with free shipping).
In my country (Israel), I've never had to pay any tax or any import charges because sometimes they write less value on the item than it actually is, so they could technically lie and nobody know, and it's not even my fault because they are the sellers, so they are the ones with the custom declaration and they would get in trouble, but all what I have bought basically, almost all of them are included as gift and never did they bother to actually check because how would they know?
Yeah you're right indeed. They would really have no choice other than to take it at face value. The customs officers here however, still makes people pay when the item is sent by a relative. The woman in front of me at the customs counter was being charged tax because there was a phone in her package, considering it was sent by a relative. Ruthless.
That is really stupid and cruel. They make money off of people, they call it a government to protect people, when it makes money off of people and their labour. Look how society have become, how far it went. If it wasn't for the concept of money and greed, none of that stupid nonsense would happen, it's just awful.
@radzi, Yes the customs is one of the most corrupt offices here. The other man that got sent by his relatives clothes and a bunch of chocolates didn't get charged. I think electronic items are a no-no to send over here.
When my family came and visited from abroad, it was a family member's birthday and I'm really close to her. I wanted to give her an expensive gift to express my appreciation that they came and visited all the way to Israel. I gave her my expensive tablet while she had an iPod and a phone already. She didn't have any problems passing it through customs at the airport, not a single problem.
@radzi, It's because they were carrying the gadget at the airport. The tax is only applicable when you buy abroad and it gets sent as a parcel.
@sidney Ohh.. okay. I'm a bit ignorant in that particular field. Thank you for letting me know. At least that's a great thing to know where you don't actually have to pay for it if you get it through travelling and not send as a parcel. I do believe some duty free stuff can be taxed though if it exceeds the amount allowed, right?
@radzi, When my aunt and uncle came to visit us from the US, they also did not pay at all for the stuff that they were carrying as gifts for us. Is your question about the parcels? Over here I know the accumulated amount of the parcels can make you pay tax even if the item isn't taxable or expensive to begin with. So better not claim too many parcels at a time.
I meant through airport travelling. Meaning, you actually go through the airport having bought so many things through duty-free shops, in great quantities. If you're caught owuldn't they make you pay a tax or a fee or something? I've seen it on TV before, it has been done through customs. I'm not sure.
I think there is a weight limit before you board the plane. When my cousin was getting ready to leave the country, she borrowed our weighing scale to weigh her things, so maybe it's because of the weight limit when travelling.
