Thread: Shipito and Customs Value

So I've been doing "a little" shopping and its time to get it all home.
Do I need to include the cost of postage to the shipito warehouse in the customs value?

Stuart

I wouldn't. That's a transport cost, not cost of item.

Hi Stuart,

I was always under the impression the custom declaration was for the actual cost of the item, not including any transport costs. Last year I was contacted by customs, they wanted to "audit" a purchase I brought back through shipto. The order consisted of 3 vernier calipers that I bought for myself and two others. They wanted receipts, and copies of emails etc. Luckily, I was exact with my declaration and I kept all the receipts eventhough it was about 3 months after I purchased them. I didn't include the shipping costs in the declaration and I never heard anymore from customs so I assume they were happy with me. Phew, no one likes to be contacted by customs, not that I did anything wrong!

Simon

Hi Stuart,
I also have never included postage and never had a problem. Try and not go over $1000 Au as your parcel will definitely be reviewed and this can cause significant delays. Always keep all receipts and be accurate with your declaration and you will have no problems.

Mark

If you choose to use TNT there is a message on the Shipito site about having receipts up to the value of $750. My last experience with them was painful. Basically I had to get every receipt, paypal, EBay, email etc and provide it to TNT to prove the stated value before they would release the items. This was via Sydney.

No, just what you paid for it. But be accurate, customs have no sense of humour if they catch you trying to pull a swifty.

From my understanding, basically in these type of importations, duty is calculated on the FOB (Free On Board) price of the goods...that is all those charges incurred on the goods up until it is placed on board the ship/aircraft for delivery at the place of export...that is the general valuation they take for calculation purposes and that includes all internal charges to get your parcel to the place of export - there are some exceptions but that's the general rule adhered to. If you are sending through the postal system, best to keep your values below AUD$1000 as Customs does not normally collect Duty and GST on values less than that....BUT they can legally charge you duty/GST on any amount as the $1000 is just a procedural instruction for them somewhere along the lines they estimated that for what they obtain in duty etc, the cost of collecting it is more than received....so they normally don't bother.

As suggested, keep all receipts and invoices in case you need to verify any details and equally you as the importer are required under the Act to provide such when asked.....Hope that helps...

I always feel a bit torn when the subject of importing stuff comes up...

I like the cheap prices we can get from overseas, but the other side is all those people losing their skilled productive jobs because we import so much... And those jobs are replaced by essentially low skilled paper pushing non productive jobs as we create ever more jobs in the regulation industry to oversee what remaining productive jobs we have, which raises costs even higher...

But I still import from overseas...

Originally Posted by .RC.

I always feel a bit torn when the subject of importing stuff comes up...

I like the cheap prices we can get from overseas, but the other side is all those people losing their skilled productive jobs because we import so much... And those jobs are replaced by essentially low skilled paper pushing non productive jobs as we create ever more jobs in the regulation industry to oversee what remaining productive jobs we have, which raises costs even higher...

But I still import from overseas...

I do not think the kind of metalworking things under $1000 that we import, take away any "skilled productive jobs" at all. Remember, the vast majority of these jobs were lost long before the advent of online shopping some 10 or 15 Years ago. And before 2000, how many did bother to import their own goods? Was it in 1980, when Victoria derived more than 30% of GDP from manufacturing? It has been quite stable around 10% for the last 15 years, no big changes.

What these imports do is reduce some of the excessive importer and dealer margins, that we have been forced to put up with for far too long. I personally see that rather as a healthy thing.

Did I mention the Husqvarna chainsaw I bought from the USA for under AU$600 including the postage and two genuine extra chains? The exact same model costs here $1,290 - and no matter how good one is at haggling, they won't give you more than 15% discount. The American seller was still making an honest profit. But the profit that the Australian importer makes is anything but honest, its blackmail and theft.

Comgateway split my shipment up into two packages so they would come in under $1000.

They are good.

Thanks guys, its going to be a multiple piece shipment anyway(at least 3 maybe more), so as I'd likely be nudging the limit anyway, so I'll include postage and just leave some of it there until item 16 turns up and then being the rest in. Internal US postage is up over $215AU. It will cost me more in postage but will save me any issues with GST.

Personally I blame Bob

No aussie manufacturing jobs harmed here, its almost all second hand and I dont think any of this sort of gear was ever made here, if it was it was almost certainly a long time ago.

Stuart

You're killing me Stuart. What did you buy this time?

Originally Posted by cba_melbourne

But the profit that the Australian importer makes is anything but honest, its blackmail and theft.

Yet, they crying "Buy Australian" that means: from them - regardless where the stuff was made indeed.

Originally Posted by cba_melbourne

But the profit that the Australian importer makes is anything but honest, its blackmail and theft.

The importer being Husqvarna Australia and the RRP is dictated to the retailers.... Of course I do know what you mean though with other importers/retailers...

But with engines and such you can run into unexpected things... US has strict emissions controls that are now mandatory for everything imported/made in the US...

Australia still has zero emission requirements for off road engines... We recently bought a Stihl MS660 chainsaw... I looked at grey imports, but the US version outputted 6hp, the Australian version 6.5hp... The american one is crippled due to US emission regulations.. So no warranty, crippled chainsaw and only $200 more expensive for the AU version.... We went with the local seller..

Efficient diesel engines like Listeroids are not able to be imported as complete units into the US, they do not comply with emissions regulations..
A day will come when these laws will come into Australia....

Originally Posted by .RC.

..........
But with engines and such you can run into unexpected things... US has strict emissions controls that are now mandatory for everything imported/made in the US...

Australia still has zero emission requirements for off road engines... We recently bought a Stihl MS660 chainsaw... I looked at grey imports, but the US version outputted 6hp, the Australian version 6.5hp... The american one is crippled due to US emission regulations.. So no warranty, crippled chainsaw and only $200 more expensive for the AU version.... We went with the local seller..

....

Yes, with engines one has to do his homework first. In my case, I consciously choose a model where the only difference was the OHS stickers and the carburetor, and of course the fact that there is no warranty in Australia. They had put plastic collars around the jets to limit adjustment range, apparently the US EPA requires that. Apart from that, power etc is all the same. I bought in 2012 when the US$ was below the AU$ exchange rate, and I really paid half the local price postage included. But I know what you mean, there are new model chainsaws out in the US with computer controlled engines to reduce emissions, probably with poor power and short lifespan and certainly a nightmare to maintain.

As for Stihl, I have tried long and hard but I could not find sellers prepared to export from the USA. Despite big price differences. Mind you, many Stihl products are manufactured in the USA (not in Germany as most seem to believe). The American Stihl factory seems to have a firm grip on their US dealers - looks like if you get into grey exporting, you will instantly loose the dealership. Essentially that is cartel behaviour, and I am surprised that it is legal in the supposedly free market ultra-capitalist USA.