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  1. #1
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    Default Importing a lathe to Aus

    Does anyone have any recent experience importing things? I am meaning big items like a lathe and not little things that post or DHL would ship. Am very seriously considering getting a Cyclematic CTL-618e from Taiwan.
    Whats the current procedures?
    In the old days they would try to force people to use shipping agents but for personal imports its wasn't needed so i just kept doing it myself. Getting it off the wharf is another bit i don't know about.

    Mike

  2. #2
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    This mob bring them in already, might be worth comparing their landed price to the ex. Taiwan price and seeing if it's worth the hassle of arranging everything yourself https://whitelawmachinery.com.au/pro...l-room-lathes/

    As an aside, we have the CNC version of that lathe at work and it's a very nice piece of kit.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by elanjacobs View Post
    This mob bring them in already, might be worth comparing their landed price to the ex. Taiwan price and seeing if it's worth the hassle of arranging everything yourself https://whitelawmachinery.com.au/pro...l-room-lathes/

    As an aside, we have the CNC version of that lathe at work and it's a very nice piece of kit.
    Had one supplier give me a ballpark and it was more than 35% over the prices i have from a supplier in Taiwan which is FOB and freight to Fremantle. I am sure the import costs would be way lower than 35%. I will give them a try though just as a check on the supplier here

  4. #4
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    Hi Mike, Guys,

    That looks like a very nice piece of kit !

    As far as importing yourself, it might pay you to check the rules in AU. With the advent of Brexit, we now have to pay import duty plus VAT on anything imported even if you are given it as a gift. The Gov are also going down the road of having VAT paid at the point of sale with the seller collecting the VAT and supposedly paying it to HMRC. Basically for us it means that most everything is going to become around 38% dearer.

    JMTPW.
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

  5. #5
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    Quote Originally Posted by oldbuggermike View Post
    Had one supplier give me a ballpark and it was more than 35% over the prices i have from a supplier in Taiwan which is FOB and freight to Fremantle. I am sure the import costs would be way lower than 35%. I will give them a try though just as a check on the supplier here
    GST is going to eat 10% straight away... Leaves you with 25% saving, which if I'm guessing the approximate price anywhere near in the ballpark still leaves you a fair bit of dosh to deal with the multitude of other charges customs and the docks could conjure up. A quick search earlier suggests that there are no tariffs applicable to lathes:

    https://www.abf.gov.au/importing-exp...xvi/chapter-84

    Reference number 8458 is lathes. I think that if it says free there, you don't pay the 'general rate' of duty at 5% (plus GST, of course ), but there could be any other number of other fees they decide to hit you with. They might decide it's full of oil, for example, and charge you an exorbitant fee to drain the fluids, or decide the packing crate is a biohazard and charge you to quarantine it. And from what I've read over the years, the docks can be a law unto themselves when it comes to getting your goods out. Probably best to speak to an import broker to get a better idea of what you're in for, and how to avoid getting royally bent over...

    For the life of me I can't find the other Aussie suppliers of that machine - I've looked at it before, and thought it was a very nice machine if you didn't need a big envelope and were in the market for a quality brand new machine. I'm sure Whitelaw weren't the only ones selling it, I thought maybe ESP in Melbourne had them as well, but they don't seem to be on their website... Could have sworn someone in Melbourne had them on their website...

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by BaronJ View Post
    Hi Mike, Guys,

    That looks like a very nice piece of kit !

    As far as importing yourself, it might pay you to check the rules in AU. With the advent of Brexit, we now have to pay import duty plus VAT on anything imported even if you are given it as a gift. The Gov are also going down the road of having VAT paid at the point of sale with the seller collecting the VAT and supposedly paying it to HMRC. Basically for us it means that most everything is going to become around 38% dearer.

    JMTPW.
    38% You poor bastards, but then Europe has been a high tax regime for a long time. Shouldn't you only pay import duties for things that are competing with UK products. You would only pay more if it comes from a country where there is no trade agreement. The EU is a free trade area for the UK from what i have seen on the news here. What is the rate of VAT now

  7. #7
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    Hi Mike Guys,

    Import duty used to be on amounts above £1000. Duty is 20% and so is VAT. Unless I'm mistaken, and I probably am, the so called free trade only applies to food. There are other things like the car markets and medical but its so up in the air nobody really knows the rules. I get the impression that they are getting made up as it goes along. You only have to look at Ireland. They are turning trucks away and sending them back for all sorts of silly reasons.
    Best Regards:
    Baron J.

  8. #8
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    Best to get a quote from a customs agent on the landing costs, they can be eye watering. As an illustration this is a story I've told on here before.

    The shipment is 100kg from Hartford Connecticut to Brisbane.

    Road transport from Hartford to the wharves at New York, customs paperwork, load into the container, sail 16,000km to the wharf in Brisbane - $500.

    Sling the container off the boat, unpack the container, complete various bits of paperwork, take my shipment 3km down the road to the collection point - $800.

  9. #9
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    Quote Originally Posted by Jekyll and Hyde View Post
    GST is going to eat 10% straight away... Leaves you with 25% saving, which if I'm guessing the approximate price anywhere near in the ballpark still leaves you a fair bit of dosh to deal with the multitude of other charges customs and the docks could conjure up. A quick search earlier suggests that there are no tariffs applicable to lathes:

    https://www.abf.gov.au/importing-exp...xvi/chapter-84

    Reference number 8458 is lathes. I think that if it says free there, you don't pay the 'general rate' of duty at 5% (plus GST, of course ), but there could be any other number of other fees they decide to hit you with. They might decide it's full of oil, for example, and charge you an exorbitant fee to drain the fluids, or decide the packing crate is a biohazard and charge you to quarantine it. And from what I've read over the years, the docks can be a law unto themselves when it comes to getting your goods out. Probably best to speak to an import broker to get a better idea of what you're in for, and how to avoid getting royally bent over...

    For the life of me I can't find the other Aussie suppliers of that machine - I've looked at it before, and thought it was a very nice machine if you didn't need a big envelope and were in the market for a quality brand new machine. I'm sure Whitelaw weren't the only ones selling it, I thought maybe ESP in Melbourne had them as well, but they don't seem to be on their website... Could have sworn someone in Melbourne had them on their website...
    I've been trying to wade through all the different docs on the govt website but they are experts on making it difficult. SO many documents that keep referencing other documents. Need to kill a dozen trees to print it all out, they specialize in confusion. I saw the no duty on lathes and the documentation charges, seem to have to register with them to do it all. Will ask an agent how much to do the paperwork and decide then, i do have a contact in that area and am waiting for him to get back from holls.

  10. #10
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    I'm imported a mill direct from a supplier in China. The price was FOB to Melbourne. The freight from Shanghai to Melbourne was not much more than $150. But then there was 5% import duty, 10% GST, freight forwarding fees, quarantine clearance fees and port charges.

    Cant remember the price of the mill, maybe $1800 total which initself was a great price for a mill, stand, coolant system, light, power X feed and 5 clamping kits (sold 3) but the charges from the port to my 6x4 trailer (next to the port itself) ended up totalling more than another $1000.

    All that and no real hope of any warranty.

    It was an interesting exercise but never again!

    Edit: if I was to import a container load then it would have been a great deal! The port charges would have roughly been the same.

    Simon

    Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
    Girl, I don't wanna know about your mild-mannered alter ego or anything like that." I mean, you tell me you're, uh, super-mega-ultra-lightning babe? That's all right with me. I'm good. I'm good.

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by simonl View Post
    <snip>

    Edit: if I was to import a container load then it would have been a great deal! The port charges would have roughly been the same.

    Simon

    Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
    That's pretty much my experience. We spent a couple of months in Africa a few years back, and shipped back a couple of pieces of stonework for the garden. I think the total for purchase and shipping to Melbourne was about AUD$400, and from memory we got stung about AUD$600 for processing at this end - and that was picking it up directly from the CUBE freight at the dock (ie not delivered to the my door).
    It was pretty much $100 for each touch point, shipment processing fee, customs inspection, quarantine inspection, unloading fee etc etc and most of them were "per shipment" so would have been the same cost for a whole container load.

    Steve

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by oldbuggermike View Post
    Had one supplier give me a ballpark and it was more than 35% over the prices i have from a supplier in Taiwan which is FOB and freight to Fremantle. I am sure the import costs would be way lower than 35%. I will give them a try though just as a check on the supplier here
    Quote Originally Posted by Jekyll and Hyde View Post
    GST is going to eat 10% straight away... Leaves you with 25% saving, which if I'm guessing the approximate price anywhere near in the ballpark still leaves you a fair bit of dosh to deal with the multitude of other charges customs and the docks could conjure up.
    As Jekyll and Hyde advise after paying GST on the total invoice (lathe + shipping), your apparent "saving" will be less than 25%.

    Then there is the "what can we get away with plus a suitable margin" wharf and storage costs.
    For the only private import I've done these costs amounted to around AUD $2000. To my mind you would want to be saving around AUD $3000 to make the exercise worthwhile. Implying the lathe you are looking at would retail in AUS for around AUD $10,000
    regards from Canmore

    ian

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by simonl View Post
    All that and no real hope of any warranty.
    Good point and expensive machines have expensive spares...

  14. #14
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    Although in fairness, a higher end machine from Taiwan may attract a higher level of after sales service than I experienced from China.

    My purchase from China had to be paid upfront via TT in $US and it took 3 months to fill the order.

    I had no leg to stand on when it came to after sales service. In fact the mill came with a broken part but when I contacted them about it they accused me of dropping it when unloading!

    I have since had numerous unsatisfactory dealings with Chinese suppliers. Luckily, all those were via PayPal. I just threaten to open a case and they usually back down.

    Unfortunately, many Chinese suppliers seem to have a culture of poor customer service.

    Taiwan most likely a different story.

    Simon

    Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk
    Girl, I don't wanna know about your mild-mannered alter ego or anything like that." I mean, you tell me you're, uh, super-mega-ultra-lightning babe? That's all right with me. I'm good. I'm good.

  15. #15
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    Quote Originally Posted by ian View Post
    As Jekyll and Hyde advise after paying GST on the total invoice (lathe + shipping), your apparent "saving" will be less than 25%.

    Then there is the "what can we get away with plus a suitable margin" wharf and storage costs.
    For the only private import I've done these costs amounted to around AUD $2000. To my mind you would want to be saving around AUD $3000 to make the exercise worthwhile. Implying the lathe you are looking at would retail in AUS for around AUD $10,000
    25% of $40,000 is quite a bit

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