Insane import prices from Hong Kong

duffhead1010

I ordered a airsoft gun recently and it arrived today from ups, but I had to pay 50 euro for taxes and stuff. I didn't have the money to pay for it on me so now i have to wait another day for my gun. Is the anyway I can avoid paying so much in the future? The retailer I used was WGC.

SniperSight

Other than ordering from Irish or other European sites, nothing much you can do really.

duffhead1010

Oh:(
Can you reccomend any cheap european retailers?

SniperSight

To be honest when I'm buying AEGs I would usually just buy from either eirsoft.ie or airsoftscotland. I personnaly am not too familiar with many other European retailers, but of curse I'm sure there are many here who are.

duffhead1010

Thanks I'll check them out.

Puding

Is the anyway I can avoid these stupid taxes in the future?

any talk of avoiding vat and duty is liable to get the thread locked, your should alwasy add 25% to any order made outside the EU to cover yourself with teh vat and duty charges

SniperSight

25%...
I thought it was 21%
Ahh... no matter the point still remains, I probably should have mentioned that too.

TerrorFirmer

www.airsoftguns.pl is one I used recently, shipping is very reasonable, 30 euro via DHL to Ireland, that was for several rifles.

gandalf

Just to add if you order from outside the EU and its over €18 (I think this may change soon) you are liable to pay duty and VAT on the item. The really bad news is you have to pay it on the full amount including shipping.

Do not ask again how to avoid duty or tax or you will get banned from here.

duffhead1010

Sorry, anyway I edited the post so it's fine.

SniperSight

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

www.airsoftguns.pl is one I used recently, shipping is very reasonable, 30 euro via DHL to Ireland, that was for several rifles.

Problem is there, I'm seeing ALOT of 350fps+ guns.

Puding

25%...
I thought it was 21%
Ahh... no matter the point still remains, I probably should have mentioned that too.

i alwasy say 25% of total cost as that then covers vat duty and any charges the lovely devlivery people put on

duffhead1010

gandalf wrote: »

The really bad news is you have to pay it on the full amount including shipping.

Yeah it was pretty horrible, 190 euro altogether.:(

gandalf

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

www.airsoftguns.pl is one I used recently, shipping is very reasonable, 30 euro via DHL to Ireland, that was for several rifles.

Just checked that site and an awful lot of their AEG's are firing over 1j. I assume you either ordered AEG's under the limit or asked them to downgrade them before shipping. If not you imported the AEG's illegally.

Puding

Problem is there, I'm seeing ALOT of 350fps+ guns

yes, problem is 350 seems to be the stock power for most clone products of late, cheaper retailors and reliable downgrades do not normaly go hand in hand

Stokolan

SniperSight wrote: »

25%...
I thought it was 21%
Ahh... no matter the point still remains, I probably should have mentioned that too.

21% is the Vat, AFAIK Duty is another 3% - 6% depending on the item?? could be wrong tho. Then you also have to take into account administration fees which could be another 10 euro on top of that!

SniperSight

Puding wrote: »

i alwasy say 25% of total cost as that then covers vat duty and any charges the lovely devlivery people put on

Ahh, yes the famous "Other" charges...:p

TerrorFirmer

gandalf wrote: »

Just checked that site and an awful lot of their AEG's are firing over 1j. I assume you either ordered AEG's under the limit or asked them to downgrade them before shipping. If not you imported the AEG's illegally.

Actually sorry I didn't factor that in, all I was ordering was cheap rifles all either .6 or .8j for film props. Very good range there though, especially in budget rifles. Excellent prices, far better then Irish sites for what they stock in common, though obviously coming from Poland that's to be expected.

Puding

Ahh, yes the famous "Other" charges...

since the ems problems i;ve got very angrey at the 'other' charges

duffhead1010

Puding wrote: »

since the ems problems i;ve got very angrey at the 'other' charges

What are the "other" charges described as?

Puding

normaly its some form of 'admin' charge for deal with custom on your behalf

gandalf

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

Excellent prices, far better then Irish sites for what they stock in common, though obviously coming from Poland that's to be expected.

Bear in mind Terror on the few I spot checked on that site Irish retailers have to pay to get them downgraded as well. That has to be taken into account as well.

As the law stands if people import any AEG over 1j they are doing so illegally even if they are intending to downgrade it themselves. They will be seized and destroyed by C&E if they test them.

TerrorFirmer

Yep, for that reason I wouldn't order anything above the limit, too risky. How lenient are they, exactly? For example, obviously a rifle shooting at 360+ fps is way above the limit, but say a rifle was maybe, 330fps?

Is there any Irish/UK retailer that stocks cheap replicas like those that Airsoftguns.pl do? I bought a few rifles, again for props, and you can get very realistic spring rifles (like this for example) for 25-40 euro - but there's no equivalent at all on Irish sites for that sort of purpose, or even on UK sites I looked at. Airguns.ie have a few cheap guns but they look like crap, which would defeat the purpose of its use. Interesting, one gun that costs 43 euro on airsoftguns.pl and at stock is well under the 1j limit, is 100 on airguns.ie...

Compton

airguns.ie is owned by DW2 :pac:

TerrorFirmer

Yeah DW2 stopped selling rifles a day or two ago, though in the transition, they lost a few of their cheap AEG's/spring rifles....There was a Well P90 (35) and the plastic MP40 (11) I actually was going to buy for the laugh but they literally vanished in front of my eyes!

ED E

Airsoft scotland are quite dear, as are many UK sites, I'd stick with Irish retailers, you'll save on shipping(and its far faster).

I thought the minimum for VAT to be charged was €48? Could be wrong though. The new limit is 150 isnt it? Comin in in september afaik.

SniperSight

Lethal_Bullet wrote: »

I thought the minimum for VAT to be charged was €48? Could be wrong though. The new limit is 150 isnt it? Comin in in september afaik.

That will be quite handy.:)

Cuddlesworth

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

but say a rifle was maybe, 330fps?

Is destroyed. There is no margin of error. If its tested over its over.

CrazyRabbit

Lethal_Bullet wrote: »

I thought the minimum for VAT to be charged was €48? Could be wrong though. The new limit is 150 isnt it? Comin in in september afaik.

I believe you are correct. That was correct the last time I checked. Anything under €48 is considered a gift and therefore tax free.

Stokolan

Lethal_Bullet wrote: »

I thought the minimum for VAT to be charged was €48? Could be wrong though. The new limit is 150 isnt it? Comin in in september afaik.

Have they changed it? The last I heard it was december.

duffhead1010

CrazyRabbit wrote: »

I believe you are correct. That was correct the last time I checked. Anything under €48 is considered a gift and therefore tax free.

How can you price a gift?:P I think it should be if you import more than 1 item , 'cos not many retailers stock 1 item.

NakedDex

If you do it that way you could import a €120,000 sports car without paying a cent of customs and import duty. Not really a viable option. The limit has always been a monetary value worldwide. The limit itself however is variable from country to country. Ours is rather low by comparison to may places which is why it's being raised slightly at the end of the fiscal year.

mcgovern

There are currently two limits, the ~€20 limit is for non gifts, and the ~€40 limit is for items marked as a gift.

duffhead1010

NakedDex wrote: »

If you do it that way you could import a €120,000 sports car without paying a cent of customs and import duty. Not really a viable option. The limit has always been a monetary value worldwide. The limit itself however is variable from country to country. Ours is rather low by comparison to may places which is why it's being raised slightly at the end of the fiscal year.

You're right, I just wish I didn't have to pay so much.:(

babyjames

Just to let ye all know if you are importing stuff from WGC or Rsov avoid UPS like the plauge they add an extra charge for putting you package trough customs. I got two deliveries in the space of two days One by DHL wich cost 22.39 in import taxes and the other one from UPS which cost 33 .63 and the original value of that one was around 20 euro less than the DHL one.When I enquired as to why the price was so high I was informed that they now have this charge in place.

o1s1n

Sounds like UPS alright. I've yet to have an order shipped by UPS where they didn't include lots of extra charges. Avoid whenever possible.

defenderdude

Add fedex to the ones to avoid. Although not airsoft related - I got a watch from a seller in Asia (value about E100) and it was delivered in good time by fedex - no charges.

or so I thought...
two weeks later a letter from fedex arrives:

INVOICE
Duty 2.99
VAT 13.97
Admin Fee 10.00
total 26.96
more VAT 2.10
new total 29.06

:D:D

What can you say - cant avoid taxes etc. no problem but I can avoid FedEx for all future transactions.

So add 'em to the list...

Masada

lol., yeah fedex are a bastid for that., although they do that so they can deliver your packages quicker aparently.,

NakedDex

That can't be right... They're charging you VAT on the total which includes VAT previously. So they're essentially charging you VAT on your paid VAT. It's only worth a few cent but I'd argue about that.

gandalf

vtec wrote: »

lol., yeah fedex are a bastid for that., although they do that so they can deliver your packages quicker aparently.,

Nope they're crap as well. Had stuff delayed for ages from the states from them. Then the invoice months later for the extras which I refused to pay because of the delays and inflated costs until they threatened to put my employers account on hold because I got the package delivered to work.

I will never use them or UPS for any deliveries and will avoid retailers that use these shipping methods always.

tonky

The Vat of 2.10 is VAT at 21% on the Admin fee of 10.00, prob for customs formalities. The Duty And VAT at the top are due on the Valuation of the goods and are paid by the Agent to Revenue on your behalf AFAIK.

Arcto

NakedDex wrote: »

That can't be right... They're charging you VAT on the total which includes VAT previously. So they're essentially charging you VAT on your paid VAT. It's only worth a few cent but I'd argue about that.

Defo worth chaseing after. A few cent multiplied by a few thousand customers = a crap load of money for them for nothing.

Nodin

tonky wrote: »

The Vat of 2.10 is VAT at 21% on the Admin fee of 10.00, prob for customs formalities. The Duty And VAT at the top are due on the Valuation of the goods and are paid by the Agent to Revenue on your behalf AFAIK.

There used be itemised a fee for not declaring, thus you'd pay VAT, stampduty, and then get fined for not declaring the goods.