Hit by customs on a parcel from Dealextreme

podge3

I ordered 4 items recently from DX - total cost about $50.

I got a letter several days later from customs requesting an invoice or Paypal receipt before they would release the package. They obviously thought the items (VGA splitters) were worth far more than the declared value.

I emailed them my Paypal receipt and they are billing me €10 plus €6 collection fee :mad:. So the moral of the story is to get item sent singularly.

Hope I'm not on the Customs "watch" list now :cool:

Gran Hermano

I had a package from DX opened and inspected recently. This was the first time for me also and the value was below average for me. The package was labeled 'Binoculars' with a value of under 30 dollars which Customs clearly disbelieved. I'd say they were disappointed to find it was a spotting scope worth 15 dollars and not an expensive item

With the free shipping seperate orders is indeed the way forward.

podge3

Gran Hermano wrote: »

I had a package from DX opened and inspected recently.

Now you mention it, I had a different package opened a few weeks back. Like your story, the contents were of little value and no charges were levied.

zarquon

The way to avoid this is to avail of the 1c dropship service which will not have the value declared and will be sent as gift.

jor el

If the value is not declared, then Customs will open it and value it themselves. Marking something as Gift does practically nothing, as when it's coming from a commercial website, it's obviously not a gift.

They have the power to open and inspect anything they want, gift or not, and you have to pay if they request it.

rubadub

podge3 wrote: »

I emailed them my Paypal receipt and they are billing me €10 plus €6 collection fee :mad:. So the moral of the story is to get item sent singularly.

And if you do get stung it is very easy to forward on your email receipt with *ahem* adjusted prices.

Gamesnash.ie: Pat

The receipt from the seller even if not "ahem" amended may not save you.

If customs feel that the value of the items is too low versus the actual sale price of the article or its equivilent in Irish stores they can choose to use this sales value from Irish stores as the basis for levelling vat and customs duty if applicable.

eg you buy something for $50 that sells on average over here for €200 - customs can levy vat on a value of €164 ( being the pre vat price of €200 ) which is €36 and not the approx €10 it would have been based on the $50 value.

Throw in your customs duty and any admin charges and you can be looking at a charge more than the price you paid for the goods in the first place.

rubadub

Gamesnash.ie (Pat) wrote: »

If customs feel that the value of the items is too low versus the actual sale price of the article or its equivilent in Irish stores they can choose to use this sales value from Irish stores as the basis for levelling vat and customs duty if applicable.

Yes, DX usually have a very low price on the declarations. They are selling nintendo DS's now and I warned people about customs, as it is a recognisable item the price would be well known. I know 2 people who had to pay duty on them, I warned them not to adjust the price too low or they would not be believed.

There are plenty of other loopholes & tricks but I probably shouldn't have even mentioned that one

witnessmenow

Yeah I buy seperately from DX now wherever I can. Got caught with customs a while back.

Alot of what I would be buyign would have no Irish equvialnt prices (Ds parts etc..) so no fear of that nightmare scenario Pat described :P

cathysworld

BAS TARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Got charged an extra 30quid for a hair straightener!!!:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Nody

cathysworld wrote: »

BAS TARDS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Got charged an extra 30quid for a hair straightener!!!:mad::mad::mad::mad::mad::mad:

Yes curse them for forcing you to follow the law, damn them all I say!

jor el

Nody wrote: »

Yes curse them for forcing you to follow the law, damn them all I say!

How dare they do their job!

cathysworld

Well I didnt actually know they could do that or I wudnt have bothered, damn me for not knowing the law inside and out like you wise legal eagles!!

Nody

cathysworld wrote: »

Well I didnt actually know they could do that or I wudnt have bothered, damn me for not knowing the law inside and out like you wise legal eagles!!

You mean beyond the sticky at the top; the stories in the news about it at the last two Christmas seasons about customs stepping up their checks; the red and green option when you fly saying "something to declare" and "nothing to declare" (and EU if you want to be picky); limits on how much you can bring in etc. to only mention a few reasons why you SHOULD be aware that there is something involved in importing stuff.

Bob Z

podge3 wrote: »

.

Hope I'm not on the Customs "watch" list now :cool:

Is there such a thing?

jor el

Bob Z wrote: »

Is there such a thing?

No.

Bob Z

jor el wrote: »

No.

But if you are caught once do they watch you more carefully?

rubadub

cathysworld wrote: »

Well I didnt actually know they could do that or I wudnt have bothered, damn me for not knowing the law inside and out like you wise legal eagles!!

Wouldn't have bothered buying online, or at all? If you buy in a shop here the "b*stards" will still get you, it is just included in the price already.

jor el

Bob Z wrote: »

But if you are caught once do they watch you more carefully?

Watch you how, exactly? It's not as if they know you've ordered something and will wait in anticipation for it. Everything coming in from outside the EU is subject to inspection and charges, if they want to. They don't single anyone out. EVERYTHING is included.

rubadub

jor el wrote: »

Watch you how, exactly?

I think he means they do a random search, find something and have you highlighted for the future as a likely candidate to be hit again. e.g. if they only have staff to open 1 in 20 packets and usually only get 2 "hits" yet if they get yours again and keep finding stuff they might go for you time and time again.

A mate of mine was getting prescription drugs online, he is able to go to the doc here, but with repeat prescriptions and the ludicrous prices here he got them online. He was getting them for ages in discrete packets for a long time and all of a sudden every one of them was being caught, from various different sources using different postage methods. So he now gets them sent to a mates house, and once again they come in with no problem at all.

Everything coming in from outside the EU is subject to inspection and charges, if they want to.

That is it, not really "if they want to",more if they have the resources, I don't believe they do, so they are better off checking what is likely to be hit. It would be like customs men in the airport picking out suspicious looking characters, or ones they recognise making frequent trips to known drug destinations.

cathysworld

rubadub wrote: »

Wouldn't have bothered buying online, or at all? If you buy in a shop here the "b*stards" will still get you, it is just included in the price already.

Well actually when I worked it out last night, it still worked out cheaper to buy online even with the extra charge

jor el

rubadub wrote: »

I think he means they do a random search, find something and have you highlighted for the future as a likely candidate to be hit again. e.g. if they only have staff to open 1 in 20 packets and usually only get 2 "hits" yet if they get yours again and keep finding stuff they might go for you time and time again.

I don't believe they go through the thousands of parcels every day to find a particular person. This isn't done at a local level, where it would be easier to pinpoint an individual, it's done in Portlaoise, where all the mail is sorted. Singling out individuals would be near impossible, and unnecessary, as all parcels from outside the EU are supposed to have the value declared on the outside.

There's a maximum amount of parcels they can inspect/charge each day, and as long as they reach this amount, it doesn't matter who has to pay.

If you're importing often, you're going to be caught often, which is why people who are caught often think they're on some sort of list.

Bob_Harris

I bought 3 items from China on Ebay recently and the very last one I got has been held by customs.

I think I'll have to pay €10 plus a €6 "handling fee" (hey I never asked for them to hold my item and "handle" it so I don't really know what the justification for this handling fee is)

The fact that they include the cost of the item, the cost of postage to Ireland, and even the cost of postage insurance when they calculate the VAT is a joke. VAT in itself is a joke in any case.

The mind boggles to understand the validity of these customs charges. I mean what right does the state have to apply VAT to a non commercial, private transaction (using earned money which has already been taxed). Why do they feel they are owned this 21.5%?

Sure enough someone will reply saying "They are only forcing you to follow the law" or some ****e and no doubt get a barrage of "Thanks" for it.

rubadub

Bob_Harris wrote: »

The mind boggles.

You can say that again....

Nody

Bob_Harris wrote: »

I bought 3 items from China on Ebay recently and the very last one I got has been held by customs.

Ok I'll bite even though this smells badly of troll.

I think I'll have to pay €10 plus a €6 "handling fee" (hey I never asked for them to hold my item and "handle" it so I don't really know what the justification for this handling fee is)

Read the law; they have a right to charge a handling fee up to 15 EUR because you did not declare it in advance as required by the law. Don't like it vote in a new set of people to change it or lobby the current one.

The fact that they include the cost of the item, the cost of postage to Ireland, and even the cost of postage insurance when they calculate the VAT is a joke. VAT in itself is a joke in any case.

Except what ever you buy in the store would have to carry exactly those charges to have got the goods over here in the first place; hence they charge you for the same costs as well.

The mind boggles to understand the validity of these customs charges. I mean what right does the state have to apply VAT to a non commercial, private transaction (using earned money which has already been taxed). Why do they feel they are owned this 21.5%?

You mean beyond the fact it is written in the law which was created by the people voted to power by the public? I think they are called politicans; you know by voting you give them the right to make rules and stuff; scary really.

Of course that don't cover the fact that if you bougt it in Dunnes or where ever locally you'd pay the same 21.5% in VAT as well; look at a receipt next time.

Sure enough someone will reply saying "They are only forcing you to follow the law" or some ****e and no doubt get a barrage of "Thanks" for it.

Well do you think that could possibly in a very remote kind of way be because the post has been repeated every month (some times week)? Or that people act surprised that they have to pay VAT or that there is even such a thing as VAT or import tax to be applied when they have walked through airpoirts multiple times with a green/red/blue option? Beyond stickies here, reports in the news on it etc.

In short it is a horse beaten more dead then a Tesco thread.

jor el

Bob_Harris wrote: »

The mind boggles to understand the validity of these customs charges. I mean what right does the state have to apply VAT to a non commercial, private transaction (using earned money which has already been taxed). Why do they feel they are owned this 21.5%?

Are you being serious, or are you just trolling? If you honestly don't know what right the state has to apply taxes to a commercial purchase (and it is a commercial transaction, not a private one), or think that they shouldn't be applying tax, then you should probably leave Ireland (and the EU).

Bob_Harris

Nody wrote: »

Read the law....

You mean beyond the fact it is written in the law which was created by the people voted to power by the public? I think they are called politicans; you know by voting you give them the right to make rules and stuff; scary really.

Of course that don't cover the fact that if you bougt it in Dunnes or where ever locally you'd pay the same 21.5% in VAT as well; look at a receipt next time.

Yes I think we've all establish that it is "in the law". Islamic laws are very harsh against women. Just because something is "in the law" does not mean it makes sense or that it is right. Constantly using the "it's in the law" argument is not an argument at all.

Your tone is very condensing. I don't really appreciate it.

Oh and no matter what vote I make, or any amount of lobbying, it won't change the fact that the majority are happy to just accept what's "in the law".

jor el wrote:

Are you being serious, or are you just trolling? If you honestly don't know what right the state has to apply taxes to a commercial purchase (and it is a commercial transaction, not a private one), or think that they shouldn't be applying tax, then you should probably leave Ireland (and the EU).

Please don't call me a troll, it sickness me.

Obviously the state has the right to do whatever the **** it wants.

Apart from just being another form of taxation, would you care to explain why VAT is something to be happy about?

jor el

Bob_Harris wrote: »

Please don't call me a troll, it sickness me.

Stop trolling then.

cathysworld

What does "trolling" mean?? Having an opinion that isnt the same as yours?!

teddy_303

Not content on fleecing the population, if you purchase items from people or places which don't, the man will do the fleece differential on their behalf. Wow. :mad:

cruizer101

Nody wrote: »

Read the law; they have a right to charge a handling fee up to 15 EUR because you did not declare it in advance as required by the law.

Really, does this mean if I do declare something I won't be charged a handling fee. While I'd prefer not to have to pay VAT I accept it and know I will on certain packages, so if I knew I could avoid the extra handling would be nice.

If this is the case any idea how I'd go about this. I had a quick look on revenue.ie but couldn't find anything.

jor el

cathysworld wrote: »

What does "trolling" mean?? Having an opinion that isnt the same as yours?!

In Internet slang, a troll is someone who posts controversial, inflammatory, irrelevant or off-topic messages in an online community, such as an online discussion forum, chat room or blog, with the primary intent of provoking other users into an emotional or disciplinary response[1] or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion. Which is exactly what Bob_Harris is doing.

teddy_303 wrote: »

Not content on fleecing the population, if you purchase items from people or places which don't, the man will do the fleece differential on their behalf. Wow. :mad:

In English?

Capt'n Midnight

teddy_303 wrote: »

Not content on fleecing the population, if you purchase items from people or places which don't, the man will do the fleece differential on their behalf. Wow. :mad:

the only reason they allow parcels below a certain value go tax free is the cost of collecting the tax is probably more than it's worth

and the difference is the man pockets the money , in the normal fleece it's the middleman who does

teddy_303

It is in English. That is precisely what I think. If you worked abroad, you would not pat tax on you earnings here, so why do you when you purchase items abroad? Apologies to jor el. I didn't realise I was posting to the Queen.

jor el

cruizer101 wrote: »

Really, does this mean if I do declare something I won't be charged a handling fee. While I'd prefer not to have to pay VAT I accept it and know I will on certain packages, so if I knew I could avoid the extra handling would be nice.

If this is the case any idea how I'd go about this. I had a quick look on revenue.ie but couldn't find anything.

http://www.revenue.ie/en/customs/leaflets/pn1882.html
If you want to declare and pay before the item arrives, then you should contact revenue with the invoice and see what they say. Not sure if it's possible, but I doubt they'd turn someone down when they volunteer to pay tax.

teddy_303 wrote: »

If you worked abroad, you would not pat tax on you earnings here, so why do you when you purchase items abroad?

If you worked abroad, you'd pay all your taxes abroad. If you live in Ireland, you pay your taxes in Ireland. How does this relate to living in Ireland, and importing taxable goods, from countries outside the EU?

Not content on fleecing the population, if you purchase items from people or places which don't, the man will do the fleece differential on their behalf.

The words are in English, but I have no idea what you're trying to say, other than that you're annoyed at having to pay tax. What is a fleece differential, who is "the man", and who are they? Your post makes little sense.

rubadub

I honestly don't know what some people are asking or stating as the problem. Do people think this practice is particular only to ireland or something?

Maybe this might explain some things to the people who seem more confused than me.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_added_tax
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duty_(economics)

Gamesnash.ie: Pat

I think that the issue may be in the understanding of VAT.

VAT is basically designed as a levy on the consumption of goods / services within the state. In most cases the businesses involved in the supply chain all the way through to the end user are acting as tax collectors for the revenue ( in that they charge VAT on the goods / services and have to pay this VAT to the revenue ) Each business can claim the VAT paid on their raw materials etc so basically the VAT that each business pays is on it's profit or value added along the way - hence the term value added tax. The end user / consumer pays the final portion of the VAT charge which is in effect a sales tax.

The reason why VAT is preferred over a straight forward sales tax is for example a general levy of 10% is added to all sales in an economy by the time it gets to the final consumer they would be paying a compounded 10% for every supplier involved in the chain which could be astronomical.

Goods imported from outside of the state have not had any consumption tax / VAT charged or paid to the Irish revenue. ( EU member states have other rules and procedures that address this but in the case of imports from the channel islands, china, USA etc the revenue have not received any tax on the goods purchased. )The importer as a private individual will be consuming those goods and therefore tax is levied on the consumption of those goods.

The alternative would be to abolish VAT altogether and to hugely increase taxes on wages etc.

jor el

rubadub wrote: »

Do people think this practice is particular only to ireland or something?

Yes, I think they do. It's easier to forget that some countries charge higher VAT than us. Most EU countries charge around 20%, similar to Ireland, Hungary and Sweden charge 25%. Why worry about that when you can just have a rant about how you had to pay 10 euro extra on a game you bought on eBay, even though you still end up saving on what it would have cost you in the shops here, or on a website that included VAT in it's prices.

Tolerz

i bought a fake iphone off deal extreme.. hong kong post said that it was posted on the 7th of june ,, its now the 17 ??? ,, still no phone ,, ! , it cost 60 usd do u think that customs will kick up a fuss and bill me ??

allthedoyles

Tolerz wrote: »

i bought a fake iphone off deal extreme.. hong kong post said that it was posted on the 7th of june ,, its now the 17 ??? ,, still no phone ,, ! , it cost 60 usd do u think that customs will kick up a fuss and bill me ??

If Customs get their hands on it , no they will not bill you .

They will send you a letter to say that they will check with the Rights Owner ( brand name ) to see if the item is genuine or counterfit .

If it is deemed to be counterfeit , it will be sent to their warehouse for destruction.

jor el

Stop cross posting and dragging up old threads please.