Import from china trouble

ardinn

I bought a light in china for $250 It was delivered by sea and arrived last week

I got this bill from the shipping Company in Dub - is it correct or are they really screwing me here??

Local handling Charges -
Handling - 65.00
Agency - 60.00
Isps - 14.00
China import surcharge - 36.06
Customs Clearance - 55.00
Delivery - 55.00+vat=66.83
Total - 296.89

Customs Duty - 4.52
Customs Vat - 37.00
Total - 41.52

Total charges - €338.41

Keeping in mind the item is worth 250 USD how on earth could the charges be nearly 75% more than the item is worth??

It weighs 60kgs

RUDOLF289

Hello Ardinn,

I sympathise with your problem, it occurs regularly where importers leave the shipping arrangements to their Chinese suppliers.

Problem is that the exporter in China gets a really good rate from a Chinese groupage / LCL operator. That rate is usually a minimum of 50% below the applicable market rate in Ireland. So guess what ? The Chinese carrier instructs the receiving agent in Ireland to collect the difference between the Irish market rate and the Chinese market in the form of a so-called China Import Surcharge or similarly worded charge.

Here is a realistic schedule of charges if you had decided to make the arrangements from this side ;

Handling (a.k.a. depot handling / terminal handling / loading-unloading) Euro 55.00 (minimum)
Agency fee Euro 55.00
Customs Clearance 55.00
No ISPS
Delivery - appears high, but without knowing exact weight and dimensions and final destination difficult to comment on.

Duty and VAT are relatively small amounts. If you are a VAT registered trading, you can re-claim the VAT through your VAT return.

Considering this is likely to be a very small shipment it might actually have made sense to send the shipment by air freight.

At this stage there is little you can do, except perhaps to complain to your supplier. Not sure if that would lead to any satisfaction. If you consider buying in China again, drop me a line and we will make sure that you know in advance what the total costs are from FOB to door.
Sorry I can not offer any comfort.

Regards,
Rudolf289

ardinn

Yeah is balls alright, The item is 1 meter by one meter and weighs 60kgs so it would have cost $860 for air frieght!!

Isps - security - ??? Was someone on guard at my package during the transport??

RUDOLF289

Hello Ardinn,

again, don't know where you got the airfreight figure from, but I think we could do a good bit better.

Regards,
Rudolf289

ardinn

Got it from the company i bought the light from