buying a dress from the USA & customs/tax

Martina05

Hi, has anyone bought a dress from the US? Did you get stung for customs bigtime?? I've just bought a great dress but found out the customs & tax will amount to almost 47% of the total overall cost. If the company use UPS or Fedex to ship I'll definitely get hit with a mega bill:eek:. Is it cheaper to get it sent though ordinary post or am I just screwed???

cowhands

Yeah I bought my wedding dress in the states.... ordered it from jaysbridal.net (FANTASTIC!)
Anyway, I got it shipped to my aunt in New York, who repackaged it for me, took out all the invoices etc and marked it as a gift. She then sent it as regular post (USPS) it took ages to get over (suppose it was over Christmas too) but it arrived in perfect condition to the door and no extra charges.
Is there any possiblilty you can contact the company you bought it from and ask them to mark it as a "gift" or get them to mark the value down a good bit so if do manage to get caught at least you wont have to pay out so much?
It seems that delivery / courier services are more likely to get caught by customs too.
It took ages for my dress to get here and the constant worry over customs was a killer but it was totally worth it...I saved at least 50% buying in the states

Martina05

Yep, I went through netbride & I made a killing on the dress, but didn't realise I'd have to pay customs. I'm asking a friend in the states to receive the dress & send it on, its just that I'm freaked out the time. I'm getting married in October, & the friend wont get the dress till June. Surely USPS would have it delivered in 3 months????? Or should I just risk going through ordinary post & hope I wont get caught for a lot!!

cowhands

Martina05 wrote: »

Yep, I went through netbride & I made a killing on the dress, but didn't realise I'd have to pay customs. I'm asking a friend in the states to receive the dress & send it on, its just that I'm freaked out the time. I'm getting married in October, & the friend wont get the dress till June. Surely USPS would have it delivered in 3 months????? Or should I just risk going through ordinary post & hope I wont get caught for a lot!!

Its amazing what you can save buying online...the bridal shop wanted €1200 for the dress alone, I got the EXACT same dress, shoes, hair pin and zippy bag for €751 :eek: including delivery!

Being honest I was dreading being caught by customs, even though it would still be cheaper than buying here I just could not justify the price so to be save I sent it onto my aunt in New York hoping and hoping I would slip by. I really do think you are better off sending it to your friend and getting her to USPS it.
When I said it takes ages - I was mainly waiting on the dress to be made more than anything. I placed my order on the 17th of August, they gave me a designers finish time as the 21st of December, but they finished early and sent it at the start of Dec to my aunt. My aunt then posted it on the 17th of Dec and I recieved it on the 5th of Jan...so really didnt wait that long for postage plus that was over Christmas with the snow and all...so 3 months to get from your friends house to yours is more than enough time in my eyes.

Dutchess

I bought mine from China, no problems with customs whatsoever.

Martina05

I think its just the US that the big customs charges apply to? I guess the safest thing is to get my pal to send it on as a gift, then I hopefully wont get caught for 47% customs fees. I saw my ideal dress over here but it was selling at €2250 so there was no way on earth I could afford it. I got something very similar on-line, with shoes, hair accessory & zippybag for €680 so I guess even with taxes it's worth it!

tinkerbell

That's strange - 47%? I wonder have they upped the duty so because it's always been 40% approx of the total value of the merchandise, i.e. the cost of the item PLUS shipping. So don't forget that you have to pay the duty on the shipping too ...

Martina05

Pretty sure its 47, rang customs & a really nice lady took me through each charge, seems that wedding dresses are charged a far higher rate of tax for some reason. Its crazy really, if the boutiques were more realistic here, people wouldn't be forced to shop abroad:cool:

SSFG

Girls, can I ask is this bridal dresses you are talking about, and if so are they the actual designer dresses, and not just copies like the Chinese sites??
I must have a look this sounds like such a great idea...how did you manage the sizes?

Martina05

yes, original dresses, the company gets them direct from the designer, no copies & they guarantee that. I got mine from Netbride but other girls used different sites, I guess just shop them all! You need to get a professional seamstress to measure you to be very accurate, but as the dresses I looked at come in standard sizes they'll probably need some alteration when you receive them.

cowhands

Yeah genuine dress...Sophia Tolli in my case...shop in US orders straight from designer.
I used www.jaysbridal.net have to say it was excellent..they have an online chat facility so you can ask them directly if you have any queries. They also keep in regular contact as regards finishing times and postage.

As for size I looked up the Sophia Tolli website and looked at her guidelines..I ordered a size 12 (Im usually a 12 - 14 here) and it fits just about perfect...I will need to loose some back fat mind plus take it up a wee bit but otherwise its a perfect fit.

I am delighed with my online purchase I have to say.

D3PO

what about www.houseofbrides.com based out of Chicago. They seem to have over 3,000 different dresses from every designer Ive heard of.

They also have a price garantee. Find the same dress cheaper elsewhere and you get your dress FREE !!

Has anybody used them ?

fifib

can i ask how far in advance your ordering before the big day? i know some bridal shops here say you must order least 6 months beforehand..is it the same for online stores?

omr2011

Martina05 wrote: »

Hi, has anyone bought a dress from the US? Did you get stung for customs bigtime?? I've just bought a great dress but found out the customs & tax will amount to almost 47% of the total overall cost. If the company use UPS or Fedex to ship I'll definitely get hit with a mega bill:eek:. Is it cheaper to get it sent though ordinary post or am I just screwed???

Hiya, i havnt bought anything myself yet but a friend of mine bought her bridesmaid dresses online....dresses would hav been €825 here and she paid €330 plus €80 customs charge

ABajaninCork

fifib wrote: »

can i ask how far in advance your ordering before the big day? i know some bridal shops here say you must order least 6 months beforehand..is it the same for online stores?

Yes. Most designers advise allowing 16-20 weeks. That's only to get the dress from the designer to the store. Depending on the method of shipping, you'll need to allow 21 days for the dress to clear Customs. Then of course you have to factor in any alterations needed. So - AT LEAST 6 MONTHS TO ALLOW PLENTY OF TIME.

ABajaninCork

Forgot to add:

Be very careful ordering from the US. Maggie Sottero, Alfred Angelo and one other designer I can't remember do not allow ordering internationally; i.e. ordered online for delivery outside the US.

SSFG

Does anyone know any sites where I can get Ronald Joyce/Victoria Jane dresses? I have my heart set on one and I can't find anywhere that sells the actual dress, it seems to be copies of the original?

ABajaninCork

Try these:

Store: MARIANS
Address: Barton house, francis street, galway
Postal Code:
Phone Number: 00353 91564966
City: Galway
Country: Ireland

Store: TRACY BRIDAL & EVENING WEAR
Address: Sandyfort, bohamore, galway
Postal Code: 0
Phone Number: 0035391380660
City: Galway
Country: Ireland

Website: http://www.victoriajaneuk.com/
http://www.ronaldjoyce.com/

Hope this helps!

SSFG

ABajaninCork wrote: »

Try these:

Store: MARIANS
Address: Barton house, francis street, galway
Postal Code:
Phone Number: 00353 91564966
City: Galway
Country: Ireland

Store: TRACY BRIDAL & EVENING WEAR
Address: Sandyfort, bohamore, galway
Postal Code: 0
Phone Number: 0035391380660
City: Galway
Country: Ireland

Website: http://www.victoriajaneuk.com/
http://www.ronaldjoyce.com/

Hope this helps!

Thanks very much for that, I actually found the dress in Tracy bridal I am just trying to make sure I look around alot before I go ahead and drop the best part of 1k on a dress :eek: I thought I could get it online but I think because this is an English designer I won't be able to get it on any american site!
Thanks again!

ABajaninCork

SSFG wrote: »

Thanks very much for that, I actually found the dress in Tracy bridal I am just trying to make sure I look around alot before I go ahead and drop the best part of 1k on a dress :eek: I thought I could get it online but I think because this is an English designer I won't be able to get it on any american site!
Thanks again!

You probably won't get it online then. It's all well and good getting dresses online and you can get some great bargains. I got my BM dresses from Jay's Bridal. But then, the $ -Euro/£ was much better.

It's important to get professionally measured and get a REALLY good seamstress to alter the dress, otherwise all the money saved getting it online will be wasted.

Having said that, might it be worth popping across the border to see if it might be cheaper there?

SSFG

ABajaninCork wrote: »

You probably won't get it online then. It's all well and good getting dresses online and you can get some great bargains. I got my BM dresses from Jay's Bridal. But then, the $ -Euro/£ was much better.

It's important to get professionally measured and get a REALLY good seamstress to alter the dress, otherwise all the money saved getting it online will be wasted.

Having said that, might it be worth popping across the border to see if it might be cheaper there?

Yep thats the next step in my plan, I have already sent an email to shops up North, but depending on price it would want to be ALOT cheaper to justify all the trips that would be required up and down!! I never wanted to pay too much for a dress, but I fell in love with one so I really really want it :rolleyes:

Thanks again!