Amazon shipping to Thailand incredibly fast!

[Suradit69]

4 hours ago, Lammbock said:

I notice that the import tax is quite high on Amazon orders.

Generally it depends on how things are shipped.    Using UPS, DHL, FedEx etc., especially if they claim to be providing some sort of global shipping service, they will gouge you on the shipping cost and the amount they choose to charge you for customs clearance.  Quite often you have to prepay customs duty, so it is the shipper who decides on the amount.

 

If the same thing can be sent though the post office you may or may not charged customs duty and, if you are, it is almost always a good deal less than the shippers decide you should pay.

 

Any time I see Global Shipping Program on eBay or Amazon or other seller, I look for another source from whom to buy.

 

 

 

Edited July 9, 2018 by Suradit69

[NoshowJones]

You mean you actually got Amazon to deliver to Thailand? Or is it only the more expensive things they ship out?

[Dario]

31 minutes ago, possum1931 said:

You mean you actually got Amazon to deliver to Thailand? Or is it only the more expensive things they ship out?

Yes, Amazon ships to Thailand, not only expensive things, everything across the board, but with exceptions, as someone already quoted. Their support is excellent, if you encounter a problem! Some online retail "giants" in Thailand can learn from Amazon. You first register with Amazon with your Thai address and your credit card and when you then browse their offers, you will see if they send that particular item to Thailand you can see a breakdown of shipping cost and import taxes in Thailand, see here an example:

 

 

Edited July 9, 2018 by Dario

[fantom]

2 hours ago, mfd101 said:

As an alternative, you can always use their Kindle for Mac or Kindle for PC software, which comes free. I've been using the former for several years and have some 1500 books in the Kindle cloud to which I have access as I choose on my MacBook Air.

Thanks for your reply, I am aware of those methods but I have used Kindles for years as has my wife.  Frankly for pure reading nothing beats a kindle paper white, the screen is perfect for me.  I was enquiring because if I have to replace it it would be good to get it direct from Amazon to here.

[Jeffrey346]

46 minutes ago, Suradit69 said:

Generally it depends on how things are shipped.    Using UPS, DHL, FedEx etc., especially if they claim to be providing some sort of global shipping service, they will gouge you on the shipping cost and the amount they choose to charge you for customs clearance.  Quite often you have to prepay customs duty, so it is the shipper who decides on the amount.

 

If the same thing can be sent though the post office you may or may not charged customs duty and, if you are, it is almost always a good deal less than the shippers decide you should pay.

 

Any time I see Global Shipping Program on eBay or Amazon or other seller, I look for another source from whom to buy.

 

 

 

If you buy from a legit source they will declare the amount paid on the customs declaration.

If it's over $100. and delivered by any carrier including the post, they will charge you customs fees.

With Amazon or eBay Global Shipping, the fees are fixed. The postal service, UPS DHL etc.. you are at their mercy.

[oobar]

4 hours ago, BEVUP said:

The idea of IT is to protect an industry in one's country against cheaper imports of the same product 

The idea is to get money.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

4 hours ago, BEVUP said:

Does Thailand make tennis rackets ?

 

 

I don't know about tennis rackets. But they sure do make rackets!

 

The country is full of them, right up to the highest reaches. 

Edited July 9, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

8 minutes ago, Jeffrey346 said:

If you buy from a legit source they will declare the amount paid on the customs declaration.

If it's over $100. and delivered by any carrier including the post, they will charge you customs fees.

With Amazon or eBay Global Shipping, the fees are fixed. The postal service, UPS DHL etc.. you are at their mercy.

 

I was shopping on Amazon lately looking at a hardware item my wife couldn't find locally in Thailand and wanted for her work.

 

Amazon was selling the couple pounds item for about $50, a reasonable price. The combined shipping and customs duty quoted by Amazon Global was going to be another $100 or so beyond the purchase price.

 

I could have arranged to have the same item shipped from the U.S. to Thailand for about $30 and probably paid no duty on it.

 

There absolutely are more economical ways of shipping things to Thailand, especially if you have a presence/address in one of the countries where Amazon does domestic business.

 

Edited July 9, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[BangkokSausage]

18 minutes ago, fantom said:

Thanks for your reply, I am aware of those methods but I have used Kindles for years as has my wife.  Frankly for pure reading nothing beats a kindle paper white, the screen is perfect for me.  I was enquiring because if I have to replace it it would be good to get it direct from Amazon to here.

Lazada stocks them at similar prices the 8th gen model shown here sells for $70 on amazon plus duties

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/amazon-all-new-kindle-8th-gen-2016-e-reader-ebook-ereader-i229351224-s350773472.html?search=1

[impulse]

1 hour ago, Suradit69 said:

Generally it depends on how things are shipped.    Using UPS, DHL, FedEx etc., especially if they claim to be providing some sort of global shipping service, they will gouge you on the shipping cost and the amount they choose to charge you for customs clearance.  Quite often you have to prepay customs duty, so it is the shipper who decides on the amount.

 

If the same thing can be sent though the post office you may or may not charged customs duty and, if you are, it is almost always a good deal less than the shippers decide you should pay.

 

Any time I see Global Shipping Program on eBay or Amazon or other seller, I look for another source from whom to buy.

 

While I understand your reluctance, it's often a simple math equation.  Add it all up, and which one is going to cost more?  It gets a little more complicated when you toss in the certainty of actually getting your goodies, whether you value the time you may have to spend going to the Thai Post office (often, not the one close to my home) to get your goodies released, and whether anyone else even sells the goodies into Thailand. 

 

For the same reasons you just mentioned, I placed over 50 orders with Lazada and AliExpress before I broke down and tried Amazon on an item the other guys just didn't have.  The first one went so smoothly, I order about 1 in 4 of my items through Amazon nowadays.  Some because they're not available through Lazada or AliExpress, some because the Thai vendors seem to enjoy gouging me on stuff that's not indigenous.  Never been disappointed with the Amazon experience, though I sometimes feel a little violated with the all-in cost.  But that's one of the trade-offs of living in Thailand.  Buying imported stuff is going to hurt.

 

 

Edited July 9, 2018 by impulse

[Suradit69]

18 minutes ago, Jeffrey346 said:

If you buy from a legit source they will declare the amount paid on the customs declaration.

If it's over $100. and delivered by any carrier including the post, they will charge you customs fees.

With Amazon or eBay Global Shipping, the fees are fixed. The postal service, UPS DHL etc.. you are at their mercy.

I can assure you I buy from legitimate businesses and they declare the appropriate values on parcels. Courier services are allowed to charge and collect customs duty on behalf of Thai Customs and will always charge the maximum (plus some service fee).

 

I've lived here a couple of decades so I don't need your advice on what I know to be true. Couriers set the customs to be collected since they usually charge the amount before the items leave the overseas retailer. If things are sent via the post office the duty is levied in Thailand. While $100 can be a tipping point, I have received things with a declared value over that amount that have passed customs without charge. And couriers will charge you for clearing customs whatever the amount.

 

As an example, I used to order clothes from Land's End in the US. They sent things by mail. About 20% of the time I had to collect the item from the post office and pay customs duty. More often the post office delivered the item to my condo with no additional charge.

 

Then the US Land's End switched to some shipping service that pre-charged customs and used a courier. At that point the shipping and customs charges came to close to 150% the cost of the clothes regardless of whether the total was over or below $100.

 

I switched to Land's End in UK. They still send parcels through the post office. The shipping costs are very low and again, I am charged customs duty at the post office about one time out of five (and Land's End UK deducts the VAT added in their catalogue prices).

 

And that is only one of many examples.

 

 

 

Edited July 9, 2018 by Suradit69

[elgenon]

1 hour ago, Dario said:

Yes, Amazon ships to Thailand, not only expensive things, everything across the board, but with exceptions, as someone already quoted. Their support is excellent, if you encounter a problem! Some online retail "giants" in Thailand can learn from Amazon. You first register with Amazon with your Thai address and your credit card and when you then browse their offers, you will see if they send that particular item to Thailand you can see a breakdown of shipping cost and import taxes in Thailand, see here an example:

 

 

It may be a dumb question but can you buy with a debit card? As a tourist (3 months) I'm told that's all I can get.

[fantom]

46 minutes ago, BangkokSausage said:

Lazada stocks them at similar prices the 8th gen model shown here sells for $70 on amazon plus duties

 

https://www.lazada.co.th/products/amazon-all-new-kindle-8th-gen-2016-e-reader-ebook-ereader-i229351224-s350773472.html?search=1

Thanks for that, it looks as though Lazada has reduced its price to a more sensible level since I last checked.

[BangkokSausage]

Thanks for that, it looks as though Lazada has reduced its price to a more sensible level since I last checked.

 

Yeah me to it was your post that go me curiose so I'm ready to order one after losing mine a while ago

 

Only a 2 week warranty but thai post will refuse a lithium battery if you try to claim on Amazon

[LomSak27]

2 hours ago, Suradit69 said:

f the same thing can be sent though the post office you may or may not charged customs duty and, if you are, it is almost always a good deal less than the shippers decide you should pay.

 

It pays not to burn all your bridges, but that also means quid pro quo on your part. I just purchased some items on amazon - should arrive on July 12  (in US) according to their latest update. They will then be repackaged and sent to me with a "happy birthday" note on the package.

 I do not ship expensive items but so far they have always went direct and no duty charged..

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

33 minutes ago, elgenon said:

It may be a dumb question but can you buy with a debit card? As a tourist (3 months) I'm told that's all I can get.

 

Could be different answers to that:

 

--If you mean Amazon.com in the U.S., then yes, they accept debit cards as a payment method for U.S. customers.  I believe they'll also accept a foreign debit card for delivery to a foreign address via Amazon Global.

 

--If you mean Amazon based on other countries, I'd imagine so, but you'd need to check.

 

--But even if the Amazon you want to use does, not all Thai bank debit cards are friendly toward online purchase transactions, if you're meaning about getting a Thai debit card. So best to check with your bank about the card's use for online purchases.

 

Edited July 9, 2018 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[elgenon]

2 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Could be different answers to that:

 

--If you mean Amazon.com in the U.S., then yes, they accept debit cards as a payment method.

 

--If you mean Amazon based on other countries, I'd imagine so, but you'd need to check.

 

--But even if the Amazon you want to use does, not all Thai bank debit cards are friendly toward online purchase transactions, if you're meaning about getting a Thai debit card. So best to check with you bank about the card's use for online purchases.

 

As always a thoughtful and thorough reply. Appreciated. You answered questions I didn't know to ask.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

1 hour ago, fantom said:

Thanks for your reply, I am aware of those methods but I have used Kindles for years as has my wife.  Frankly for pure reading nothing beats a kindle paper white, the screen is perfect for me.  I was enquiring because if I have to replace it it would be good to get it direct from Amazon to here.

 

I'm pretty sure Amazon U.S. will ship Kindles for delivery to Thailand via Amazon Global.  But in addition, the B2S store upstairs at Central Chidlom also stocks them, albeit, at a considerable price premium.

 

Don't forget, Amazon Prime Day, which usually has substantial discounts on Amazon hardware, is coming up shortly in mid July.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

2 hours ago, possum1931 said:

You mean you actually got Amazon to deliver to Thailand? Or is it only the more expensive things they ship out?

 

Amazon has created a whole section of their U.S. website just for their products that are global shipping eligible. Makes it easier shopping for Thai/intl residents when you don't have to sort thru all their U.S. only content.

 

https://www.amazon.com/b?node=230659011

 

 

[NoshowJones]

5 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

Amazon has created a whole section of their U.S. website just for their products that are global shipping eligible. Makes it easier shopping for Thai/intl residents when you don't have to sort thru all their U.S. only content.

 

https://www.amazon.com/b?node=230659011

 

 

But I'm from the UK.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Just now, possum1931 said:

But I'm from the UK.

 

It all depends on the details and where you're residing.

 

Amazon has their own retail site for the UK, as I'm sure you'd know.

 

I know the U.S. Amazon site, via Amazon Global, will deliver to Thailand.  I don't know if their UK site has a comparable program, since I'm NOT from the UK.

 

But, my wife here in Thailand created an account on Amazon U.S., linked it to her Bangkok Bank debit card and her Thai address, and is able to order from Amazon U.S. from their Global shipping catalog.

 

 

[NoshowJones]

48 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

It all depends on the details and where you're residing.

 

Amazon has their own retail site for the UK, as I'm sure you'd know.

 

I know the U.S. Amazon site, via Amazon Global, will deliver to Thailand.  I don't know if their UK site has a comparable program, since I'm NOT from the UK.

 

But, my wife here in Thailand created an account on Amazon U.S., linked it to her Bangkok Bank debit card and her Thai address, and is able to order from Amazon U.S. from their Global shipping catalog.

 

 

OK, thanks for your help.

[pizzachang]

17 hours ago, Mattd said:

If it is being delivered via a means that uses the global shipping program, then all the customs payment is made at the time of ordering, the duties are normally an overestimate and Amazon will refund if it is less.

That's correct. I've used Amazon a bit in the last week or so and so far haven't paid extra customs/tax fees. Some items came within a week and one I'm still waiting on at 3 weeks. I also ordered an item from China (private company, not Alibaba) and received the small package in 2 days.

[canopy]

I believe amazon guarantees you won't pay more than the import deposit. I have ordered many times, happily at that. Had just one surprise so far when the truck showed up from DHL for extra fees I had to pay on the spot which were pretty stiff. I contacted amazon who were not happy to hear this and promptly refunded me for it, sight unseen. Their customer service is outstanding.

 

I remember the days before before Amazon when I would have things shipped to Thailand manually. Learned very quickly DHL/UPS/FedEx completely ream you, sometimes charging more to receive a package than it did for the person to send it to you. Huge ripoffs every single time. Immediately switched solely to use USPS which is much better. Some packages come in with no fees at all, but they sometimes add large customs fees randomly and arbitrarily, though not as bad as the others. But now with Amazon they take care of everything, there is no hassle or ripoff scams, you know the price up front, and it's smooth sailing to your door.

 

[Jeffrey346]

13 hours ago, elgenon said:

It may be a dumb question but can you buy with a debit card? As a tourist (3 months) I'm told that's all I can get.

Yes, you can use your Thai Bank debit card.

[Jeffrey346]

1 hour ago, canopy said:

I believe amazon guarantees you won't pay more than the import deposit. I have ordered many times, happily at that. Had just one surprise so far when the truck showed up from DHL for extra fees I had to pay on the spot which were pretty stiff. I contacted amazon who were not happy to hear this and promptly refunded me for it, sight unseen. Their customer service is outstanding.

 

I remember the days before before Amazon when I would have things shipped to Thailand manually. Learned very quickly DHL/UPS/FedEx completely ream you, sometimes charging more to receive a package than it did for the person to send it to you. Huge ripoffs every single time. Immediately switched solely to use USPS which is much better. Some packages come in with no fees at all, but they sometimes add large customs fees randomly and arbitrarily, though not as bad as the others. But now with Amazon they take care of everything, there is no hassle or ripoff scams, you know the price up front, and it's smooth sailing to your door.

 

I have had the same experience as you describe. We all need to keep in mind that we choose to live here in Thailand and can't get many items that are available to us in our home country.

Over the years, I have had many item delivered via the post with no customs charges. On the other hand, I have had many items with custom charges due. 

I have also had customs charges levied on items that I know are customs exempt. I have had items that the customs fees are 10% and been charged 30%. There is no arguing with the post or private carriers as they couldn't care less if you accept the package or not.

For me, not going to the post office and dealing with the above issues is a huge plus. I will gladly pay Amazon's estimated customs fee knowing that if it is over actual, I will get an automatic refund. Plus.. you can't beat Amazon's customer service.

 

[Dario]

33 minutes ago, Jeffrey346 said:

I have had the same experience as you describe. We all need to keep in mind that we choose to live here in Thailand and can't get many items that are available to us in our home country.

Over the years, I have had many item delivered via the post with no customs charges. On the other hand, I have had many items with custom charges due. 

I have also had customs charges levied on items that I know are customs exempt. I have had items that the customs fees are 10% and been charged 30%. There is no arguing with the post or private carriers as they couldn't care less if you accept the package or not.

For me, not going to the post office and dealing with the above issues is a huge plus. I will gladly pay Amazon's estimated customs fee knowing that if it is over actual, I will get an automatic refund. Plus.. you can't beat Amazon's customer service.

 

I second that: Amazon customer service is outstanding, quick and extremely customer oriented. 

Edited July 10, 2018 by Dario

[impulse]

2 hours ago, canopy said:

I remember the days before before Amazon when I would have things shipped to Thailand manually. Learned very quickly DHL/UPS/FedEx completely ream you, sometimes charging more to receive a package than it did for the person to send it to you. Huge ripoffs every single time. Immediately switched solely to use USPS which is much better. Some packages come in with no fees at all, but they sometimes add large customs fees randomly and arbitrarily, though not as bad as the others. But now with Amazon they take care of everything, there is no hassle or ripoff scams, you know the price up front, and it's smooth sailing to your door.

 

Even in these days of Amazon, getting reamed not out of the realm of possibilities.  I tried to order a $10 microwave popcorn bowl from Amazon, and the duties and delivery fees were going to be $50, bringing the total to $60.  So that was a non-starter.

 

At the time, Lazada's search function didn't return any results at all.  I ended up ordering one from AliExpress, and it was $10 all-in.   I actually hedged my bet by ordering 2 from different vendors.  One arrived in a week, the other arrived in 2 or 3 weeks, both with no additional fees on delivery.

 

My point being that it's going to vary on a case by case basis.

 

[Dario]

22 hours ago, Dario said:

No need to wait for the outcome until Thursday. I've been told by UPS that there is NO CHARGE whatsoever, I only will have to sign for receipts. That's it.

The first raquet has just arrived at my door step with Kerry Express. It's Tuesday, July 10 12:45. Two days before delivery estimate. No damage, nothing to pay. Impressive! Another one for my daughter is underway as well with UPS. Ordered last Friday late afternoon, arrived less than 4 days later. No wonder Jeff Bezos is so rich. Presently world's #2.

Edited July 10, 2018 by Dario

[Berkshire]

3 hours ago, Dario said:

The first raquet has just arrived at my door step with Kerry Express. It's Tuesday, July 10 12:45. Two days before delivery estimate. No damage, nothing to pay. Impressive! Another one for my daughter is underway as well with UPS. Ordered last Friday late afternoon, arrived less than 4 days later. No wonder Jeff Bezos is so rich. Presently world's #2.

Bezos is number one...and by a significant margin.

 

https://www.forbes.com/profile/jeff-bezos/

Edited July 10, 2018 by Berkshire