varun Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 15 minutes ago, jackspade said: Your and other replies lead me to believe it's really just luck of the draw—although I hope that things are a bit better now in 2018 than they were back in, say, 2012. One of the items I want to order is a keyboard for 1100 USD, here in Thailand it's 1800 USD. So even with duty I doubt I'll lose money by ordering it. At that price, I don't think it's purely a MIDI keyboard, so most likely VA/analog synth? What brand is it? Keyboards are risky business - they're expensive to ship due to a large dimensional weight and definitely a huge magnet for customs. Check the price in Hong Kong and fly down to buy it and then bring it back yourself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fore Man Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 About 8 years ago, my US corporation sent me a gross of custom golf balls imprinted with our logo...they were Titleist ProV1x...just about the most expensive ball to buy anywhere, but in America, they paid about $44 a dozen when ordered in large lots. The retail cost for a box of 12 is about $55 in golf shops there. These 12-dozen balls were shipped to me to use as promotional items during key customer visits and at air shows. Our shipping department routinely used FedEx and about a week after they arrived in Thailand, I was finally notified by the FedEx licensee in Bangkok. They explained that Thai Customs had impounded them and wanted me to shell out the equivalent of $55 per box for duties. We had already paid $96 for the original international FedEx shipping charges. There was also a “processing and inland freight handling charge” amounting to roughly $120 imposed by the licensee itself...or $10 per box. After conferring with my boss, the CEO, who had better things to do, I was given his approval to pay the usurious charges this and only this time...but never again. So, in sum, those 144 balls ended up costing the company $1,404; making the actual delivered, per-ball price at $9.75. I later found out, right or wrong, from second hand sources that the FedEx licensee in Thailand is heavily commingled with the Thai Customs Department, and that they willfully imposed such ridiculous fees as there were many greedy hands reaching out. They made sure that I was aware that I could reject the shipment, in which case the contents would be ‘auctioned off’ and sold to the highest bidder. Right, and I still believe in Santa Claus too. As a disclaimer, I’m only relating what happened to me in one unbelievable FedEx shipment from the USA. The alleged charges of corruption within FedEx and Thai Customs are second-hand hearsay and may not actually be factual. You can render your own judgements on the truth if you are so inclined. The moral of this sad sad tale is to NEVER have anything of any value shipped by any of the express shippers...and as noted earlier in this thread, have things directly mailed by USPS or the equivalent in your home country. The ThaiPost has its own customs procedures and I’ve never found them to overcharge. In fact, almost everything we order is delivered with no duties whatsoever. Caveat emptor and good good luck, my fellow expatriates... 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike324 Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 1 hour ago, steelepulse said: I just ordered a heavy ( 50 kg's) car part off ebay. Price in Thailand was 20K baht for a used one, and on ebay, it was listed at $275 usd. By the time the shipping and ebay global shipping program was factored in, total cost came to $440. Note the global shipping program charged 50% of the combined cost of item and shipping. I then contacted the seller and he relisted for me at $100. I paid that on ebay, then paypaled him the balance of $175 for the part. By doing this, the global shipping charge was reduced by $90, so the total price of the item came to around $375 or so. So the workaround for global shipping charge is to work with the seller to show a much lower but reasonable price on the item. Can't believe shipping a 50kg cost less than $200! What type of shipping method was used? Sounds like you got a great deal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike324 Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 1 hour ago, jackspade said: Your and other replies lead me to believe it's really just luck of the draw—although I hope that things are a bit better now in 2018 than they were back in, say, 2012. One of the items I want to order is a keyboard for 1100 USD, here in Thailand it's 1800 USD. So even with duty I doubt I'll lose money by ordering it. 1100 plus shipping and duties will end up be about the same or just slightly less. I think its better to buy here which you will have warranty and peace of mind. I do know that amplifiers have low taxes, I have declare mini destop pcs as amplifiers and paid around 10% for tax and duties. For keyboards, have you tried sellers that import goods on their own to see if prices are close to that of the US? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgrahmm Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 3 hours ago, jackspade said: Your and other replies lead me to believe it's really just luck of the draw—although I hope that things are a bit better now in 2018 than they were back in, say, 2012. One of the items I want to order is a keyboard for 1100 USD, here in Thailand it's 1800 USD. So even with duty I doubt I'll lose money by ordering it. Or they could charge you 70% value of your purchase price = $770.00.....Which puts you over the $1800 price here.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgrahmm Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Try Ebay South Korea...... Sometimes you get lucky & avoid higher costs on shipping & customs.....Even if the item is the same..... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goegoe Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 1 hour ago, pgrahmm said: Try Ebay South Korea...... Sometimes you get lucky & avoid higher costs on shipping & customs.....Even if the item is the same..... Really ? Because from Japan it's even worst than from USA... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgrahmm Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 2 hours ago, goegoe said: Really ? Because from Japan it's even worst than from USA... Yes - lot's of suppliers from many different countries....China, Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan, Myanmar, + others you might not expect like Russia, Germany, etc....Many, being Asean counties, are freer trading without customs hassles - many with free shipping....Many are the country's of the production facilities - so kind of a shortcut with better pricing sometimes....Asia to Asia markets.... You have to discard your first search = it always takes me to the same page first; then I redo the search & gets you where you're looking.... Password & PayPal work.....They also seem more savvy about using the customs forms.... If it's a product only available in, let's say, the US - then it takes you to the US site.... Better on some items than others, but worth the search.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pennine Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 On 7/25/2018 at 7:18 AM, Formaleins said: The worst culprit for stiffing you for fees is DHL, avoid at all costs! Try and ask the seller to post recoded US Post. I also have had success with UPS, but virtually every package from DHL gets hit. I imported some medical appliances from SA using Fedex. Never again! Apart from costing 3 times the item cost to import, the customs procedure is a nightmare. I even had to take my original passport to the customs office at Suvarnabhumi on top of numerous forms and finally a medical certificate. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goegoe Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 2 hours ago, pennine said: I imported some medical appliances from SA using Fedex. Never again! Apart from costing 3 times the item cost to import, the customs procedure is a nightmare. I even had to take my original passport to the customs office at Suvarnabhumi on top of numerous forms and finally a medical certificate. Yes, and at that time you didn't have internet to check prior to buying... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarlaLorraine Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 Please be very cautious about shipping purchased goods from the US to Thailand. I just purchased clothing valued at $89 which shipped free from the clothing company via FedEx and paid $40.68 in fees on delivery, including forced insurance (1%), freight (15%, FedEx claimed it is charged by the government, not by them), customs duty (30%) and VAT (7%), a total of 46%. Fedex told me that they had already paid the fee to the government so refusing the delivery would cause a reduction of my refund credit by that amount from the clothier, as FedEx would charge them instead. I've read that this can be avoided by using other carriers such as local post but I don't know how you can arrange that internationally. It may also be possible to avoid the exorbitant fees by having someone in the states receive your package and then ship to you in Thailand as used personal goods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarlaLorraine Posted December 11, 2018 Share Posted December 11, 2018 Please be very cautious about shipping purchased goods from the US to Thailand. I just purchased clothing valued at $89 which shipped free from the clothing company via FedEx and paid $40.68 in fees on delivery, including forced insurance (1%), freight (15%, FedEx claimed it is charged by the government, not by them), customs duty (30%) and VAT (7%), a total of 46%. Fedex told me that they had already paid the fee to the government so refusing the delivery would cause a reduction of my refund credit by that amount from the clothier, as FedEx would charge them instead. I've read that this can be avoided by using other carriers such as local post but I don't know how you can arrange that internationally. It may also be possible to avoid the exorbitant fees by having someone in the states receive your package and then ship to you in Thailand as used personal goods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fore Man Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 I’m finding that I can order many things I need through Lazada Thailand. Pricing is about right and there are no customs or hassles with possibly corrupt express shipping companies either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giddyup Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 1 hour ago, Fore Man said: I’m finding that I can order many things I need through Lazada Thailand. Pricing is about right and there are no customs or hassles with possibly corrupt express shipping companies either. I have also found with Lazada is that items ordered from China come a lot faster than if you order through Ebay. I ordered two media players at the same time, one from Lazada and one from Ebay. The one from Lazada arrived in about a week, the one from Ebay I'm still waiting on after 7 weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wgdanson Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 Just recived a package, Line 6 UX2 Audio Interface value Bht 8000, sent via UPS and then Kerry from California to me here in the sticks near Phitsanulok. 6 days start to finish. No customs/duty, nowt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruit Trader Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 27 minutes ago, giddyup said: I have also found with Lazada is that items ordered from China come a lot faster than if you order through Ebay. I ordered two media players at the same time, one from Lazada and one from Ebay. The one from Lazada arrived in about a week, the one from Ebay I'm still waiting on after 7 weeks. After 7 weeks you should have passed talking to the seller and have a dispute open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
giddyup Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 (edited) 27 minutes ago, Fruit Trader said: After 7 weeks you should have passed talking to the seller and have a dispute open. 27 minutes ago, Fruit Trader said: After 7 weeks you should have passed talking to the seller and have a dispute open. One item that I paid for on the 15th November estimates delivery between 3rd December and Jan 9th, so I can't open a dispute until Jan 9th if it doesn't arrive. It's not uncommon for some of these Chinese sellers to allow two months for delivery. I have opened a dispute for the other item that's taken 7 weeks, I would say that's it's either never been sent or been pilfered somewhere, but I have had things turn up after 2 months. Edited December 12, 2018 by giddyup Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fruit Trader Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 15 minutes ago, giddyup said: One item that I paid for on the 15th November estimates delivery between 3rd December and Jan 9th, so I can't open a dispute until Jan 9th if it doesn't arrive. It's not uncommon for some of these Chinese sellers to allow two months for delivery. I have opened a dispute for the other item that's taken 7 weeks, I would say that's it's either never been sent or been pilfered somewhere, but I have had things turn up after 2 months. I try and keep under 6 weeks in the listing for China to LOS as my record delivery time for China post is about 6 weeks. Most items arrives within 1 month Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jackdd Posted December 12, 2018 Share Posted December 12, 2018 I order mostly small things from china, and usually it takes between 2 and 3 weeks, the quickest i've had were 10 days, the longest about 5 weeks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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