How difficult is it to buy from Amazon and have it shipped here without too much VAT and fees

[Pdavies99]

2 hours ago, Yme said:

I get stuff shipped to a US drop shipping address and they send it EMS. Never, ever DHL. Check out planet express

Exactly right!

[davhend25]

10 hours ago, Jeffrey346 said:

I use Amazon all the time. Where it says "this item ships to Thailand" click details and it will show you the cost of VAT and Customs if applicable.

Most of the time I receive a refund on the customs charge as it is estimated. 

Amazon now uses UPS iShip that takes about 5 working days to arrive. Keep in mind, Amazon guarantees delivery. If you order a TV box you will get it.

+1....love Amazon U.S. Items arrive within a few working days if you use their global shipping program. I also almost always get a refund on the estimated import duties.

 

Lazada is fine and I always try them first, but I can't always get what I want with Lazada ....so Amazon is my plan B.

 

DH

 

 

[Jeffrey346]

16 hours ago, Kerryd said:

Mail (Parcel) forwarding for those things that Amazon won't ship to Thailand:
https://planetexpress.com/?ref=32575

(Lol - I signed up with them in March and have already had 13 packages forwarded by them. Need to turn off my computer more I think !)

When you send your items to Planet Express don't you pay CA sales tax?

ViaBox based in Oregon provides the same service but no sales tax..

 

https://www.viabox.com/

[tyler28]

4 hours ago, Jeffrey346 said:

When you send your items to Planet Express don't you pay CA sales tax?

ViaBox based in Oregon provides the same service but no sales tax..

 

https://www.viabox.com/

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but when I tried the "shipping calculator" on that site, it gave the impression that shipping costs would be close to ten times as high as they are on Planet Express.

 

With Planet Express, it costs less than $10 to ship a T shirt weighing one pound through the postal service. That site is quoting me something like $87.

 

[Jeffrey346]

1 hour ago, tyler28 said:

Maybe I'm doing something wrong, but when I tried the "shipping calculator" on that site, it gave the impression that shipping costs would be close to ten times as high as they are on Planet Express.

 

With Planet Express, it costs less than $10 to ship a T shirt weighing one pound through the postal service. That site is quoting me something like $87.

 

I tried it and it came back $82.00. Doesn't seem right..

[Kerryd]

I remember looking at one forwarder that had locations/addresses in Oregon and California and their shipping charges were outrageous compared to what PlanetExpress was quoting (for the exact same size/weight parcel to the same destination - even using the same courier) !

I don't recall the name "viabox" but there could easily be one outfit using a couple different company names out of the same location.

I haven't been charged any additional taxes (that I can tell) for things I've had shipped to/from PlanetExpress. I suspect that if there was going to be additional taxes, it would be added on at the point of purchase (Amazon or eBay for example).

The only thing I find wrong with PlanetExpress is when I try to make a deposit with my credit card. Because the card is issued in Canada, their payment system expects a "Canadian" styled postal code and won't make allowances for the fact my billing address is in Thailand.

I've contacted them about it, they said it was the payment provider's program that was the problem so I contacted them and they told me it was the vendor's problem to which I responded that there was obviously a problem and that it shouldn't be me - the customer - that has to sort out the issue with their service that the vendor is paying them to provide. (As expected - no response back from them at all.)

However, you can make deposits using PayPal or if your using an American issued credit card (or one that has the same billing address/postal code as the country it was issued from).
If you are only using the service for the occasional parcel, you can wait until PlanetExpress receives it (they send you a notice when each parcel arrives). Then you can use the "estimate postage" or "postage calculator" to see what the different shipping options/costs are (including insurance which usually is only an extra $2-3  it seems).
Then make a deposit to them for the amount estimated (or a wee bit more) and then do the "mail out".

That way you aren't maintaining a large balance with them. I often end up with 2-4 packages at their warehouse, then estimate the cost to mail them all, then make the appropriate deposit to cover them all.

 

They will consolidate packages - for an extra fee of course. I don't do that as I want to keep the parcel size smaller and the total value at/under the $50 mark if possible. That results in higher shipping costs, but may save me on lower (or no) import fees, as well as getting the packages in the mail sooner (and not having to wait for that "one" package that is held up somewhere for some unknown reason).

I'm sure there are other forwarding companies out there so it might pay to shop around but as noted - watch out for the shipping costs (and other "fees" they may add on).

[justin case]

On 5/28/2019 at 7:51 AM, BritManToo said:

AliExpress, Shopee and Lazada are the places to try first.

compare the CHINESE price with the LOCAL suppliers in Thailand and you see the price double, triple ...  even they state: no import tax ... how can lazada get their customers to not pay the import tax ?

[bender92]

On 5/28/2019 at 3:19 PM, bender92 said:

I have a package from Amazon, shipped via UPS, currently held in Thai customs. It's been there over 2 weeks, and Friday UPS finally told me the problem is the name on the box doesn't match my passport, middle name is missing. I'm waiting to see what will happen.

Hi moxely, I called ups at 027623300, but they were no help. Yesterday I contacted Amazon cust service and today they refunded me the entire amount including postage and customs fees. They said if I do get the package, just keep it. The customs number is 1164, but no help there. Good luck.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

On 5/28/2019 at 10:04 AM, DingDongLing said:

Lazada is like amazon?

Seems like a lot is used for "duties"

 

You asked about Amazon in your OP... What country are you from, and do you have any remaining address there?

 

As an American, I order from Amazon U.S. online all the time, have the packages sent to a re-shipping service in the U.S., who then re-mail them to me in Thailand at far better rates than Amazon's international shipping program (which usually charges and uses private courier fees and adds customs duty pretty much automatically).

 

By instead using your own reshipping service from your home country, as long as you keep the purchase under $50 U.S. in declared value and avoid the private courier shippers like FedEx and DHL, you'll likely end up paying no customs duty or VAT... And if you are an Amazon Prime member in one of the participating countries, you'll also get free Amazon domestic shipping to your address in that country.

 

Edited May 29, 2019 by TallGuyJohninBKK