Buying on Aliexpress - When items arrive are they subject to customs duties and/or VAT

[Longwood50]

I am looking to buy a 4 camera security system on Aliexpress.  The cost is about 7,000 baht.  Will this be subject to customers and/or VAT tax when it arrives? 

[worgeordie]

Get them sent by China Post , NOT courier and you may be lucky,

if you use courier you will defiantly have to pay,

regards worgeordie

[KhunLA]

Unfortunately the short answer is ... maybe.

 

I find COD is the safe way to go, and seem to make it by customs, as lately everything has stopped there.  If a high duty, simple tell them to send it back.  I would think you'd be able to find something similar local, as plenty around.

 

Good Luck

[robblok]

Depends on if they check it if so there will be at least VAT and possible tax charges. 

 

As worgeordie wrote, with a courier your chances for tax are far higher.

[Gulfsailor]

Yes, you’ll have to pay VAT. Paying duties is a maybe; 
If the CCTV system consists of just cameras you could try importing them as webcams which are duty exempt. Otherwise a digital video cameras which is only 5%. 
however if the system includes a control system and importantly a recording device then it falls under a different customs heading and will have a duty of 10% applied. 

[Crossy]

Is the system you want available on Lazada from a local seller?

 

Yes, buy from them.

[giddyup]

12 minutes ago, KhunLA said:

Unfortunately the short answer is ... maybe.

 

I find COD is the safe way to go, and seem to make it by customs, as lately everything has stopped there.  If a high duty, simple tell them to send it back.  I would think you'd be able to find something similar local, as plenty around.

 

Good Luck

Does AliExpress do COD? News to me.

[giddyup]

I have bought several items, like watches, dashcam and streaming TV box from Ali, never paid duty on anything.

[KhunLA]

12 minutes ago, giddyup said:

Does AliExpress do COD? News to me.

Not sure as rarely use.  My go to's are LAZ, Shopee, Banggood, Central, HomePro, and AliExpress ... last, and probably for that reason, rare to have COD.  Just checked my AE order history and last thing I ordered, in June, was COD.  So it depends on the vendor.

[thaitom]

1 hour ago, worgeordie said:

Get them sent by China Post , NOT courier and you may be lucky,

if you use courier you will defiantly have to pay,

regards worgeordie

<deleted>, I couldn't even get China post or EMS to send me my HDD or USB thumbdrives and my laptop. they refused.

[worgeordie]

Just now, thaitom said:

<deleted>, I couldn't even get China post or EMS to send me my HDD or USB thumbdrives and my laptop. they refused.

You mean the seller would not ship by EMS or China Post ?

regards worgeordie

[recom273]

Ask the seller to nicely to underquote your item.

 

The last thing I bought from them was a big aluminum server case - $166 inc delivery (5000B)

 

It was sent by china post, the seller underquoted a price on the shipping docket, but customs checked the item number on aliexpress and corrected the price then calculated the tax. I paid the tax which was a couple of thousand at the post office and got the item. I had to laugh, it was still less than I expected to pay and was cheaper than buying from Thailand. Express delivery was within a couple of weeks.

 

Other times, I have bought expensive items directly from manufacturers in China (via aliexpress) and they were underquoted and shipped by Fedex or UPS, I paid very little duty.

 

Are you buying a reolink system? I bought cameras from them that were shipped in the same box, prolly 8000THB in total, with no duty, via China post.

 

Another thing, is to send the nvr in one parcel and the cameras in another.

[edwinchester]

Have been using AliExpress for years now. Never paid any customs fees but then never delivered by DHL etc, always China Post.

[thaitom]

1 hour ago, worgeordie said:

You mean the seller would not ship by EMS or China Post ?

regards worgeordie

EMS and China post refused.

[OneMoreFarang]

I just bought something for 20k from AliExpress which normally would be shipped by DHL.

I contacted their sales and they will send it with "normal" registered mail. In my experience this makes it unlikely that I have to pay tax or duty.

 

And then there are of course people who ask the seller to declare a lower price on the parcel. Obviously I would never do such things because someone told me that is illegal.

[Dazinoz]

17 hours ago, worgeordie said:

Get them sent by China Post , NOT courier and you may be lucky,

if you use courier you will defiantly have to pay,

regards worgeordie

I just had a Ledger Nano S sent direct from Ledger in France. They sent it French Post then obviously to Thai Post. It was intercepted and I had to pay 427 baht on it. Cost of item was 2300 Baht.

[worgeordie]

18 minutes ago, Dazinoz said:

I just had a Ledger Nano S sent direct from Ledger in France. They sent it French Post then obviously to Thai Post. It was intercepted and I had to pay 427 baht on it. Cost of item was 2300 Baht.

Unlucky .... it's not guaranteed you will get everything through without paying,

but my parcels arrive from UK, China  no problem.

regards Worgeordie

[KhunLA]

21 minutes ago, Dazinoz said:

I just had a Ledger Nano S sent direct from Ledger in France. They sent it French Post then obviously to Thai Post. It was intercepted and I had to pay 427 baht on it. Cost of item was 2300 Baht.

I see that on SiamBC for 2790 & free shipping.  Worth a roll of the dice I guess.

[Cake Monster]

16 hours ago, edwinchester said:

Have been using AliExpress for years now. Never paid any customs fees but then never delivered by DHL etc, always China Post.

I use AliExpress on a regular basis, and have never paid any Customs, or Taxes.

Never used DHL Etc as too expensive, and I always look at a cheap option on the delivery method selection

I never use Chinhao method now after a 7 week delivery time. Comes to Thailand via Singapore 

China Registered post is the best if available from the seller.

All goods on AliExpress have to be payed for up front, there is no COD.

Just bought 2 Items off AliExpress

Lazada price 2,056 Baht + shipping, and shipped from abroad. ( quoted at between 8-16 Days )

Ali Express price 856 Baht inclusive of all shipping. ( got both in 15 Days )

Lazada sellers are not so good any more.

 

[lopburi3]

8 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

Lazada sellers are not so good any more.

You have to check closely - many will post at 2 to 10x price in hope someone will pay but if you have specific item and search that only you can often find real sellers at competitive prices.  But agree - it is often not easy.

[Cake Monster]

3 minutes ago, lopburi3 said:

You have to check closely - many will post at 2 to 10x price in hope someone will pay but if you have specific item and search that only you can often find real sellers at competitive prices.  But agree - it is often not easy.

Ali offers so much more choice of product, as well as sellers.

There are several dozen sometimes for a single product, which makes for healthy competition among them

Greed is the scourge of Thailand now,

I sometimes notice with Ali, that the price to pay is not quite the same as the Dollar to Baht converted price.

I put this down to exchange rates Etc, but its usually only several Baht 

[lopburi3]

25 minutes ago, Cake Monster said:

Ali offers so much more choice of product, as well as sellers.

There are several dozen sometimes for a single product, which makes for healthy competition among them

Greed is the scourge of Thailand now,

I sometimes notice with Ali, that the price to pay is not quite the same as the Dollar to Baht converted price.

I put this down to exchange rates Etc, but its usually only several Baht 

Ali in my experience was very erratic for how long it takes - months at times.  Gave up on them about a year after they bought Lazada - during that first year Lazada was much more expensive but has became much more competitive and receive products in less than 2 weeks with no customs issues.  

[kiteman9]

It is best to message the seller and have them make out the customs duty invoice at a price lower than 1500 baht.

[Dazinoz]

6 hours ago, KhunLA said:

I see that on SiamBC for 2790 & free shipping.  Worth a roll of the dice I guess.

Maybe paranoid but have read where people have bought these from "dealers" and turned out to be modified and end up loosing their coins.

[sometimewoodworker]

On 12/24/2021 at 1:27 PM, Longwood50 said:

am looking to buy a 4 camera security system on Aliexpress.  The cost is about 7,000 baht.  Will this be subject to customers and/or VAT tax when it arrives? 

I have bought a couple of hundred items from AliExpress, I have never been asked to pay anything.

[Longwood50]

12 minutes ago, sometimewoodworker said:

I have bought a couple of hundred items from AliExpress, I have never been asked to pay anything.

According to the seller, there is no VAT or customs charge because the package is sent from China.  Maybe some sort of free trade agreement? 

I have bought some small items from Aliexpress in the past and was never charged but I wasn't sure about the camera system. 

[KhunLA]

1 hour ago, Dazinoz said:

Maybe paranoid but have read where people have bought these from "dealers" and turned out to be modified and end up loosing their coins.

Authorized reseller .. but I plead ignorance to the bitcoin thingy.  Something like that, good to get from manufacturer.

Edited December 25, 2021 by KhunLA

[sometimewoodworker]

1 hour ago, Longwood50 said:

According to the seller, there is no VAT or customs charge because the package is sent from China.  Maybe some sort of free trade agreement? 
 

They are correct, But if sent DHL or FedEx they may still charge a customs clearance fee.

[Ralf001]

purchased a CNC router from aliexpress, arrived on my door step no issue other than having to co-ordinate a forklift to be here when the truck arrived.

[SS1]

As a general principle, items from China don't seem to get taxed/checked at all. I have ordered over 140 items of various sizes and values from Aliexpress to Thailand and have never paid any tax.

This is not the case when I've ordered items from US/EU, where I've had to pay on about 40% of my shipments.