Refusing to pay customs

[Aforek]

Hello, 

I bought a small item ( 29 euros ) with Ebay : usually, goods are sent by post and last time I paid 35 bahts

this time, the item ( 29 euros ) will be sent to me by Fedex  😫

Fedex, I know, two months ago, I paid 9000 bahts for a good of about 500 euros 

this time, if customs and Fedex are more than , let's say , 900 bahts, I intend to refuse to pay 

 

what will happen ? I can refuse to pay or I have to ( good is already in Bangkok ) ?

in my country, I have read that the good is sent back to the sender, free of charge 

thank you 

[novacova]

There should be a stipulation for having to pay for custom fees on the ebay template or in the international shipping agreement. Take another look on the shipping tab or eBay’s policies 

[steven100]

if you refuse to pay they won't care.  The Item can sit in their warehouse for the next 5 years.

 

It's your problem,  not theirs.   

[Liverpool Lou]

1 hour ago, Aforek said:

if customs and Fedex are more than , let's say , 900 bahts, I intend to refuse to pay 

what will happen ? I can refuse to pay or I have to ( good is already in Bangkok ) ?

Nothing will happen, you cannot be forced to pay. FedEx will keep the package, you get nothing, no skin off their nose.

Edited July 26 by Liverpool Lou

[Aforek]

ok, I wait for the bill; I contacted the seller on Ebay, waiting for his response

the item comes from China, I remember reading that goods coming from China, less than 1500 bahts, no customs to  pay

[Liverpool Lou]

2 minutes ago, Aforek said:

ok, I wait for the bill; I contacted the seller on Ebay, waiting for his response

the item comes from China, I remember reading that goods coming from China, less than 1500 bahts, no customs to  pay

If delivered via FedEx there will be VAT and their admin charge.  How can the seller in China affect anything?

[Pouatchee]

1 hour ago, Aforek said:

I bought a small item ( 29 euros ) with Ebay

 

sorry for sidetracking your topic here,,, since paypal has been out of commission for foreigners i havent been able to buy anything on paypal. can i ask you, how do you pay? credit card? thai bank account?

let me know... thx

[norbra]

12 minutes ago, Pouatchee said:

 

sorry for sidetracking your topic here,,, since paypal has been out of commission for foreigners i havent been able to buy anything on paypal. can i ask you, how do you pay? credit card? thai bank account?

let me know... thx

This month I have received 3 emails from Paypal advising that Thai account holders can again use their services here.

The emails required me to login and verify my creds.

As I haven't used the account for decades I gave it a miss.

Edited July 26 by norbra

[Pouatchee]

1 minute ago, norbra said:

This month I have received emails from Paypal advising that Thai account holders can again use their services here.

The emails required me to login and verify my creds

 

thx for reply...but the problem before was that thai accounts needed a thai id number 

if you try to use it again before me please let me know how it pans out

[norbra]

1 minute ago, Pouatchee said:

 

thx for reply...but the problem before was that thai accounts needed a thai id number 

if you try to use it again before me please let me know how it pans out

For what it's worth,I created my account in Australia and changed address details 20 years ago when I established myself here,on the odd occasions I checked the account it was still active but I haven't checked since the news to discontinue services here

[Celsius]

38 minutes ago, Aforek said:

ok, I wait for the bill; I contacted the seller on Ebay, waiting for his response

the item comes from China, I remember reading that goods coming from China, less than 1500 bahts, no customs to  pay

 

Forget the duties.....Fedex will kill you on their brokerage fees.... the service you pay them to clear the customa for you.

[Pouatchee]

6 minutes ago, norbra said:

For what it's worth,I created my account in Australia and changed address details 20 years ago when I established myself here,on the odd occasions I checked the account it was still active but I haven't checked since the news to discontinue services here

 

well, if you decide to try to use it again keep me updated. i started a thread here when the 💩 hit the fan and i guess many would also be curious thx

[freeworld]

2 hours ago, Aforek said:

I intend to refuse to pay 

 

what will happen ? I can refuse to pay or I have to ( good is already in Bangkok ) ?

 

[GammaGlobulin]

I once refused to pay customs duty for several Amazon purchases sent from the USA by a friend.

The friend had received the purchases, and then taken the stuff to a US post office, to be sent to me in Thailand.

 

The friend declared a high value.

Customs wanted a high amount for duty.

I refused.

Shipment was returned to USA, within about 2 weeks.

 

This is all that I know.

 

 

[OneMoreFarang]

You have to expect to always pay tax and customs.

Be lucky if you don't pay, but you shouldn't expect that.

 

If you don't pay tax and customs, then you paid for the item and don't get your item. Which will sooner or later convince you of above. 

[malt25]

Maybe if you offer the pay the duty in Baht & not Bahts they will waive the duty.

[dinga]

The consistent message is NEVER send goods to Thailand via courier - as assessment of customs duties & taxes is pretty well guaranteed, as well as frustrating clearance processes.

 

Use EMS Post

[steven100]

you can give them a bottle of Sang Som whiskey instead of cash if you like ..... 

[ezzra]

Here's a tip to all those who buy stuff overseas, minimise as possible the use of curriers, stick to post offices where

they don't ask to many details of the items sent and in most cases, doesn't indicate the value of the item sent

and you can nominate the value yourself something that can't be done with them international carriers...

[digbeth]

there's an auction at the customs house every now and then of goods that's been 'stuck' or left by the owner refusing to pay customs/vat and possibly storage for every day it's been sitting in customs 

 

the worst outcome is your goods is destroyed, or Fedex send it back to the seller who can refund you

[PeterA]

3 years ago I sent a camera body to the US for repair via FedEx. When it came back, they sent it fedex. And so with Fedex or DHL, they made their stop at customs.

Customs wanted about 6,000 THB for duty. The camera was 8 years old, and worth about that much. I mentioned  that Fedex sent the dang thing.

I told Fedex to send it back, I was not going to pay it. A few days later they sent an email suggesting I pay 4,000thb. I told them to send it back, I was not going to pay.

A week later I got the camera body. I paid nothing.

 

[patman30]

once they have held your parcel for a few days (don't recall how many)
they may also put a daily storage fee on top
once your parcel has a storage fee applied to it
it may likely not be returned to sender

Tip
Use Amazon when possible and just pay any custom fees when paying for goods
DHL is more convenient than Fedex for paying custom fees, as can be done online sometimes before the parcel lands
 

[ryxyz]

About 7 years ago I ordered a Chromebook on Amazon and when it arrived I was asked to pay 2,000 by the FedEx delivery man and I refused to pay because I'd already paid the custom fee to Amazon. After I called Amazon to complain, my Chromebook was promptly delivered a few hours later.

 

And from experience while shopping on ebay US, the custom fee is always included in the final amount during checkout. 

[Aforek]

I have received some goods from Amazon.us, delivered by DHL, driver didn't ask anything 

best way is when the custom fee is included in the final amount during checkout, as with Amazon.us ( and transport free to Thailand ) ( and I am not American, but Amazon.us is the best solution for me ) 

[dick turpin]

Had a shipment sent via DHL, after it arrived they

sent me an email saying it would only be delivered

after I paid them customs and VAT charges

[digger70]

20 hours ago, norbra said:

For what it's worth,I created my account in Australia and changed address details 20 years ago when I established myself here,on the odd occasions I checked the account it was still active but I haven't checked since the news to discontinue services here

Me same , But Can't use the account without the  Thai  13 digit  ID or Business account We as foreigners Can't get  the 13digit ID that's Required I've tried even with showing the Yellow book that has a 13 digit Number    Even the Covid register number is 13 digits .

[digger70]

22 hours ago, Aforek said:

Hello, 

I bought a small item ( 29 euros ) with Ebay : usually, goods are sent by post and last time I paid 35 bahts

this time, the item ( 29 euros ) will be sent to me by Fedex  😫

Fedex, I know, two months ago, I paid 9000 bahts for a good of about 500 euros 

this time, if customs and Fedex are more than , let's say , 900 bahts, I intend to refuse to pay 

 

what will happen ? I can refuse to pay or I have to ( good is already in Bangkok ) ?

in my country, I have read that the good is sent back to the sender, free of charge 

thank you 

So ,you gained nothing ,they don't care if you pay or not they make enough money to compensate  for your parcel.

[Crossy]

20 hours ago, Liverpool Lou said:

How can the seller in China affect anything?

 

He could ship the item DDP (Delivery Duty Paid), many low-value items are done like that automatically in bulk-cleared shipments.

[Kerryd]

Said it (on here) many times.
NEVER have ANYTHING sent by DHL, FedEx or UPS.

They ALL use their own "in-house" Customs Brokers to speed up the process and they ALL automatically charge you the maximum they can so that it will clear Customs faster.

I did a post about this a few weeks ago. I ordered  some Hot Sauce from Amazon. Normally I'd order just 3 small bottles and it's never been a problem except that I have to use a Mail Forwarder to receive the package and then courier it to me because hot sauce is considered a "food item" and Amazon won't (normally) ship "food items" outside the country (various issues with foreign Food and Drug Agencies).

This time though I decided to order 6 bottles, expecting they'd last me a year and save me money on multiple orders. 

However, I was forced to use FedEx because the weight apparently was too much for the "cheaper" courier the Forwarder normally used.

FedEx held onto my parcel for 4 days before telling me - on a Friday afternoon - that I needed to get a Customs Registration number or send my passport to Bangkok with one of their drivers (yeah right) or come to Bangkok myself to clear the package.

Monday was a holiday so I went to the local Customs office (in Laem Chabang) early Tuesday morning. Got my little paper "registration" card (no charge) and sent the info to FedEx before noon.

They waited until Wednesday afternoon to respond and tell me - get this - that I had to pay them an additional 1,428 baht to "amend" my name on the shipping waybill because the Customs Registration card had my full name and the shipping label only had my first and last name !!!!

No ****ing lie ! I have the invoice in front of me right now.

They also charged me 200 baht for "Customs Charge/Overtime", 400 baht "Clearance Fee", 150 baht Storage Charge and a 200 baht Duty Handling Fee.

2,378 baht just for that. 
746 baht for the actual Duties and Taxes (and 52.50 VAT charged on that).

3,176.50 baht total Duties, taxes, fees and surcharges.

Value of my shipment - total ?

3,800 baht (plus shipping).
 

[Kerryd]

For "non-food" items, it's best to use Amazon. Especially now that they will estimate the Duties and charge you for them at the time of purchase.

I've never had a problem with an Amazon package being delivered (via Amazon) and never been told I had to pay more than their estimate.

In fact, I've often received (small) refunds when it turns out the Duties were less than their estimation.

I stopped ordering from eBay and a couple other places because everything they ship seems to go by FedEx or UPS.

I've had similar issues in the past with DHL shipments and UPS shipments. They all say the same thing - send us your passport and we'll clear the shipment for you in 2-3 days.
But they won't explain how they can clear the shipment without me - if I send them my passport - but can't do it with signed photocopies.

And then tell me I can go to a Customs office and "register" and send them a scan of the little paper card and that's good enough.

I shipped some personal belongs home from Afghanistan when our contract ended. The company was paying for shipping so I decided to use that rather than carry a couple heavy suitcases through a couple airports.

1 large and 1 small box. Small box arrived no problem.
3 days later DHL tells me the big box is stuck in Customs and I have to send my passport and pay 22,000 baht to clear it.

I had a friend drive me to Suvarnabhumi and went to the DHL "Customs Office". I argued that the box was just old clothes, bed linens, some books, work boots, coffee cups and so on. Basically the contents of my room on the camp that I didn't want to throw away.

After a lengthy one-sided conversation, a clerk told me I could use a "private" broker to help me for just 17,000 baht.

So I did that. Went to 3 different offices with different forms (and 100 baht notes) to get stamped and then to the DHL storage place inside the Free Trade Zone where they told me I had to get the other box because the shipment said "2" boxes ! The box they'd already delivered to Pattaya and I had unpacked days earlier !!

The ****ers wanted me to go back, repack the box with the stuff that had been in it, bring it to the Free Zone and somehow get it inside - so we could then go to a Customs agent to verify that yes, I had two boxes.

The DHL manager (British guy) came along and after a brief chat admitted they'd screwed up by delivering the first box before the 2nd had cleared Customs.

They then took a shipping envelope, stuffed some bubble wrap inside, wrote on a label and stuck that on the envelope and Bingo  ! I had my "second" package.

Went to Customs, a clerk came out, lifted the lid of the big box, looked at my declaration, initialed and stamped the form and that was it.

The ACTUAL Customs duties and taxes came out to about 1,100 baht !!!
DHL was going to charge me 22,000 baht !!!