Shipping From The States, Small Items

[garyk]

I want a pair of good binoculars. I have only found Olympus here and at least twice the price i would pay in the states.

I am wondering if anyone has had any items shipped to them from the states and not had problems.

I am looking to ship a pair of 300 dollar binocualrs. Not very heavy and i do not want to pay tax or any fees.

If i buy in the states and have my mom or sisters send it to me i will save big money. Well big for me. About 200 dollars.

Is it possible?

Thanks

[thatguy]

You will likely have to pay customs/duty if you have them sent from a store/amazon etc. Same may apply if sent privately.

[Beardog]

If they nail it at U.S. customs & Thai customs you will not be to happy when you get the bill. If you ship UPS fedx dhl you are assessed before it leaves the country & re penalized when it gets here. If you send it regular postage with confirmation Zero insurance it will be delivered EMS here in Thailand where you may or may not have to pay(most likely not) Been there done that & it wasn't good twice. I now makeup a wish list & go to the U.S. once a year & pick gear up. If you buy an Ipod plug the earphones in & they won't bug you for duties. If you have a desktop computer in checked in Break out your wallet.

If you do decide to take a chance make sure someone in the U.S. holds the receipt or bill of lading so they don't have physical evidence of purchase. By the time my Maui Jims sunglasses got here with shipping it was $156.00 for a $168.00 pair of shades. Ipod shipped same story. Or if someone is ever coming this way you know in the U.S. have them bring them up for you if they will.

You might be better off otherwise biting the bullet & buying here. It is luck of the draw on if they asses you duties. More posters seem to agree you usually get assessed taxes on goods from previous posts on this topic

[Seismic]

If they nail it at U.S. customs & Thai customs you will not be to happy when you get the bill. If you ship UPS fedx dhl you are assessed before it leaves the country & re penalized when it gets here. If you send it regular postage with confirmation Zero insurance it will be delivered EMS here in Thailand where you may or may not have to pay(most likely not) Been there done that & it wasn't good twice. I now makeup a wish list & go to the U.S. once a year & pick gear up. If you buy an Ipod plug the earphones in & they won't bug you for duties. If you have a desktop computer in checked in Break out your wallet.

If you do decide to take a chance make sure someone in the U.S. holds the receipt or bill of lading so they don't have physical evidence of purchase. By the time my Maui Jims sunglasses got here with shipping it was $156.00 for a $168.00 pair of shades. Ipod shipped same story. Or if someone is ever coming this way you know in the U.S. have them bring them up for you if they will.

You might be better off otherwise biting the bullet & buying here. It is luck of the draw on if they asses you duties. More posters seem to agree you usually get assessed taxes on goods from previous posts on this topic

Spot on Beardog, I generally buy online from the states and have it shipped to my buddy in Michigan, he carries them to work and I pick them up there. I have had a few things sent by my folks in the UK as presents and they got through, but occasionally shipping Amazon i got hit quite hard.

[Davevail]

What about a used laptop, I want to ship one to a friend in Thailand - do you get whacked at customs on that, or is it just new merchandise..?

[Beardog]

What about a used laptop, I want to ship one to a friend in Thailand - do you get whacked at customs on that, or is it just new merchandise..?

They use a used tariff for electronics. I am sure it is quite hefty. A check with your home countries custom duties & Thai customs should clue you in to what % they will charge. If you are shipping out of the country to Thailand your friend in Thailand may be better off with getting a new laptop here.

Edited February 12, 2010 by Beardog

[gregb]

shipito.com

You can set your own value for customs. If you indicate it is less than $100 USD and ship by the US postal service it should be delivered to you in Thailand without any duties. Not guaranteed but that is the usual policy.

Shipping by the postal service will always minimize your customs fees. There is never a reason to use FedEx or DHL unless you are too lazy to go to the post office and pay customs yourself or have no choice due to the shipper's policy.

With a little planning getting something like binoculars here without duties should be no problem. The customs inspectors do have wide discretion however to value your item at whatever they feel is the true value if they don't believe what you have declared. That means for something they are familiar with like a laptop you may have problems. Be advised whatever you place as the customs value is also used for the insured value if the item is lost or stolen.

The Thai post is actually very fair with regards to customs. They do follow the law. I can't say the same for FedEx.

Tarrif on electronics is only 3%, plus VAT at 7%. The large payments generally come from "processing fees" which you avoid by doing it yourself using at the post office.