One More Time About Laptop Delivery To Thailand

[andreww]

Hey people,

First of all, I did my research through the forums and found some info, but couldn't find an answer for my question.

I need to get a laptop delivered from Hong Kong to Chiang Mai (where i'll be staying as a tourist). As I understood from previous topics, i better use EMS for that and will have to pay 7% VAT on declared value.

Now, I have two options: to deliver the laptop to my hotel/accom address or to deliver it to one of my Thai friends residential address. Which option is better to decrease chances of unreasonable custom charges or any other troubles with the package?

Thank you.

[tpiety2]

I need the same info on having a laptop shipped to either my APO or to a thai address.

What about having the seller in the US ship it, or have u heard of HopShopGo from paypal and ebay.

I am hesitant to ship because of cost, theft, damage etc..

What to do???

Any info and all suggestions appreciated.

thanks

[thaicbr]

Yes send to a thai address. NEVER to a hotel. Also email the address in Thai to the seller.. I gotta ask though....WHY are you buying a laptop out of country. When they are sooooooo cheap here????

[andreww]

way cheaper in HK, compare apple.com/hk

[tpiety2]

Yes send to a thai address. NEVER to a hotel. Also email the address in Thai to the seller.. I gotta ask though....WHY are you buying a laptop out of country. When they are sooooooo cheap here????

I must have missed something. Every place I have shopped in Thailand laptops have been much more expensive than in the US.

Tell me where to go.

[phuket Mike]

Indeed they are cheaper outside of Thailand. If you get one shipped in, where ever it is delivered to you will have to pay import tax, this could be anything between 20 and 40% of the invoice value, yes you will pay duty on the shipping.

If HK is the best place to buy one, go there for the weekend and have a break, you won't save any money but at least you can have some decent Chinese food.

As the Thai Customs are recognised as the most corrupt department (Thai Government Statement), and that is against some pretty stiff competition, personally I wouldn't recommend getting one shipped, I have already had some hefty customs charges on a food parcel from the UK, value 8000 baht, customs charge on total value of 14,000 baht, 3500 baht and that was DHL.

[tpiety2]

Indeed they are cheaper outside of Thailand. If you get one shipped in, where ever it is delivered to you will have to pay import tax, this could be anything between 20 and 40% of the invoice value, yes you will pay duty on the shipping.

If HK is the best place to buy one, go there for the weekend and have a break, you won't save any money but at least you can have some decent Chinese food.

As the Thai Customs are recognised as the most corrupt department (Thai Government Statement), and that is against some pretty stiff competition, personally I wouldn't recommend getting one shipped, I have already had some hefty customs charges on a food parcel from the UK, value 8000 baht, customs charge on total value of 14,000 baht, 3500 baht and that was DHL.

Thanks I think the weekend trips is a good idea I need to see HK and more of SE Asia anyhow.

[nikster]

way cheaper in HK, compare apple.com/hk

Provide one example where the HK price is so much cheaper the shipping hassles (and 7% VAT) are worth it. I don't think you'll find one. HK used to be way cheaper - 5 years ago. Now - not so much. There is no sales tax in HK so it would be 7% cheaper from that alone, the rest...

I don't think it's worth it. At all.

Hmm... OK so you save about 3600 Baht on a MacBook Air. That's honestly more than I thought... it's 29,230 Baht in HK, and 34,900 here. With VAT 34900 - (29231 * 1.07) = 3622 Baht saved.

Not exactly worth a trip there unless you're going anyway. But I guess HK is a good tip.

Or use the Edu discount in Thailand ... http://store.apple.com/th-k12

Edited November 16, 2010 by nikster

[andreww]

for top-model macbook Air difference is about ~10k thb. Delivery and VAT will take some, but i'll claim VAT back on departure.

way cheaper in HK, compare apple.com/hk

Provide one example where the HK price is so much cheaper the shipping hassles (and 7% VAT) are worth it. I don't think you'll find one. HK used to be way cheaper - 5 years ago. Now - not so much. There is no sales tax in HK so it would be 7% cheaper from that alone, the rest...

I don't think it's worth it. At all.

Hmm... OK so you save about 3600 Baht on a MacBook Air. That's honestly more than I thought... it's 29,230 Baht in HK, and 34,900 here. With VAT 34900 - (29231 * 1.07) = 3622 Baht saved.

Not exactly worth a trip there unless you're going anyway. But I guess HK is a good tip.

Or use the Edu discount in Thailand ... http://store.apple.com/th-k12

[negreanu]

You cannot claim the VAT back on departure on a Apple Store Thailand purchase.

Use the Education store to bring the price down towards HK prices but still not as cheap.

[andreww]

the problem is that i've bought the laptop already, but a person who promised to send it over to Sydney failed to do that on time, so now I hope to catch the delivery in Thailand. Cant cancel the order since it's a custom config (2.3 Ghz, 4GB RAM).

[paul1970]

I just had a laptop shipped from the US to Thailand by FedEx and all I had to pay was the 7% VAT, US$1300 laptop, the company sent it with a value of $300. All I had to pay was 777 baht for VAT

You must make sure the shipper uses the correct HS code, either of 8471.30.00.00 or 8471.30.20.00 works for laptops and both codes are currently exempt of customs tax. Mine was actually shipped under the wrong code of 8471.30.10 which is for PDA's and the like, but it still came through with no problems.

current tarrifs can be checked on the http://igtf.customs.go.th/igtf/en/main_frame.jsp website. Laptops have a ceiling rate of 40% but are currently exempt.

[tpiety2]

I just had a laptop shipped from the US to Thailand by FedEx and all I had to pay was the 7% VAT, US$1300 laptop, the company sent it with a value of $300. All I had to pay was 777 baht for VAT

You must make sure the shipper uses the correct HS code, either of 8471.30.00.00 or 8471.30.20.00 works for laptops and both codes are currently exempt of customs tax. Mine was actually shipped under the wrong code of 8471.30.10 which is for PDA's and the like, but it still came through with no problems.

current tarrifs can be checked on the http://igtf.customs..../main_frame.jsp website. Laptops have a ceiling rate of 40% but are currently exempt.

Nice to know.

What type of address was it shipped to? Thai residential, business, APO, etc.?

[nikster]

I just had a laptop shipped from the US to Thailand by FedEx and all I had to pay was the 7% VAT, US$1300 laptop, the company sent it with a value of $300. All I had to pay was 777 baht for VAT

You must make sure the shipper uses the correct HS code, either of 8471.30.00.00 or 8471.30.20.00 works for laptops and both codes are currently exempt of customs tax. Mine was actually shipped under the wrong code of 8471.30.10 which is for PDA's and the like, but it still came through with no problems.

current tarrifs can be checked on the http://igtf.customs.go.th/igtf/en/main_frame.jsp website. Laptops have a ceiling rate of 40% but are currently exempt.

^^ great info, thanks!

[nikster]

for top-model macbook Air difference is about ~10k thb. Delivery and VAT will take some, but i'll claim VAT back on departure.

Don't think you'll be able to claim the VAT back - for that, customs (the importer) would need to issue you with VAT refund documents. I don't think so

You can probably save some by declaring a lower value...

You're right though that the difference is near 10k baht for the top model! I stand corrected!

I guess it goes to show that it pays off to compare local prices with every new release. Last time I checked, which wasn't all that long ago, prices in HK were the same as in the US, and prices ion the Thai Apple store were pretty close to US prices. Of course the USD has fallen off a cliff since then so maybe that has something to do with the difference. 10k baht is as bad as it was in the dark ages...

[paul1970]

I just had a laptop shipped from the US to Thailand by FedEx and all I had to pay was the 7% VAT, US$1300 laptop, the company sent it with a value of $300. All I had to pay was 777 baht for VAT

You must make sure the shipper uses the correct HS code, either of 8471.30.00.00 or 8471.30.20.00 works for laptops and both codes are currently exempt of customs tax. Mine was actually shipped under the wrong code of 8471.30.10 which is for PDA's and the like, but it still came through with no problems.

current tarrifs can be checked on the http://igtf.customs..../main_frame.jsp website. Laptops have a ceiling rate of 40% but are currently exempt.

Nice to know.

What type of address was it shipped to? Thai residential, business, APO, etc.?

Shipped to Thai residential address with a farang name.

[silverhawk_usa]

I recently purchased a computer (Acer netbook $425 USD) in the U.S. . Shipped to a family member and reshipped to me by USPS at my Thai residence (Chiang Mai). I paid 300bt fee at the Mae Rim post office. Even with shipping in/from the U.S. it was cheaper than the equivalent in Thailand, and the particular model I wanted is not available here.

[tpiety2]

I recently purchased a computer (Acer netbook $425 USD) in the U.S. . Shipped to a family member and reshipped to me by USPS at my Thai residence (Chiang Mai). I paid 300bt fee at the Mae Rim post office. Even with shipping in/from the U.S. it was cheaper than the equivalent in Thailand, and the particular model I wanted is not available here.

Thanks - good to know.

On the customs form what did they list as the contents and value?

Was it reboxed or shipped in original laptop box?

Did u send if first class, priority, priority express?

Did u insure it etc.

What did it cost?

Edited November 20, 2010 by tpiety2

[silverhawk_usa]

I recently purchased a computer (Acer netbook $425 USD) in the U.S. . Shipped to a family member and reshipped to me by USPS at my Thai residence (Chiang Mai). I paid 300bt fee at the Mae Rim post office. Even with shipping in/from the U.S. it was cheaper than the equivalent in Thailand, and the particular model I wanted is not available here.

Thanks - good to know.

On the customs form what did they list as the contents and value?

Was it reboxed or shipped in original laptop box?

Did u send if first class, priority, priority express?

Did u insure it etc.

It was shipped USPS Global Priority, I believe. Not insured, and we listed only "Netbook" on the customs form. I figured just maybe they wouldn't know that a netbook was a computer, but yet I was telling the truth. It was in the original box, but shipping stickers covered the original shipper info.

I have received quite a few shipments of various products from the U.S. I always use USPS and generally, but not always, it gets through without being inspected by Thai Customs. Google "shipto" which is another alternative when a company will not ship direct to Thailand. (This has been discussed in other posts and I don't mean to get that discussion going again).

I used the rationalization that I was getting the computer I wanted (which was not available in Thailand) for less than one here IF I didn't have to pay duty or VAT. If I did have to pay, OK I still got the computer I wanted for probably a little MORE than a similar one in Thailand. "Do you feel lucky....." usually comes to mind

You may also want to take a look at this post that is currently running http://www.thaivisa....31#entry4036931 .

[tpiety2]

I recently purchased a computer (Acer netbook $425 USD) in the U.S. . Shipped to a family member and reshipped to me by USPS at my Thai residence (Chiang Mai). I paid 300bt fee at the Mae Rim post office. Even with shipping in/from the U.S. it was cheaper than the equivalent in Thailand, and the particular model I wanted is not available here.

Thanks - good to know.

On the customs form what did they list as the contents and value?

Was it reboxed or shipped in original laptop box?

Did u send if first class, priority, priority express?

Did u insure it etc.

It was shipped USPS Global Priority, I believe. Not insured, and we listed only "Netbook" on the customs form. I figured just maybe they wouldn't know that a netbook was a computer, but yet I was telling the truth. It was in the original box, but shipping stickers covered the original shipper info.

I have received quite a few shipments of various products from the U.S. I always use USPS and generally, but not always, it gets through without being inspected by Thai Customs. Google "shipto" which is another alternative when a company will not ship direct to Thailand. (This has been discussed in other posts and I don't mean to get that discussion going again).

I used the rationalization that I was getting the computer I wanted (which was not available in Thailand) for less than one here IF I didn't have to pay duty or VAT. If I did have to pay, OK I still got the computer I wanted for probably a little MORE than a similar one in Thailand. "Do you feel lucky....." usually comes to mind

You may also want to take a look at this post that is currently running http://www.thaivisa....31#entry4036931 .

Thanks again, I know what to do now but I have one last question,

what value did you list on the customs form?

[silverhawk_usa]

I recently purchased a computer (Acer netbook $425 USD) in the U.S. . Shipped to a family member and reshipped to me by USPS at my Thai residence (Chiang Mai). I paid 300bt fee at the Mae Rim post office. Even with shipping in/from the U.S. it was cheaper than the equivalent in Thailand, and the particular model I wanted is not available here.

Thanks - good to know.

On the customs form what did they list as the contents and value?

Was it reboxed or shipped in original laptop box?

Did u send if first class, priority, priority express?

Did u insure it etc.

It was shipped USPS Global Priority, I believe. Not insured, and we listed only "Netbook" on the customs form. I figured just maybe they wouldn't know that a netbook was a computer, but yet I was telling the truth. It was in the original box, but shipping stickers covered the original shipper info.

I have received quite a few shipments of various products from the U.S. I always use USPS and generally, but not always, it gets through without being inspected by Thai Customs. Google "shipto" which is another alternative when a company will not ship direct to Thailand. (This has been discussed in other posts and I don't mean to get that discussion going again).

I used the rationalization that I was getting the computer I wanted (which was not available in Thailand) for less than one here IF I didn't have to pay duty or VAT. If I did have to pay, OK I still got the computer I wanted for probably a little MORE than a similar one in Thailand. "Do you feel lucky....." usually comes to mind

You may also want to take a look at this post that is currently running http://www.thaivisa....31#entry4036931 .

Thanks again, I know what to do now but I have one last question,

what value did you list on the customs form?

Actual Value.