Buying On The Internet--Shipped To Thailand

[Jimmyd]

I tried to search on Thaivisa for this, but no joy--sorry if it's just my bad search skills.

Has anyone had phones or cameras shipped into Thailand from, say, Hong Kong or the US? What chance of customs charging an arm and a leg?

I had a Kindle shipped here by a friend from the US through normal post and there was no problem, but I'm worried if I buy online that there will be a problem. I'm looking at a phone from fastcardtech dot com, the W7272 Android phone.

Thanks in advance for any help/experiences.

[Crossy]

If it comes by regular mail or EMS it stands a better than even chance of getting through without duty or tax.

Sending with a courier (DHL, FedEx, UPS) and it's guaranteed to attract duty, tax, storage and a 'clearance fee'.

[haveaniceday]

I am convinced that the staff at DHL are in bed with corrupt customs officers, where they all get a kick back from your 'clearance fee'.

[CharlieH]

I am convinced that the staff at DHL are in bed with corrupt customs officers, where they all get a kick back from your 'clearance fee'.

+1 ....same for UPS. definitely getting something from the applied "duty" applied on every occasion.

Refuse to accept delivery and they hound you for months !

Edited January 7, 2012 by CharlieH

[Tywais]

If it comes by regular mail or EMS it stands a better than even chance of getting through without duty or tax.

Sending with a courier (DHL, FedEx, UPS) and it's guaranteed to attract duty, tax, storage and a 'clearance fee'.

My experience also. I just ordered a camera (30k Baht) online from the US and had them send it by USPS Priority Express. It arrived at my office in just a few days and no duties/customs attached to it. Using the other services in the past, the odds are quite high they will get hit, especially FedEX from our experience.

[Jimmyd]

Thanks for the info, Tywais.

[p_brownstone]

Said this before but .....

All the Courier Companies have absolutely NO incentive to argue or even negotiate with the Customs Department about what Duty Rate they, Customs, decide to impose - the Courier Company simply passes it on to you the end Customer. Why should the Courier Company waste their own staffs' time for no return?

If you want to avoid paying excessive Duty appoint your own Customs Clearing Agent and have them do the Clearing for you - after telling them what you believe is the correct Customs Tariff Code.

Importing via Courier you will always be hit for Duty - bringing stuff in by ordinary Mail you have a better than even chance of paying no Duty at all - as an example, recently my wife imported a lot of Lego bricks etc. from Germany and had it shipped in 5 lots via ordinary Air Parcel Post - only 1 lot was charged Duty and we had to go to the Post Office to pay and collect it, all the rest were delivered directly to our door by the usual Postman.

Patrick.

[tfc]

With fedex the first few times I only had to pay a "normal" duty of about 150 baht. Then the next 4 - 5 times the duty was about 1700 baht. This was for vitamins, the same brand, amount etc.

[wayned]

Everything that I've ordered from the US I had shipped USPS and never paid duty in anything. Did get hit 7% VAT on a laptop one time. Had to pay it at the post office befor I could pick it up.

[Gers1873]

2,000 THB duty on a skatecycle sent from the States. Items delivered by post seem to 'escape' the duty. Use a courier company and my experience says 8 / 10 times you will pay duty.

[ExC5Engineer]

Had some Meds. sent FEDEX, and ended up paying almost what the meds. would have cost me over here. Reg post or EMS is the only way!!

[Digitalbanana]

My experience also. I just ordered a camera (30k Baht) online from the US and had them send it by USPS Priority Express. It arrived at my office in just a few days and no duties/customs attached to it.

I ordered and received an Ebay item out of the US via USPS. It was cheap and I took the risk. Only problem was I could not see any way of tracking this once it left the US? What options are there then? With Fedex it's door to door.

[janverbeem]

My experience also. I just ordered a camera (30k Baht) online from the US and had them send it by USPS Priority Express. It arrived at my office in just a few days and no duties/customs attached to it.

I ordered and received an Ebay item out of the US via USPS. It was cheap and I took the risk. Only problem was I could not see any way of tracking this once it left the US? What options are there then? With Fedex it's door to door.

I would prefer no taxes over the ability to look up the tracking number.

[Tywais]

My experience also. I just ordered a camera (30k Baht) online from the US and had them send it by USPS Priority Express. It arrived at my office in just a few days and no duties/customs attached to it.

I ordered and received an Ebay item out of the US via USPS. It was cheap and I took the risk. Only problem was I could not see any way of tracking this once it left the US? What options are there then? With Fedex it's door to door.

There are several levels of USPS shipping. For tracking there is USPS Global Express and USPS Priority Express, perhaps other levels, but they have tracking and door to door delivery. For that amount I wanted tracking and I did it with Priority Express. Sounds like the e-bay was USPS regular air mail.

[Sateev]

If it comes by regular mail or EMS it stands a better than even chance of getting through without duty or tax.

Sending with a courier (DHL, FedEx, UPS) and it's guaranteed to attract duty, tax, storage and a 'clearance fee'.

My experience also. I just ordered a camera (30k Baht) online from the US and had them send it by USPS Priority Express. It arrived at my office in just a few days and no duties/customs attached to it. Using the other services in the past, the odds are quite high they will get hit, especially FedEX from our experience.

USPS Priority Mail International and USPS Express Mail International are two different services. Then there's Global Express Guaranteed, their fastest, most reliable service. Priority Mail International is semi-trackable (depends on package-type), where Express is trackable all the way to delivery in Thailand. I have lost a couple of Priority Mail International shipments, and had the USPS mis-route both Priority and Express. The Priority package never did arrive, and you have to have the shipper do the trace, which resulted in USPS claiming it was lost. Express usually arrives on time, but, depending on what value the shipper writes down, and other factors of luck, I have paid Customs duty on items worth about $200 US.

Which did you use, Express or Priority?

[Tywais]

Which did you use, Express or Priority?

You're right, different animals, my error. I used Express.

Express Mail through the USPS offers delivery confirmation, free tracking, return receipts and signature proof of delivery. Priority Mail also offers these options, but for a small additional fee, dependent on the postal zone.

[Satcommlee]

If it comes by regular mail or EMS it stands a better than even chance of getting through without duty or tax.

Sending with a courier (DHL, FedEx, UPS) and it's guaranteed to attract duty, tax, storage and a 'clearance fee'.

If it comes by regular mail or EMS it stands a better than even chance of getting through without duty or tax.

Sending with a courier (DHL, FedEx, UPS) and it's guaranteed to attract duty, tax, storage and a 'clearance fee'.

This is sound advice, however EMS doesn't always get there... I once opened a package to find the item stolen and loaded with ballast material.. after signing for it of course!!

[Digitalbanana]

My experience also. I just ordered a camera (30k Baht) online from the US and had them send it by USPS Priority Express. It arrived at my office in just a few days and no duties/customs attached to it.

I ordered and received an Ebay item out of the US via USPS. It was cheap and I took the risk. Only problem was I could not see any way of tracking this once it left the US? What options are there then? With Fedex it's door to door.

There are several levels of USPS shipping. For tracking there is USPS Global Express and USPS Priority Express, perhaps other levels, but they have tracking and door to door delivery. For that amount I wanted tracking and I did it with Priority Express. Sounds like the e-bay was USPS regular air mail.

It was USPS First Class Mail International that the vendor used, no choice at my end if buying. Tracking stops at the US departure point.

Edited January 9, 2012 by Digitalbanana

[Digitalbanana]

My experience also. I just ordered a camera (30k Baht) online from the US and had them send it by USPS Priority Express. It arrived at my office in just a few days and no duties/customs attached to it.

I ordered and received an Ebay item out of the US via USPS. It was cheap and I took the risk. Only problem was I could not see any way of tracking this once it left the US? What options are there then? With Fedex it's door to door.

I would prefer no taxes over the ability to look up the tracking number.

I'd prefer reliable tracking and delivery, I have found Fedex trumps the rest on that.

[happysanook]

mobile phones are SUPPOSED to be exempt from duty other than the 7% vat....I actually had the opposite experience. dhl didn't charge me a dime. thaipost marked it electronics and charged me 700 for the same item.

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[tutsiwarrior]

last October I ordered a wristwatch from amazon.com and paid USD232.95 including postage and it was sent USPS EMS (fully trackable on the net). I paid thb1000 at the post office when I collected it; never saw a receipt for the charge...didn't know if it was VAT, import duty or what...

Edited January 9, 2012 by tutsiwarrior

[infernalman7]

mobile phones are SUPPOSED to be exempt from duty other than the 7% vat....I actually had the opposite experience. dhl didn't charge me a dime. thaipost marked it electronics and charged me 700 for the same item.

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

Ha! Perhaps this explained why it didn't cost me anything but the VAT when I got my Galaxy Nexus.

[ProThaiExpat]

Last month I ordered a camera online from B&H Camera in New York and had it shipped via UPS Worldwide. Five day delivery with tracking. Duty 3% and 7% VAT, separately detailed and invoiced.

My preferred carrier is USPS or Australia Post as most items come through without either duty or VAT.

This time I opted for UPS Worldwide for its tracking and security as the cost of the camera was not something I wanted to lose.

[Phil Conners]

I sent a Parr of earphone to Switzerland. They were not in the mail anymore. Be sure to make packet hard to open because people open the mail to steal a 30 bats speaker.

sent from tapatalk :-)

I have no bad experiences sending stuff out of Thailand, but from 16 packages ordered on Ebay over the last 3 months and sent with standard unregistered post, 7 never arrived, 9 arrived after an avg. 19 days. Fortunately Paypal guarantees the delivery even with unregistered post, so it's just a matter of re-ordering until it arrives. Would be nice if things were delivered though.

mobile phones are SUPPOSED to be exempt from duty other than the 7% vat....I actually had the opposite experience. dhl didn't charge me a dime. thaipost marked it electronics and charged me 700 for the same item.

Posted with Thaivisa App http://apps.thaivisa.com

Just out of curiosity, where can you purchase a Galaxy Nexus for less than 18,600 baht (Thai price minus the vat)? I shopped around before buying mine but wasn't able to find a better price anywhere in the world.

[janverbeem]

Just out of curiosity, where can you purchase a Galaxy Nexus for less than 18,600 baht (Thai price minus the vat)? I shopped around before buying mine but wasn't able to find a better price anywhere in the world.

Just out of curiosity.how can one who lives in Thailand get vat refunded?

[flying]

Just out of curiosity, where can you purchase a Galaxy Nexus for less than 18,600 baht (Thai price minus the vat)? I shopped around before buying mine but wasn't able to find a better price anywhere in the world.

Just out of curiosity.how can one who lives in Thailand get vat refunded?

I don't think anyone living in a VAT country gets it refunded....

Otherwise everyone would do so.

If your leaving a VAT country destined for a non-VAT country then you get a refund.

I may be wrong But that is my understanding & I always collect my VAT refunds when leaving

Thailand for the US

[janverbeem]

Just out of curiosity, where can you purchase a Galaxy Nexus for less than 18,600 baht (Thai price minus the vat)? I shopped around before buying mine but wasn't able to find a better price anywhere in the world.

Just out of curiosity.how can one who lives in Thailand get vat refunded?

I don't think anyone living in a VAT country gets it refunded....

Otherwise everyone would do so.

If your leaving a VAT country destined for a non-VAT country then you get a refund.

I may be wrong But that is my understanding & I always collect my VAT refunds when leaving

Thailand for the US

But I understand that if you're on any visa other than a tourist visa the refund doesn't apply.Correct?

[flying]

Just out of curiosity, where can you purchase a Galaxy Nexus for less than 18,600 baht (Thai price minus the vat)? I shopped around before buying mine but wasn't able to find a better price anywhere in the world.

Just out of curiosity.how can one who lives in Thailand get vat refunded?

I don't think anyone living in a VAT country gets it refunded....

Otherwise everyone would do so.

If your leaving a VAT country destined for a non-VAT country then you get a refund.

I may be wrong But that is my understanding & I always collect my VAT refunds when leaving

Thailand for the US

But I understand that if you're on any visa other than a tourist visa the refund doesn't apply.Correct?

No as I never come to Thailand on a tourist visa.

Mainly because I need to do banking & property related things I always get a non immigrant type visa

based on marriage.

Yet I collected my VAT refunds when I left 2 weeks ago & the trip last year too.

So to that end I guess any non immigrant ( all foreigners for the most part ) living

in Thailand could get a VAT refund. But you need to leave Thailand as the only place I know of to get refunds is inside the controlled areas

of airports. Which you reach after showing ticket & passport on your way out of Thailand.

Edited January 15, 2012 by flying

[lopburi3]

My last experience was bad using mail as did get charged customs. So a 3k baht item from China on Ebay cost me a 100 baht taxi trip across town/return to obtain from post office (nowhere close to where I live), payment of about 800 baht plus about 200 Vat/fee (was properly receipted) only to get home and find shipped in display paper box so totally destroyed. Seller asked photos to prove and immediately provided then asked more photos (turned off) and provided then said return and will resend. As have already lost more than 4.2k on this crap can not see paying taxi/packing/postage to likely have the same result a month or two later upon receipt of second shipment and risk also having to double pay customs and no longer wanting unit in any case. Walk away time.

[angiud]

I live in Koh Phangan and I don't go so often in BKK, so when I need some item (lenses or other photo equipment, books, blades, clothes, Lego for my son, etc) I use the wonderful internet market. I always ask for EMS delivery or, for camera tools from USA or HK, UPS service. Yes, the charges are not cheap, VAT plus unknown heavy duties, but all in the receipt. Says on 500 US $ of value I spend around 2500 Baht of cherges, plus 50 of UPS. EMS is a bit cheaper.

The amazing stuff both with UPS and EMS is the traking service, alllows you to follow hour by hour the trip of your parcel.

Books, clothes and small parcels always arrived home without any charge ;-)

Unitl now (maybe 10 deliveries in 18 months) not a lost-damage-overcharge. Maybe just lucky.