Amazon dot com new Global shipping

[Sheryl]

Been ordering things from Amazon for many years with no problem at all. Came by regular post, sometimes had to pay customs duty, sometimes not, but if so paid by me at the post office on receipt. Easy.

Went to order again and suddenly it seems they have instituting something called "Amazon Global" which (1) uses couriers (FedEx, DHL etc - the kiss of death for parcels into Thailand) and (2) requires that you pay an "import tax deposit" the calculation of which is absurd (I was supposed to pay almost $100 for shipment of books, for which I have never encountered any sort of customs duty). The point of this is apparently for the courier company's use in clearing the parcel through customs.

I'm now in the midst of trying to communicate with them on this but of course getting the usual form replies none of which suggest that there is any means of declining this or arranging for delivery by normal post.

Has anyone else encountered this? Ideas?

[angiud]

Bye Amazon...

Anyway many items not delivered in Thailand.

For goods different from books, try Ebay.

[Orac]

I ordered a few electronic items from Amazon Global but must have been a year or so ago. They added in a duty/tax charge at purchase and delivered via DHL. A few weeks after delivery I got a credit from them on my card for overpayment of duty.

[harrry]

It is in your interest. The deposit is a MAXIMUM. If the charges are less you are refunded. Books still have GST I believe.

[Sheryl]

It i not in my interest, the tariff is significantly higher when a courier company is in the loop than when things go by regular mail. More than half the packages I have received (out of hundreds over the years) from Amazon by regular mail had no custom tax levied. levied

Furthermore, contrary to what they apparently claim at the shipping end, neither DHL, FedEx nor UPS deliver to where I am. Over the years I have consistently had problems with anything sent by courtier. As in, never delivered, returned to sender supposedly undeliverable or with claims (false) that delivery was attempted but "unsuccessful", vanished into a black hole etc. etc.

It's not just the money or the "import tax", it is that I am being asked to pay significantly more to ship via an unreliable means that I don't need or want.

[lopburi3]

I seriously doubt using courier service is in most customers interest for shipments to Thailand when they normally always pay customs regardless of what they import in order to be fast cleared.

[harrry]

I just checked my amazon to see how much it costs for books to be delivered

I tried with 2 books note sstansard shipping is available. Are you sure you ordered only books and that is was from Amazon and not from one of their other suppliers?

Choose a shipping speed:

Standard International Shipping (averages 18-32 days)

AmazonGlobal Expedited Shipping (averages 5-10 business days)

AmazonGlobal Priority Shipping (averages 2-4 days)

Choose a shipping preference:

Group my items into as few shipments as possible

I want my items faster. Ship items as they become available. (at additional cost)

Estimated delivery: Aug. 7, 2013 - Aug. 27, 2013

Quantity: 1 Change

Sold by: Amazon.com LLC

Add gift options

Quantity: 1 Change

Sold by: Amazon.com LLC

Add gift options

Order summary

Items (2):

$51.23

Shipping & handling:

$14.97

Total before tax:

$66.20

Estimated tax to be collected:

$0.00

Total:

$66.20

[Sheryl]

Amazon LLC is the supplier and it is only books to my Thai address . It was a multiple address shipment with some things also going to the US which were other suppliers but I can't see why that should matter, the problem is with the Thai shipment. My screen looks like yours except no Standard International Shipping Option. Only Global Expedited and Global Priority.

Interesting that you got a standard shipping option though as that is exactly what I am not getting. From their online forum, others have the same problem as I can only think it is some glitch in the program. Anyhow thanks for the info, it encourages me to continue to try to sort it out with them.

[Langsuan Man]

Sheryl, try viewing the Amazon page via a VPN that shows your location as being in the US

A free one that I have used successfully is available here:

https://www.tunnelbear.com/

[Tywais]

One possibility is to use a Mail Forwarding service such as Shipito.com. This gives a US address and Shipito will send it by carrier of your choice to your destination.

[vtjforyou]

Does "Ship to" send parcels declared as a gift without invoice ?

Thanks.

[jaideeguy]

Has anyone actually used 'shipito' and what were their experiences?? I have a shopping basket in amazon, but getting stumped at the shipito registration process. Seems they want a notorised form giving them permission to open my parcels to consolidate into one package to me??

Also in reading reviews of shipito, there are quite a few complaints.

[bonobo]

I had six books sent to my Thai address, receiving them last week. This was Amazon standard shipping, and I didn't pay any duty.

[hanno]

As less and less items are delivered abroad, I use a company that provides me with an address in the US and then forwards the stuff to me (at a price, of course).

[Tywais]

As less and less items are delivered abroad, I use a company that provides me with an address in the US and then forwards the stuff to me (at a price, of course).

That is the same as Shipito. Which forwarder do you use and how successful has the deliveries been? I only mentioned Shipito as it was mentioned several times by other forum members who seemed to have no problems with them. I haven't signed up with them yet but am interested in other possibilities.

[hanno]

I us MyUS: https://www.myus.com. No complaints at all, fast, efficient and reasonably priced.

[Nowhereman60]

I notice the same thing when ordering from Old Navy. FedEX wanted to charge a fee for customs on clothing. So I had my order sent to my son, which was free delivery in the US. And he Fedex it to me and I paid no custom charge. Seems like a scam for another way for these people to get more money from us.

[harrry]

I notice the same thing when ordering from Old Navy. FedEX wanted to charge a fee for customs on clothing. So I had my order sent to my son, which was free delivery in the US. And he Fedex it to me and I paid no custom charge. Seems like a scam for another way for these people to get more money from us.

Actually the scam was you. Customs is payable on clothing at a very high rate as it is a protected product. THe fact that you can smuggle more successfully using the ordinary mail should not come into it. Complaining customs charges are too high is one thing. Complaining that a company obeys the law is another.

[eTiMaGo]

Amazon actually started doing this way back in 2005 or 2006, that's when I stopped ordering there, always a giant hassle to arrange a refund after I had to pay the import tax again on arrival... Looks like they went back to the "old" way after a while, and now trying to pull this off again...

[lagavulin1]

Changing the focus if you don't mind. Which Amazon ships to Thai?

[Dibbler]

I us MyUS: https://www.myus.com. No complaints at all, fast, efficient and reasonably priced.

I also use MyUS and agree the service is excellent. They have discount rates on DHL and FedEx for a membership fee. It's possible to hold packages and combine multiple shipments into single packages, and various options for reducing package weight.

[seajae]

I know I bought a couple of items from them last year and was charged 1200 baht to collect them(customs tax) even though the total price was under 1000 baht and supposedly not taxable. These couriers have a simple rip off set up, they charge you then dont pay the tax and keep it as a profit, I queried amazon but they will not answer, go figure.

[seajae]

As less and less items are delivered abroad, I use a company that provides me with an address in the US and then forwards the stuff to me (at a price, of course).

That is the same as Shipito. Which forwarder do you use and how successful has the deliveries been? I only mentioned Shipito as it was mentioned several times by other forum members who seemed to have no problems with them. I haven't signed up with them yet but am interested in other possibilities.

I checked out their shipping rates and they are good, you get a choice of couriers and normal postal services so there is a good range and you do not have to pay joining fees if you only do it occasionally, I think it was $8 for the order to be done plus shipping.

[timewilltell]

I ordered from Amazon, paid the duty, got a refund for the overcharge in duty about a week later and still almost half the price here for a video camera! No complaints.

[Buckaroo]

Buy a kindle and get your books delivered for free via wifi

[Xonax]

Books is the only item I have been able to buy from Amazon. Never been charged any import duty or tax on books. Most other items I have tried to order, was not available for delivery to Thailand, so have completely given up to buy from Amazon. Orders with a value below THB 1000 will nor be charged duty or tax. Other items can be charged up to 40% duty and 7% VAT. These days most books are available as eBooks downloadable to your Kindle reader or your iPad via the Kindle App. Money to be saved on eBooks - only not enough, as you are not allowed to resell or donate. And burning after reading is also impossible.

Pleanty of stuff (other than books) available from Ebay or Aliexpress. Apple´s iTunes has disappointingly never offered delivery to Thailand of neither music, movies or ebooks, so in this way they are kinda forcing us to buy the illegal copies, which (probably for the same reason) still are available everywhere in Thailand. I wouldn´t buy any illegal copies here, if I could just download from iTunes.

Edited July 12, 2013 by Xonax

[amykat]

_{You could buy one of the cheaper Kindle's ...I got one a few years ago for $114 ...it includes some advertising, (or you can pay more for the same, without advertising, but it isn't obtrusive, not inside your books or anything like that) which comes on the title page from time to time. But this really helps save money on the book shipments. They have a lot of sale books, "Kindle Daily Deals" and things like this, and no shipping, and instant delivery! Then I still buy some local books at second hand shops, which if you sell back, can be cheaper. Doing both, gives one an advantage I think. But especially if you live in a place without a 2nd hand book shop, a Kindle could really help you. You don't need the Kindle Fire I think ...just look at the older cheaper ones ..the one I bought is maybe $75 now? (But please note, that if the Amazon sees you are outside the US, you can pay a higher price for the books ...somehow I managed to change mine, but I have a US credit card and US address that I use.)}

[madox66]

Now even some ebay sellers use the "global shipping program"with no additional import charges at delivery. A baby girl's overall is $15 + $26 international priority shipping + $ 26.90 import charges !! I never buy from these sellers and take the chance with customs...most of the time no taxes through post office.

[manly100]

anybody who still buys paper back, hard copies books from anywhere needs their head read. buy a kindle, all books are half price and digital so you get them on your kindle at the same time you buy them, plus many ebooks are free,. think about it. http://www.amazon.com/Kindle-Ereader-ebook-reader/dp/B007HCCNJU no back light so its just like reading a normal book, plus you can change text size. best thing i've ever bought,

[Jayman]

I have heard good things about these guys but personally have never used them

http://www.reship.com/Default.aspx

they are in oregon so you never pay sales tax on your items and they also offer consolidation of parcels and you pick the carrier and you supply the info for the customs tag.