Customs Ripoff

[ovenman]

3.from the USA, USPS is the way to go to avoid taxes

wrong, 2 days ago I got a letter saying that the bass guitar I ordered from the states was waiting for a 50 pound customs charge before they would deliver it. The original postal service was USPS from US to UK & I paid 75 dollars for the deliver in the first place.

I would imagine that this sort of thing varies for the individual carriers from country-to-country. What works well for shipping goods duty-free from the US to Thailand may not work so well for shipping from the US to the UK or wherever else.

[Clipped]

yes, i am talking about USA to Thailand, dont know how Boo considered i was also implying england....

more than likely Boo didnt declare the package a personal item/gift either...

[Boo]

3.from the USA, USPS is the way to go to avoid taxes

your quote also doesn't specify country mate. I read this as "USPS is the way to go to avoid taxes." should have put "in thailand"

[tourleadersi]

Regular post is hit and miss from my experience. I seem to only be getting 50% of my post through from overseas (UK mainly), so opened up a PO Box and had an important package sent there. Sadly the poster forgot to put tracking on it and 3 weeks later, no letter!

I am beginning to pull my hair out. No goods inside, just paperwork so customs would be NFI.

[Clipped]

last time i checked this was a website about thailand....

[Boo]

yawn.

[lingyai]

I purchased a laptop battery while I was in the US. It ended up not working. I sent it back and now the replacement has been sent back to my home in the US. Unfortunately now I am back in Thailand (meaning before I got the battery )

Reading this thread I see the best chance I have of getting with out paying tax is usps and sent as personal package. I really don’t want to pay tax on something that I purchased while in the US...

Any thoughts?

[TokyoT]

I purchased a laptop battery while I was in the US. It ended up not working. I sent it back and now the replacement has been sent back to my home in the US. Unfortunately now I am back in Thailand (meaning before I got the battery )

Reading this thread I see the best chance I have of getting with out paying tax is usps and sent as personal package. I really don’t want to pay tax on something that I purchased while in the US...

Any thoughts?

I would send it via US Post Office, and make sure who ever sends it declares it as a gift.

Me Mum sends me care packages this way every six month or so, and to date no problems.

girlx: Thaivisa members simply must know – did you get your goods?

[Crushdepth]

i recently ordered some stuff from Victoria's Secret in the US, which i have done several times before with no issues. this time i got a message saying that i owe customs and duties fees in the amount of 1700b for women's clothing and my package is being held in surat thani (nowhere near me). it's just a few pairs of underwear and some yoga pants- combined total of maybe $70... how do they justify charging me more than half that amount again in customs fees? is this normal? why hasn't it happened to any of my other shipments? do i have any choice but to just pay up?

This is normal customs behaviour. If you want it back, you have to pay up. If you don't pay up, they'll eventually sell it. My work has tax free (diplomatic) status and they *still* sieze our stuff.

Sending things through FedEx or UPS is no better. I actually think its worse than regular mail, because they know that the high value stuff usually comes by courier.

The corruption in the customs department is a major barrier to trade with Thailand. It needs a major clean out.

[girlx]

girlx: Thaivisa members simply must know – did you get your goods?

yeah i got them, and paid 1693b for the duties (bastards)... it came via UPS by the way.