Anyone faced with this unpleasant experience ? Basically I bought clothes worth 180$ (Shipped by UPS for 60$). The shipment reaches Thailand and after a few hours I get a call from some non English speaking guy asking me to pay for customs money amount $100 if I wanted my shipment. Has anyone before been through this courier racket ?

Yes, and I told them to abandon the shipment. Maybe the wrong decision, but there was some principle involved

Yes, I've been through it with Fedex. Search the forums and you'll find that USPS (Not to be confused with UPS) is the only way to go. The others rip you off in the manner you describe.

$180(product) + $60(shipping)= $240.

$240 + 30% import tax = $312.

$312 + 7% vat = $333.84

$333.84 - $240 = $93.84

$93.84 total import taxes to be paid.

Where is the hostage situation, Or did you believe you could import stuff into Thailand and completely avoid all import taxes and duties ?

Edited April 10, 201511 yr by Don Mega

I'm extremely surprised that you got a non English speaking bloke from Thai customs telling you how much import tax you have to pay...............

It wasn't the guy from customs. But was the UPS guy delivering it that called me to cough up the money. Cause he reached my apartment but I wasn't there at the time.

Bangkok, Thailand 04/10/2015 2:22 P.M. The driver was unable to collect funds on the first delivery attempt. A second attempt will be made.

That is the situation according to the UPS tracker.

If you refuse delivery, they to return to sender, you claim a refund as the goods have been returned.

That's what I did. I also never ever used a courier service again.

The online shop I bought the stuff doesn't refund or anything. I think if i refuse also its basically gone.

The online shop I bought the stuff doesn't refund or anything. I think if i refuse also its basically gone.

How did you pay for it ? Via card, you have a way, via Paypal, you also have a way.

Tough call. loose the $240 already spent or pay the import duties and treat it as an expensive lesson and never use a courier again.

Yeah lesson learnt I think.

I wonder why is USPS or other government courier services are never in this sort of situation ? Anybody had a bad experience with those also ?

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The online shop I bought the stuff doesn't refund or anything. I think if i refuse also its basically gone.

How did you pay for it ? Via card, you have a way, via Paypal, you also have a way.

Paid it via the Kbank card.

I wonder why is USPS or other government courier services are never in this sort of situation ? Anybody had a bad experience with those also ?

with my experience non-courier services (normal post) a lot of the times the parcels simply come in under the radar, occasionally I do get stung for import taxes and duties but that is rare.

With companies like UPS, they always do the customs calculations and also do the collecting.

Edited April 10, 201511 yr by Don Mega

I wonder why is USPS or other government courier services are never in this sort of situation ? Anybody had a bad experience with those also ?

with my experience non-courier services (normal post) a lot of the times the parcels simply come in under the radar, occasionally I do get stung for import taxes and duties but that is rare.

With companies like UPS, they always do the customs calculations and also do the collecting.

Yeah these companies are hideous. Lesson is don't ever use any of those big courier companies to get stuff from abroad into Thailand.

I wonder why is USPS or other government courier services are never in this sort of situation ? Anybody had a bad experience with those also ?

with my experience non-courier services (normal post) a lot of the times the parcels simply come in under the radar, occasionally I do get stung for import taxes and duties but that is rare.

With companies like UPS, they always do the customs calculations and also do the collecting.

I regularly order shirts from The Tailor Store online. Their factory is in Sri Lanka and delivery is by UPS to Thailand. Never had to pay any customs charges yet - got another package due next week, so fingers crossed.

You're American right? You hardly know what tax is.
So Thailand has high import tax on clothing. So does India, so does South Africa, so does Brazil. The idea is to protect the local industry. Probably 40%, by the sound of it. UPS will add handling/customs fees.

The arithmetic

<< That's what I did. I also never ever used a courier service again. >>

it depends on the country. Typically, the PO depot / international hub has a Customs department, staffed by Revenue Service / Customs. If you use post services instead of courier, they will calculate the import duty and you pay when you collect the parcel.

The arithmetic that Don Mega showed is wrong. The import duty is calculated on the value of the goods, not including the shipping cost. Then after the import duty is added, there may be VAT.

with my experience non-courier services (normal post) a lot of the times the parcels simply come in under the radar, occasionally I do get stung for import taxes and duties but that is rare.

Same in SA. But if it's labeled as Clothing [or whatever - computer components or whatever] the import duty will be applied.

Edited April 10, 201511 yr by Cat ji

Yeah certainly should be fingers crossed. The store I ordered was from a website called skate warehouse.com. Prices were decent when buying it. But now its inflated to almost double with shipping and the UPS bullshit money stuff.

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You're American right? You hardly know what tax is.
So Thailand has high import tax on clothing. So does India, so does South Africa, so does Brazil. The idea is to protect the local industry. Probably 40%, by the sound of it. UPS will add handling/customs fees.

The arithmetic

<< That's what I did. I also never ever used a courier service again. >>

it depends on the country. Typically, the PO depot / international hub has a Customs department, staffed by Revenue Service / Customs. If you use post services instead of courier, they will calculate the import duty and you pay when you collect the parcel.

The arithmetic that Don Mega showed is wrong. The import duty is calculated on the value of the goods, not including the shipping cost. Then after the import duty is added, there may be VAT.

So the quoted fee should be less than Don Mega's calculation ?

Stated value of goods; import duty calculated on that, + VAT. That is why so many bike parts vendors and so on in the US say on their websites, "NO, we will not understate the value or mark it as GIFT ...it is against the law..." etc.

That's why i never buy anything from a vendor that only ships UPS or Fedex. UPS is the worst. You paid like $80, $100, for shipping and then when it arrives, they add another $10 or so for handling/customs fees. And they bring you a pile of documents to sign. Never seen anything ike it. i hate them.

Where possible, i look for Chinese sellers on ebay. They know what to do, without asking.

Edited April 10, 201511 yr by Cat ji

$180(product) + $60(shipping)= $240.

$240 + 30% import tax = $312.

$312 + 7% vat = $333.84

$333.84 - $240 = $93.84

$93.84 total import taxes to be paid.

Where is the hostage situation, Or did you believe you could import stuff into Thailand and completely avoid all import taxes and duties ?

You wrong! There will be something like 200 Baht clearance fee. Which makes it exactly 100 USD....so it seams complete correct

That's why i never buy anything from a vendor that only ships UPS or Fedex. UPS is the worst. You paid like $80, $100, for shipping and then when it arrives, they add another $10 or so for handling/customs fees. And they bring you a pile of documents to sign. Never seen anything ike it. i hate them.

Yeah now I also certainly hate them.

You're American right? You hardly know what tax is.

So Thailand has high import tax on clothing. So does India, so does South Africa, so does Brazil. The idea is to protect the local industry. Probably 40%, by the sound of it. UPS will add handling/customs fees.

The arithmetic

<< That's what I did. I also never ever used a courier service again. >>

it depends on the country. Typically, the PO depot / international hub has a Customs department, staffed by Revenue Service / Customs. If you use post services instead of courier, they will calculate the import duty and you pay when you collect the parcel.

The arithmetic that Don Mega showed is wrong. The import duty is calculated on the value of the goods, not including the shipping cost. Then after the import duty is added, there may be VAT.

with my experience non-courier services (normal post) a lot of the times the parcels simply come in under the radar, occasionally I do get stung for import taxes and duties but that is rare.

Same in SA. But if it's labeled as Clothing [or whatever - computer components or whatever] the import duty will be applied.

And try to import something to Germany......you'll give Thai customs a tip for their helpful service.......

The arithmetic that Don Mega showed is wrong. The import duty is calculated on the value of the goods, not including the shipping cost. Then after the import duty is added, there may be VAT.

Really. Do you understand what CIF is ?

Here is the customs website http://www.customs.go.th/wps/wcm/connect/custen/traders+and+business/sample+of+duty+assessment/sampleofdutyassessment

looks like I was wrong though as I did not calculate those few extra taxes listed in the samples.

Edited April 10, 201511 yr by Don Mega

Yeah certainly should be fingers crossed. The store I ordered was from a website called skate warehouse.com. Prices were decent when buying it. But now its inflated to almost double with shipping and the UPS bullshit money stuff.

I won't have to worry about shipping - it's free, or included in the cost, whichever way you want to look at it. On the other hand, order a couple of shirts from Tailor on Ten in Bangkok and they stiff you an extra 750 baht for delivery to Hat Yai.

I shipped some clothes USPS a couple years ago and TW got charged 3000baht. It was more than the cost of the pants.

vitamin company learned not to ship to thailand with ups / fedex

as customers are up for bad surprises on their no so cheap supplements anymore

I shipped some clothes USPS a couple years ago and TW got charged 3000baht. It was more than the cost of the pants.

TW?