Hi Guys,

What are the pro's and cons of buying stuff from outside thailand and shipping in? From sites like ebay and amazon? Stuff not easily available in thailand...

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Con: If you purchase items with fixed batteries such as mobile phones you will probably not be able to return it due to Thailand Post EMS refusal to send items containing batteries to international destinations - been caught out by this one.

Depends entirely what it is and how its sent to you.

Cost of item PLUS Cost of shipping PLUS Insurance PLUS import tax PLUS vat.= Total you will pay

Fed Ex or other courier you will get stung !

Depends entirely what it is and how its sent to you.

Cost of item PLUS Cost of shipping PLUS Insurance PLUS import tax PLUS vat.= Total you will pay

Fed Ex or other courier you will get stung !

Depends on the value of the item. I've bought over a hundred items from Ebay in the last few years, the only one I paid duty (300 baht) on was a $150.00 watch sent by FedEx. All of the other items were either free postage or very minimal and no duty.

Edited August 4, 201510 yr by giddyup

Is there a reliable list anywhere for import tax and restrictions?

how reliable are couriers and postal service?

Living here in Saudi there's a company here that ship for a good price, but ocaisionally things get damaged, get lost or they refuse to ship after receiving. Returning anything is not worth even thinking about, so I'm already used to the potentially high cost, but sometimes needs must.

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Depends entirely what it is and how its sent to you.

Cost of item PLUS Cost of shipping PLUS Insurance PLUS import tax PLUS vat.= Total you will pay

Fed Ex or other courier you will get stung !

Depends on the value of the item. I've bought over a hundred items from Ebay in the last few years, the only one I paid duty (300 baht) on was a $150.00 watch sent by FedEx. All of the other items were either free postage or very minimal and no duty.

Yeah, thats what I said in the first line

So, you feel slighted at having what you said confirmed?

Do they check all parcels ?

Con: If you purchase items with fixed batteries such as mobile phones you will probably not be able to return it due to Thailand Post EMS refusal to send items containing batteries to international destinations - been caught out by this one.

In my case the phone made it all the way to the airport where it was screened and subsequently send back to me. I don't know if it was random or if they screen everything. My local Post Office did warn me not to send and they only accepted the item after talking to the Post Office Manager. Personally I will no longer purchase such items internationally.

My ebay purchases always arrived well but were less then 50$.

So is that the Thai rule that we can buy untill 150 us$ without paying tax?

My post from overseas (just envelopes) were sometimes opened by the thai post.

From http://www.dutycalculator.com/country-guides/Import-duty-taxes-when-importing-into-Thailand/ "Imports with a CIF value up to 1000 THB are exempt from duty and VAT."

I have used ebay for quite a number of years and never had to pay any duty although my purchases are small value. Postage times can sometimes be a bit slow although I have learnt that items shipped from Hong Kong arrive quite quickly.

Do it all the time for bits and pieces. Mostly from Hong Kong or China, but also locally, or Korea and Germany. Seldom paid tax. Tax system is often not enforced.

I recently ordered a mesh motorcycle jacket from USA, because I haven't seen any here...

The cost was 60 USD = 2,140 THB

It's come to DHL, who are now demanding I pay another 3015.02 Baht for Duty and VAT

It's all a bit purely random when it comes to buying stuff from outside the country. I've paid no tax with Lazada or Aliexpress. I've prepaid import tax from Ebay (Kindles because Amazon won't ship them here). I've had clothes come from a variety of places (usually in $150 order quantities) and paid from nothing (and once 7 baht) to 2,000 Baht on them on import.

On the bright side, I've never had a parcel go missing... so far.

I've bought some electronic devices on E-Bay originating in Hong Kong, all with shipping included in purchase price and have had no difficulty. The only time I had to pay duty was when one shipper used DHL. All others by HK Post had no additional charge.

A previous poster makes a very good point that returning defective or unwanted items that include batteries is now almost impossible. I recently tried to send a phone to the Philippines via EMS, Thailand and was refused because of battery restrictions.

Last year, when a friend needed to return his Microsoft Surface Pro to the US for repairs, only Fed Ex would accept it.

Edited February 18, 201610 yr by dddave

The only time I had to pay duty was when one shipper used DHL.

So it seems DHL are the problem...

On that occasion, did they calculate the duty correctly, or was it done ridiculously high, like the 105% they are trying to charge me for my jacket, mentioned above???

The only time I had to pay duty was when one shipper used DHL.

So it seems DHL are the problem...

On that occasion, did they calculate the duty correctly, or was it done ridiculously high, like the 105% they are trying to charge me for my jacket, mentioned above???

The duty is applied to the CIF value then 7% Vat added to the total value.

Clothing attracts duty of between 10 and 40% of the CIF value plus 7% VAT. You can search here to get an idea what should be charged http://igtf.customs.go.th/igtf/en/main_frame.jsp

Do you know what Customs Tariff Code was used?

What was the CIF (Cost Insurance Freight) value?

Have DHL presented you with an itemised invoice?

Whenever I've had stuff delivered by DHL or TNT both have correctly itemised the duty and VAT, both have also added a disbursement or clearance charge too.