Buying from Amazon US

[justEnjoy]

 

Would like to order some electronic stuff on Amazon or Ebay.

Will there be issues with customs regarding import tax?

All info welcome..

Sent from my iPad using Thaivisa Connect

 

[godblessemall]

I have only ever been able to get books from amazon, anything else will not be sent to SE Asia.

Ebay depends on the seller if they allow International postage but might get import duty to pay at the Post Office.

Edited December 2, 2016 by godblessemall

[SaintLouisBlues]

You need to have it delivered to a US mailing address that will forward it to you, or have a friend bring it from the US

[flare]

If it's an item they'll ship to LOS (much of what's on their site can't be shipped internationally) you'll likely get hit with import tax of ~35% upon delivery- either that, or you'll be charged import tax in advance (like they do with Kindle sales) when you make your initial order.  They usually use UPS or FedEx, which means you'll nearly always get hit with tax as UPS/FedEx items never seem to make it through without charges.

 

I've had much better luck ordering from eBay, where most shipments arrive via USPS- while most things get hit with the same import tax, there's a better chance that something will slip through untaxed, especially if it comes in a small box or in an envelope (this is also true of stuff that comes from the UK via Royal Mail).  If you do use eBay, avoid the sites that charge their customs fees upfront, as you're better off taking the chance that the fees will be lower (or best case non-existent) on arrival in Thailand.

[al007]

My experiences and knowledge believe if it has a declared value below 1000 batt no tax

 

DHL and Fedex, effectively work for customs, and seldom and maybe never has stuff arrived with them with no tax

 

Ebay generally low from HongKong and China, value generally stated below the 1000batt threshold, and quietly arrive, no tax

 

Ebay far better bet for no tax than Amazon

[soisanuk]

I have ordered several times from Amazon - electronics &  clothes. On check out, they add a "custom's deposit" and shipping to the total.  So far, I have received a refund from the custom's deposit on all such purchases.  I prefer paying the custom's fee upfront so there is no hassle with customs and I can track shipment until it is delivered - knowing on which day it will arrive.  However, when I ordered some DVDs, the upfront customs was not included, but no customs fees were incurred.  Amazon uses there own contracted airline for some shipments - in the case of the DVDs, they went to some address in Bangkok and then were mailed to me using EMS. 

[pumpuy]

As soon as the value of the imported goods exceed 20 dollars or so , you are supposed to pay import taxes , which vary on the nature of the goods .

 

[cmsally]

I just ordered something on Ebay with Global Shipping Program. Supposedly tax is included.

I will update on whether I have to pay anything extra (it says not). Not electrical item though.

[sharktooth]

Contact them directly and tell them to write on the declaration "SAMPLES ONLY. NO COMMERCIAL VALUE"

[HullyGully]

When shipping to Thailand, always use POST, its generally cheaper and if you have to pay duties then you pay at the post office when you collect the parcel

 

When goods are sent by couriers such as DHL / FEDEX you end up by allsorts of costs, not only duties, the related costs are fees for the courier, actual customs clearance charge and warehousing costs ( which are high) etc.

 

USE USPS or ROYAL MAIL

[mduras01]

I buy from Amazon all the time.

 

If you buy from Amazon US and have it forwarded via a mail forwarding service, you will be charged duties. Happened to me over 10 times.

 

If you buy from Amazon Global, which tends to sell some of the same products, at a mark-up, then you will not be charged duty. I bought my Kindle through Global so as not to deal with all the customs crap.

[arby]

i just bought a new watch on amazon.......delivered to me 4 days ago. No import tax. I regularly buy from iHerb in California and they say there is no import duty if item(s) amount to less than $80 u.s. dollars. The watch was $42 dollars and shipping was around $14 dollars. Delivered to my door via post office.

[flare]

You'll nearly always get a partial refund when you pay import taxes upfront with Amazon- they calculate the maximum possible total and add a small percentage on top of that to make sure they don't get screwed if it happens to be more than they charged you (as they'd be responsible for the overage), and then refund you the difference later (sometimes after a month or two).  Some eBay shippers will keep the difference, which is why I always avoid paying taxes upfront if possible.  I recently saved $35 on a pair of sunglasses by choosing a shipper (off eBay) that left the taxes for the purchaser to deal with, while a rival seller charged for them upfront- the small package arrived at my door with no charges (at worst it would have meant my picking it up at the post office and paying there- to me, it's always worth the chance).

[paulbj2]

I have had a couple of fairly low value items sent from Amazon UK  (one shipment = £10 and another around £50) there was no import tax charged and the items ordered arrived inside 3 days!

 

I have also tried to order electronic stuff from Amazon UK but in all cases so far, they will not ship to Thailand - damn it! 

[tonyphinn]

Suay maak have you tried lazada as they have most items and COD found there service to be v good

 

[justEnjoy]

11 minutes ago, tonyphinn said:

Suay maak have you tried lazada as they have most items and COD found there service to be v good

 

some items not available on there site ...

[Suradit69]

6 hours ago, godblessemall said:

I have only ever been able to get books from amazon, anything else will not be sent to SE Asia.

Ebay depends on the seller if they allow International postage but might get import duty to pay at the Post Office.

 

I've bought things from Amazon and eBay, sent to me in Thailand.

 

What you have to avoid at all costs is those dealers who use some sort of Global Shipping Service. They will hit you with the highest possible import duty and you'll have to prepay.

 

If you deal with someone who will ship via the post office, depending on what you have sent, you stand a good chance of not being charged import duty. Generally things sent from Amazon UK will cost less to ship and with electrical items there's less of a chance of 110/120 V issues. Even from UK Amazon, some dealers won't send to Thailand, but sometimes if you contact the dealer directly they'll accommodate you.

 

Same applies to places like Land's End. The US branch started using a global shipping service that charged more than the cost of the items ordered. The UK branch still sends by post office and I've yet to pay any import duties on those things.

[flare]

I think Lazada may have some bootleg/copy items on their site- they have what appears to be a Dainese D1 Air back protector (which is a piece of motorcyclist armor) for 900bt  (~$25) and it's closer to $200 in the US, and motorcycle gear is never  cheaper in LOS (and there's a lot of fake gear here).   They're advertising it as Dainese, though.  

[hugh2121]

I have ordered supplements for my dog from Amazon UK. They are currently with DHL in Thailand. Import tax was added by Amazon to my invoice. Suggest you complete the order with Amazon and go to the checkout. The invoice will show if import tax has been added. You can then accept or cancel the order.

[paulbj2]

1 hour ago, tonyphinn said:

Suay maak have you tried lazada as they have most items and COD found there service to be v good

 

One item, a 9 way switchable, powered USB 3.0 hub, that I tried and failed to get Amazon UK to ship to me here is also available on Lazada at nearly three times the price!

[UPDEHSOI]

2 hours ago, sharktooth said:

Contact them directly and tell them to write on the declaration "SAMPLES ONLY. NO COMMERCIAL VALUE"

Tried this already. Many many companies will NOT do this.

[sharktooth]

1 minute ago, UPDEHSOI said:

Tried this already. Many many companies will NOT do this.

 

Never had a problem

[paulbj2]

2 hours ago, mduras01 said:

I buy from Amazon all the time.

 

If you buy from Amazon US and have it forwarded via a mail forwarding service, you will be charged duties. Happened to me over 10 times.

 

If you buy from Amazon Global, which tends to sell some of the same products, at a mark-up, then you will not be charged duty. I bought my Kindle through Global so as not to deal with all the customs crap.

 

I have just tried to order something from Amazon Global but they are charging an absolutely ridiculous amount of postage ($18) for something that weighs a few hundred grams and a massive sum for import tax ($17) for an item the costs $39.99. Amazon Global are just a sick joke! Not worth buying off them.

[realenglish1]

8 hours ago, godblessemall said:

I have only ever been able to get books from amazon, anything else will not be sent to SE Asia.

Ebay depends on the seller if they allow International postage but might get import duty to pay at the Post Office.

This is not true I have ordered many things from Amazon to Thailand Each seller has their own criteria as to what countries they can ship to.

As for duty It will depend on customs Small items with values under 100 USD come through without a problem Over that amount and they want your blood 

[flare]

1 hour ago, UPDEHSOI said:

Tried this already. Many many companies will NOT do this.

Yup- the reason is that Thai import taxes are calculated by using the declared value on the customs label, and the shipping companies need to fill that number in correctly in order  to properly insure the package (otherwise if it's lost they're out-of-pocket on it).  The old trick of putting a 'zero' value (which also means zero insured value) or writing 'used item' or whatever in the description doesn't work like it used to, especially when there's a shipping invoice in the box that the customs officer will see when they do their inspection.

 

There's no percentage in it for the company to do you a favor unless it's one with which you have a long-standing relationship, along with the understanding that if it does get lost, you're the one who pays, not them.

[mettech]

i have just ordered some goods from china and when I got it I had to pay some import tax on it at the post office.

[mettech]

If you want some electronics look at banggood.com they are from china always got good services from them.

[kwak250]

I bought an iPhone 6 from ebay and had it sent to my brothers address who sent it to me with "used toy" value £5 never got taxed and it arrived in 5 days

[JimGant]

Quote

Roku Streaming Stick (3600R) (2016 Model)

In stock on December 5, 2016.
Order it now.
This item does not ship to Thailand. Please check other sellers who may ship internationally. Learn more
Sold by DealFisher and Fulfilled by Amazon. Gift-wrap available.

In stock on December 7, 2016.
Order it now.
This item ships to Thailand. Learn more
Sold by EverythingDeals and Fulfilled by Amazon.

 

Depends on the vender Amazon is using. I ordered it 5 minutes ago, but it wasn't cheap (it was, however, an expedited order):

Quote

Order Summary
Item(s) Subtotal:
$49.95
Shipping & Handling:
$27.62
Total before tax:
$77.57
Estimated tax to be collected:
$0.00
Import Fees Deposit
$17.14
Grand Total:
$94.71

 

 

[jonwilly]

Can't speak on Amazon from US but I had a '35 mm Slide scanner' delivered from Amazon UK total cost was approx 100 pounds  and delivered in 10 days.

Impressed by service and delivery.

 

john