Australian buying from USA - import duties/GSP

[gregmc28]

Hi there...a question regarding the Global Shipment Program.

There is an item I am interested in buying that has:

Buy Now price of US $1,070

Postage:                US    $129

Import charges:    US    $306

We (in Australia) pay import charges on anything over $1000 Australian.

The seller has "Make Offer" enabled If I make an offer for less than AU $1000 ..lets say $900 US ($943 AU) and it is accepted by the seller....

Will the Postage charge still be : US $129?

Will there be any import duties?

Thanks for any help you can provide

[*crikey*mate*]

I can't see why the postage charge would change.

[gregmc28]

Thanks...me too...my main concern is the import charges.

[fourandsixpants]

No import duties/custom fees this end so long as TOTAL.....item+postage is less than $1000AUD.....BUT if you say bought 2 of these in 2 seperate parcels at the same time......Austr Customs will very likely charge you duties on these combined purchases. Watch out.

Australian Customs advised me several years ago, after I called them and asked similar question/s as here.......they advised have any multiple and large cost(near $1000 each single purchase) items arrive a minimum of 10 days apart. .....BUT with the HUGE delays in postage services at the mo I would wary of this recommendation and double it to say, 21 days/3 weeks.

Hope this helps. Good Luck

[fourandsixpants]

My further advice to you, call customs and ask them directly if you would be obliged to make payment on the whole amount or just on the 'over'......being that you are not a 'regular' importer etc and that this item is for your own use?.....just a suggestion. 

[davewil1964]

Let's say $900 + $170 postage would still kick you over the $1k limit. Especially when that is calculated in $A.

The import charges are probably the Pitney Bowes charges, which seem to assume customs duties regardless of value.

HOWEVER you will be liable for duty and GST if the landed price (cost + postage + agent's (Pitney Bowes) fees) are over $1,000 Australian.

I suggest talking to the seller about their using the GSP and negotiate a deal. I suspect you will still be up for customs/GST for something of that value.

[gregmc28]

Thanks for that...am pretty sure the rule for us is that an item carries no import duties so long as the price of the item is no more than AU $1000 .....but if it goes above that...then you pay duty/fees based on the total amount (ie item cost + shipping costs)

Good thinking on the multiple items too....wish I was in a position to be spending that amount so quickly 🙂

What I'm not sure about is how this Global Shipping Policy affects things...and I don't think the sellers know much about it either.

[gregmc28]

Thanks for the advice....this is all very confusing...the AU Customs site says "Generally, there is no requirement to pay duty and Goods and Services Tax (GST) on imported goods valued at or below A$1000"

(http://www.customs.gov.au/site/page5549.asp)

...so not sure why shipping comes into the equation unless I blow that AU $1k limit on the item.

May just have to take a punt and see what happens, and as you say contact the seller to negotiate if it all turns out to be a bad deal

Cheers

[gregmc28]

Interesting...I just checked 2 Buy Now ads for some (just) sub AU$1k guitars

They both use GSP to ship. 

First one has a value of AU $927, AU $128 shipping and $0 Import costs

Second one has a value of AU $944 , AU $96 shipping and and import costs of $252 !

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/MARTIN-CO-DM-MAHOGANY-DREADNOUGHT-ACOUSTIC-GUITAR-w-GIG-BAG-GREAT-CONDITI...

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Martin-DCME-Dreadnought-Cutaway-Acoustic-Electric-Guitar-/190928101363?pt...

[cq_tech]

First one has a value of AU $927, AU $128 shipping and $0 Import costs

That may well be what is stated in the listing, but it's incorrect information. Most US sellers wouldn't have a clue what our import limit is before tax becomes payable but as you stated above, it's pretty basic and very simple to calculate.

If the cost of the item (including shipping) exceeds A$1000, then GST is payable at the rate of 10% of the entire amount. This of course means that the above comment re shipping is totally meaningless, because if using those figures as quoted, you would be paying A$927 for the item, A$128 for postage, for a total invoice amount of $1055, but there are indeed "Import costs" which just happens to be another $105.50 in GST, for a grand total landed cost to you of A$1160.50, and not just the $1055 as inferred.