3BrNBBRz4UYdo+!~~60_7.JPG "chameleon54"){kind=avatar}
Just thinking out loud (I tried to research it properly, but my 'net connection is horrible today, and I can't get very many pages to load in less than a few minutes, if at all 😞 ), but if condition made a difference to whether import charges, taxes etc applied, wouldn't customs forms have something to indicate if the contents were new or used? All the ones I ever see just have gift / merchandise etc, but nothing to tick if it's 'New' merchandise or 'used' merchandise...
In saying that, the forms don't really cater to all scenarios these days, either... eg A couple of times I've had to send replacement items for faulty ones to an overseas buyer, so far the value has been under their import threshholds, but I would hate for my buyers to have to pay import costs twice if the first lot was faulty, and there's really no official way for me to indicate "free replacment merchandise" on a package and still be honest about the value, except by writing that in the contents description field (and I don't know if that would affect duty payable, anyway). Sorry, I know this bit is OT, just trying to apply logic to the question at hand, but also conceding logic doesn't always dictate reality. 
Antiques and fine jewellery could be different to other items. I'm talking about the sorts of things that could be considered personal items but that you pay capital gains on, so a similar type of scenario. But I have absolutely no idea - and don't really care much! 
@englishrosegardens wrote:Antiques and fine jewellery could be different to other items. I'm talking about the sorts of things that could be considered personal items but that you pay capital gains on, so a similar type of scenario. But I have absolutely no idea - and don't really care much!
I have purchased two antique books ( over $1000 ) in seperate transactions from overseas sellers and have not paid any import fees or GST on the sales. Both where from major international, antique book dealers who should have known what forms and boxes to tick. ( maybe thats why I didnt pay any fees 
) They just turned up in the mail, the same as any other OS purchase.
@chameleon54 wrote:
I have purchased two antique books ( over $1000 ) in seperate transactions from overseas sellers and have not paid any import fees or GST on the sales. Both where from major international, antique book dealers who should have known what forms and boxes to tick. ( maybe thats why I didnt pay any fees
Perhaps they under-declared value - a lot of major sellers seem to do this, I actually have the option to set the declared value when I buy from some sites (I always set it to 100%, not least because I purchase insurance as well, and I don't want any issues with customs declarations saying one thing and insured value saying another, but if I didn't it would remain at the default setting, which is 60%).
A lot of my eBay purchases seem to have a declared value of $5.00.
But anyhoo, lyndal is right, Optus seems to have picked up a little, and this was on a custom broker's website that I found:
IS DUTY AND GST PAYABLE ON USED GOODS?
Yes. The law requires that all goods – whether second hand or new, commercial or private – be subject to the assessment of customs duty and GST.
@They list no exceptions, except to say that goods like tobacco and alcohol will always have charges, even if the value is under $1000. For good measure, I ran some specs through a duty calculator, picking the antiques and collectibles category for books, gave it a value of US$1k plus $100 in P&H and insurance, and it came back saying @$200 in customs fees etc.
@englishrosegardens wrote:
digi, isn't there a box to tick for free samples or something like that? I had a parcel from England the other day and none of the boxes were ticked, but they did put a one-word description and a value on the sticker.
There's commercial sample, which has a specific purpose (which I was told quite recently, but have completely forgotton 
I do remember I was a little surprised to learn what it was actually for, because I thought it was what you ticked if a business was sending free product samples to a prospective buyer).
On the forms I primarily use, there's pretty much just 'Gift' and 'Merchandise' (as being applicable to the contents). On C&S there's no 'Merchandise', but you can choose 'Other', though, and then just write what you want to clarify so if I was using a C&S label it would be a bit easier to specify.
And it could have worked out more expensive if you had bought those books back in the days when our Customs threshhold was just $400....not all that long ago....within the last 10 years I think.
@chameleon54 wrote:Woops, I wasnt aware of any of that. Could have worked out very expensive.
I keep all of my orders under AUD$1k (including postage, just for good measure) but I've had one or two close shaves - unintentionally, of course. eg recently, I made two separate orders a few weeks apart from a wholesaler - their processing time is usually 21-30 days, so I was expecting them to ship at least 3 weeks apart. Separately, they were below the threshold, but a couple of items in the second order were ready when the first order was ready to ship, so they sent them all together, bumping up the value of the package (customer service-wise, I was appreciative of the thought behind it, but also a little annoyed lol). It got through without attracting customs etc, but I wasn't sure it would until I saw the status update on the tracking.
