Customs, Duties, Taxes

[Mikawa Ossan]

I have worn my pair of Bacco Bucci dress shoes most days for the past 5 years. They are simply the best shoes I have ever owned, and I have recently decided to buy another pair.

So I searched on the internet, and I found exactly the pair I wanted for a reasonable price, about US$165. I was so excited, because www.shoes.com ships internationally. Yatta!

So I proceed to the checkout, and they calculated the cost of shipping, which I was fully expecting to take a hit on (Shipping was 5193 yen, in case you're wondering.) The next item in the price rundown made my draw drop.

Customs, Duties, Taxes, Insurance: 8788 yen

?!?!?!?!

That's almost half the price of the shoes!!!

It's making me consider whether I should wait on this one. (Bacco Bucci shoes are worth it, though. I simply cannot praise them enough!)

Why, oh why, are customs, duties, taxes, insurance so expensive? I think I'm going to cry....

 

[DoctorP]

I sent you a PM...let me know if this helps you.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

Thanks for the PM!

This makes me think, though. Let's look at a hypothetical situation.

Say I went to America or Italy or someplace and bought the shoes there. When I declare them coming back to Japan, I'm almost 100% certain I wouldn't get hit with a customs fee.
Why is it so drastically different when buying through mail? All I can think of is that it's a way to reduce such purchases.

 

[DoctorP]

similar to the tarrifs put into place by America in the 1900's to shut off outside trade and to force people to purchase from American businesses!

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

Obviously it's all some kind of conspiracy.

 

[epigene]

Have someone buy it for you in the US and send it to you as a "gift." I think it works? :?
(Not really sure, but works for other goods.)

 

[mr.sumo.snr]

Just to confirm. The retailer is charging you for Japanese import tax? In eleven years of international mail-order shopping I have never once been charged import taxes by the retailer. I've paid import tax plenty of times and it's always been levied by the Japanese customs authorities.

I rather enjoy the `randomness` of the charges. Sometimes I get clobbered, sometimes things sneak through. Shoes alone, though, have never gone unnoticed so I always order them with something else and that helps dodge the taxes about 50% of the time.

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[Mars Man]

Oh that sounds odd to me, but in a way I can believe it.

Slightly different, but I had mailed one of my guitars,hard case and all, to the US when we went back for a while back in '92. Of course there had been no taxes or custom fees at all, I just mailed it.

When coming back to Japan, I had wanted to mail it but the case was oversize from there to here, so I had to mail it as it was. I had had an old friend from elementary school who had run a small mailing & packaging business, so he did it for me.

When the thing got here, I had to pay tax on at the PO. What?? It wasn't new at all, and obviously it was my own. . .but they demanded that I pay import tax on it and I didn't want to argue too much, so some 5~6 thousand yen went to keep those people happy.

 

[GaijinPunch]

Clothes have higher tarrifs than say... electronics. Best way is to have them shipped to a family member within the country you're buying from, taken out of the box, and mailed to you as used w/ a low value.

You could of course buy them and bring them w/o declaring them. You think anyone declares their engagement rings purchased abroad?

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

When I have more time later, I'll post a longer reply, but for now...

This is my first excursion to the world of international online-shopping. I'm learning as I go along. I noticed though, that a lot of the retailers that sell the shoes I wanted do not ship overseas. www.shoes.com apparently does it though some third party.

When you check out, they calculate the tariffs, etc. and add it to the price. They say they do this so that you don't have to be worried about being stuck with some customs fee that you weren't expecting. I figured they just did it as a way of reducing complaints from overseas customers.

 

[Mikawa Ossan]

This is what www.shoes.com had to say about its international shipping.

Price Guarantees

When you shop using Shoes.com´s International Order Service, you will receive a real-time price quote based on your order. This price quote will include: US shipping and handling, international shipping, customs duties, taxes, brokerage fees, insurance, and processing fees.

Domestic and International shipping costs are based on the number of items purchased, each item´s size and weight, and shipping method.

Insurance, customs duties, and taxes are calculated based on the items you are purchasing, the total value of those items, and the country in which you are shipping. The amount shown is the total charge you will be responsible to pay. You will not be charged additional import duties, taxes, customs clearance fees or any other fees once a shipment reaches your country. If you are asked to pay charges by the carrier for any reason, please contact us so we may assist you.

All international orders are calculated using a Landed Cost Calculator (LCC). The LCC takes the following variables into consideration to ensure accurate calculation of all costs associated with delivering your order to your door.

* Customs Duties & Taxes
* Product Price
* Insurance
* Domestic shipping
* International shipping
* Processing Fees
* Consolidation Fees

All variables considered for calculation in the LCC are predetermined by specific country codes and laws which regulate import specifications per product. Failure to abide by such regulations may result in an abandoned or returned package without notice to shipper or customer. Please note that Customs Duties & Taxes are not calculated into the landed cost for any order shipped with our Economy method, and are the sole responsibility of the customer if assessed by your local Customs Office.

I don't know. It sounds reasonable to me.

The problem in my case with having my family ship something over is that they would never spend the amount necessary for shipping costs. My family is too cheap for that.

It's interesting to hear about everyone else's experiences, though. Up until now, I've never really wanted something that I just couldn't really find in Japan. Well, there was that movie "A Christmas Story" about the kid who wants a Red Rider BB gun, but it was out of stock, so I decided against it in the end. That's my favorite Christmas movie, BTW. It is so hiliarious!

 

[DoctorP]

Luckily I have the best of both worlds. I live in "Japan", but I work on a military base and have access to the U.S. Postal service! This has been a godsend for us!

 

[mr.sumo.snr]

Clothes - if sent via a courier service such as UPS always seem to have a few thousand yen customs tax. But since I'm very much an Eddie Bauer Tall XXXL size I can't shop anywhere other than online. A $200 order arrived last week (no shoes or leather goods) and the customs charge was 1400 yen - acceptable.

Electronic items - hit and miss. I re-sell ebay items as a sideline and have had to pay tax about 30% of the time.

I'd like to do what "Punch" suggested and get a US friend to mail things on to me but a lot of ebayers are actually making their profits from postage and packing alone these days so savings would be minimal. I'm surprised that the ebay community actually stands for it. In Japan, Yahoo Auctions is strictly actual cost-price when it comes to delivery charges.

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