kurakura wrote:
Xeractha wrote:
The volume is perfect. I meant the size by looking at it. Seemed tiny in my hands.
Hello Xeractha,
I just wanted to know your experience with shipping and customs. I also want to buy my first kyusu, probably the Gyokko also from ArtisticNippon to Germany.
How was the customs for you and may I ask how much you ended up paying?
Thank you.
Hi,
I haven't been here for a year, sorry. Probably you already bought what you wanted to but I'll reply so others can read it too.
I didn't have to pay any custom fees. Most of the time it comes down to luck. Since the box wasn't so large nor heavy they probably didn't care about it. Also the workers are surely overloaded with enough stuff so they don't check every parcel.
But in case it didn't slip through I'd have had to pay the following fees: a fixed amount of handling fee which is around 10 EUR. This goes for the post office if you want them to deal with your parcel's customs. Of course you can ask the tax office or do it yourself but I've got no idea how it would work and if it was worth it for "low" value items.
Then you'd have to pay the VAT (27% in Hungary). The VAT applies to the item and shipping costs as well.
If the parcel's value is high enough you have to pay import duty too. I don't know the exact numbers (maybe above 50 or 150 EUR). That's around 6-7% I think.
The value limit for taxing is 22 EUR for items coming outside from EU. 45 EUR if it's labelled as gift (not sure if it applies to parcels coming outside from EU).
So it looks like this: handling fee + VAT + import duty (in some cases).
Worst part is that the handling fee exceeds the VAT sometimes (below 37 EUR).
It might not apply to you but if the VAT doesn't exceed 10 EUR you can tell the post office or whoever contacts you for customs that your parcel's value is low and the VAT wouldn't exceed 10 EUR and ask them to send your parcel to you as soon as possible. Of course do this in a polite way. The reason is that the 10 EUR is the limit that won't be collected from you by law.
Of course that 10 EUR isn't that much, the handling fee hurts more. You have to pay a certain money to be able to pay more money.
And they sit on your item for weeks. And if you take into account that your stuff wasn't expensive in the beginning then it might leave a bad taste in your mouth when you pay 20+EUR taxes for something that was 35 EUR initially.
If you buy something more expensive then just pay what's needed to be paid. This range between 22-45 EUR that bothers me.
In short there's no problem with ordering anything from anywhere. The problem is with handling time. Sometimes it can go for weeks or months. At least in Hungary.
