Belchher Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 No, its not a huge deal, it is annoying though. And unless the gov here has been super sneaky, our personal import limit should be AU$1000 ( including postage ) unless I'm mistaken. I'll still use them, I just think 60days is a bit of a scam, but then again its better than paying some of the local RRP's.
Hewman Posted January 2, 2012 Posted January 2, 2012 (edited) Thanks for all the new extra info, people. I'm still prepared to wait 60 days for a VAT refund rather than pay Australian RRP. I wonder if the government here is doing something shifty like adding up orders over a 60 day period to get to the $1000 limit. I was just on amazon.it and they have been listing a lot of new sets including a few of last year's shop at home exclusives although they wouldn't ship to Australia, although now I see they never actually had them in stock (but should be soon I imagine). Hopefully this means it won't be too long before we can order sets like the winter post office and VW van at decent prices. Edited January 2, 2012 by hewman
greenpaw Posted January 4, 2012 Posted January 4, 2012 (edited) New Star Wars up for pre-order on Amazon France: x-wing Droid Escape Endor Battle Pack Arc Trooper Battle Pack Geonosian Cannon Tie Fighter The Dino theme is also available. Actually it took me a while to find this link to the New Lego sets in the store (and not all are new) but it has the new Ninjago, Friends, City and more. Edited January 4, 2012 by greenpaw
DrWeevil Posted January 4, 2012 Posted January 4, 2012 So I went through an Amazon France sale until the very last step but didn't see anything about this 'import duty' thing - where exactly do they charge it or is it something that's coming in the future? They did however, want to charge me $38aud for postage for a ~2kg set... and that's *with* our dollar being at 80 euro cents.
greenpaw Posted January 4, 2012 Posted January 4, 2012 (edited) So I went through an Amazon France sale until the very last step but didn't see anything about this 'import duty' thing - where exactly do they charge it or is it something that's coming in the future? They did however, want to charge me $38aud for postage for a ~2kg set... and that's *with* our dollar being at 80 euro cents. I think the import duty is only on Amazon.it so far. Yeah the shipping has gone up as they have removed the "fast" option, so now you can only get it super fast. It's really not an issue if you buy a number of sets as it doen't go up that much with each set, regardless of the size. I bought 3 Hogwarts castles and two Friends sets the other day and was charged 45 EUR for super-fast postage which is really cheap for the service they provide and the weight of the sets. Edited January 4, 2012 by greenpaw
DrWeevil Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 It's really not an issue if you buy a number of sets as it doen't go up that much with each set, regardless of the size. Yeah... it removes the impulse buy element for me though, which could only be a good thing I guess! Usually my orders are only for 1 or 2 sets at a time, depending on what's going cheap at the time. I knew about the cheap shipping disappearing but it was a bigger jump than I was expecting - especially after my last order with A.it was only 20eud for 'flash' shipping on a >2x heavier set.
Splat Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 I have taken a look at Amazon.it to investigate this 'Deposito dei Costi di Importazione' (translation: 'Repository Import Costs'). I added 5 x 8043 and 5 x 8110 to my cart and went through the checkout (up to the last step before completing the order): Articles: EUR 1254.10 Shipping costs: EUR 20.00 VAT: EUR 0.00 Repository Import Costs: EUR 196.40 Order Total: EUR 1470.50 Then I slowly removed items until the 'Repository Import Costs' disappeared: At Articles + Shipping Costs totalling EUR 737.14, there was no 'Repository Import Costs'. At Articles + Shipping Costs totalling EUR 830.29, there was 'Repository Import Costs'. So somewhere between EUR 737.14 and 830.29, Amazon.it is adding the 'Repository Import Costs'. I did the same on the Amazon.fr site: At Articles + Delivery totalling EUR 709.82, there was no 'Import Fees Deposit'. At Atricles + Delivery totalling EUR 757.88, there was an 'Import Fees Deposit'. So somewhere between EUR 709.82 and 757.88, Amazon.fr is adding the 'Import Fees Deposit'. The 'Repository Import Costs'/'Import Fees Deposit' seem to be added at about the EUR 750 mark, and the fees vary depending on how much you have in your cart. I think the import duty is only on Amazon.it so far. Sorry greenpaw, it's not just Amazon.it adding this fee, Amazon.fr is adding it too. It looks like Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (and probably other Amazon sites) may also have a similar 'Import Fees Deposit', and I would guess that all Amazon site are doing this now, but I haven't investigated any further yet.At the moment, we (in Australia) only have to pay the Australia duty, taxes and charges on consignments over AU$1000. The current exchange rate is AU$1000 = EUR 801.19. So if you order over EUR 800 worth of articles from Amazon, you would have to pay the Australian duty, taxes and charges upon import anyway. Normally you would have to pay this to Australian Customs before your package can be released, but you can also have a licensed Customs broker do this for you (link). I guess that Amazon is just acting as a licensed Customs broker so that your packaged gets released and on it's way to you, hopefully quicker than if you had to lodge the import declaration yourself. So this isn't a new fee at all, but it could be annoying waiting for any refunds that can take up to 60 days from the dispatch date to be processed. Hopefully Amazon get the cost of the fees close to the Australia duty, taxes and charges, so little refund will be required. If Amazon underestimates the fees, they state that they will pay the difference, so they won't ask you for any extra money at all. For items sold by Amazon Export Sales, Inc., you will not be charged any additional fees if the actual Import Fees exceed the Import Fees Deposit we estimated. For items sold by Amazon Marketplace sellers, please check the seller's policies.http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html/ref=hp_nodeid_596184_global?nodeId=596184import I actually don't see this as a bad thing. We would have to pay the fees anyway, and this way we don't get a surprise letter from Australian Customs asking for more money and holding our Lego for ransom before releasing it. I guess Amazon might be doing this because if a customer refuses to pay the fees to Customs, then the parcel might get returned to Amazon, and all the headache and paperwork that is involved in that (return shipping fees, refunds, restocking items, etc), and if the package gets damaged in transit (which we all know can happen) then they can't resell it. Interestingly, on the Amazon.it site the shipping stayed at a constant EUR 20.00, whereas on the Amazon.fr site, the delivery fees varied depending on the quantity of articles in my cart. PS. Sorry for the long post. Hopefully someone finds this information useful.
Hewman Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 PS. Sorry for the long post. Hopefully someone finds this information useful. I found it useful. So the quick summary is that it all relates to the $1000 import GST threshold (albeit with slightly dodgy exchange rates)
greenpaw Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 Sorry greenpaw, it's not just Amazon.it adding this fee, Amazon.fr is adding it too. It looks like Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (and probably other Amazon sites) may also have a similar 'Import Fees Deposit', and I would guess that all Amazon site are doing this now, but I haven't investigated any further yet. Hey Splat no apologies necessary Thanks for the great information!
Belchher Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 (edited) Yeah thanks for that Splat, I was worried from their initial wording that it would be added on all orders, but if its only where the total is around the $1k import limit mark that's fine by me. The new shipping policy just means I, like everyone else, will just have to wait until there's a whole bunch of sets I want instead of impulse buying Edited January 5, 2012 by Belchher
DrWeevil Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 Nice work Splat, thanks. That makes more sense, and probably won't be an issue for most of us.
BrettBrick Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 I have dealt with Australian customs previously and the AU$1000 is based on their own exchange rate. It is avaiable on the customs website. At the stage I was dealing with them the actual exchange rate with America was $0.95 the customs exchange rate was $0.86. So when I calculated my AU$1000 I was out with their calculation and was up for the 10% GST. Just note this and that is why you are being charged the fee. Amazon or any company can collect that fee and pay it on your behalf if they wish. You still wouldn't have to pay their countries VAT though. I have taken a look at Amazon.it to investigate this 'Deposito dei Costi di Importazione' (translation: 'Repository Import Costs'). I added 5 x 8043 and 5 x 8110 to my cart and went through the checkout (up to the last step before completing the order): Articles: EUR 1254.10 Shipping costs: EUR 20.00 VAT: EUR 0.00 Repository Import Costs: EUR 196.40 Order Total: EUR 1470.50 Then I slowly removed items until the 'Repository Import Costs' disappeared: At Articles + Shipping Costs totalling EUR 737.14, there was no 'Repository Import Costs'. At Articles + Shipping Costs totalling EUR 830.29, there was 'Repository Import Costs'. So somewhere between EUR 737.14 and 830.29, Amazon.it is adding the 'Repository Import Costs'. I did the same on the Amazon.fr site: At Articles + Delivery totalling EUR 709.82, there was no 'Import Fees Deposit'. At Atricles + Delivery totalling EUR 757.88, there was an 'Import Fees Deposit'. So somewhere between EUR 709.82 and 757.88, Amazon.fr is adding the 'Import Fees Deposit'. The 'Repository Import Costs'/'Import Fees Deposit' seem to be added at about the EUR 750 mark, and the fees vary depending on how much you have in your cart. Sorry greenpaw, it's not just Amazon.it adding this fee, Amazon.fr is adding it too. It looks like Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk (and probably other Amazon sites) may also have a similar 'Import Fees Deposit', and I would guess that all Amazon site are doing this now, but I haven't investigated any further yet. At the moment, we (in Australia) only have to pay the Australia duty, taxes and charges on consignments over AU$1000. The current exchange rate is AU$1000 = EUR 801.19. So if you order over EUR 800 worth of articles from Amazon, you would have to pay the Australian duty, taxes and charges upon import anyway. Normally you would have to pay this to Australian Customs before your package can be released, but you can also have a licensed Customs broker do this for you (link). I guess that Amazon is just acting as a licensed Customs broker so that your packaged gets released and on it's way to you, hopefully quicker than if you had to lodge the import declaration yourself. So this isn't a new fee at all, but it could be annoying waiting for any refunds that can take up to 60 days from the dispatch date to be processed. Hopefully Amazon get the cost of the fees close to the Australia duty, taxes and charges, so little refund will be required. If Amazon underestimates the fees, they state that they will pay the difference, so they won't ask you for any extra money at all. I actually don't see this as a bad thing. We would have to pay the fees anyway, and this way we don't get a surprise letter from Australian Customs asking for more money and holding our Lego for ransom before releasing it. I guess Amazon might be doing this because if a customer refuses to pay the fees to Customs, then the parcel might get returned to Amazon, and all the headache and paperwork that is involved in that (return shipping fees, refunds, restocking items, etc), and if the package gets damaged in transit (which we all know can happen) then they can't resell it. Interestingly, on the Amazon.it site the shipping stayed at a constant EUR 20.00, whereas on the Amazon.fr site, the delivery fees varied depending on the quantity of articles in my cart. PS. Sorry for the long post. Hopefully someone finds this information useful. I found the exchange rates for this week and they are around parity or $1.01. Which is much more reasonable than when I did it. Postage cost is also added to the total for the calculation. Try separating it into 2 orders. Postage may be doubled but you will escape the extra charges.
DrWeevil Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 Oooh that's interesting information about the Customs conversion - thanks for the tip Brett!
Splat Posted January 5, 2012 Posted January 5, 2012 Another long post... It seems that Australian Customs has their own figures for the exchange rates, and it is based on the date of export, not the date the goods arrive in Australia. Their figures definitely don't match the figures at Google Finance or XE. For the 3rd of Jan, 2012: Google: 1 AUD = 0.7919 EUR XE: 1 AUD = 0.7947 EUR Customs: 1 AUD = 0.7766 EUR Also remember that in addition to Australian GST (10%), there is also duty and charges that may be applied. From what I can tell, the duty for Lego would be 5% (but books look like they are 0% - hopefully customs will get confused, and treat all items from Amazon as books ). Customs also have a Import Declaration Processing Charge that may need to be paid. This is an example of a calculation on the Australian Customs website: Customs value converted to Australian currency = US$1274 / 0.9100 (0.910 is the exchange rate on the day of export in this example) = AU$1400 Postage and insurance converted = US$118.30 / 0.9100 = AU$130 Duty (amount payable) = 5% of AU$1400 = AU$70 VoTI (Value of the Taxable Importation) = customs value + duty + postage and insurance = AU$1400 + AU$70 + AU$130 = AU$1600 GST (Australia Goods and Services Tax) = 10% of VoTI (amount payable) = 10% of AU$1600 = AU$160 Amount payable to Customs and Border Protection = Duty + GST = AU$70 + AU$160 = AU$230 Plus import declaration (lodged by document) processing charge of AU$48.85 Total payable = AU$230 + AU$48.85 = AU$278.85 So something that cost A$1530.00 (item + shipping) ended up having A$278.85 in Australia duty, taxes and charges applied. That's an additional 18.23% in this example. Ouch! That's pretty much equivalent to adding the French VAT (19.6%) back onto the order. Still cheaper than the Lego's Australian RRP though. In my previous post above, Amazon only figured on a 15.41% import fee: EUR 196.40 (Repository Import Costs) / EUR 1274.10 (article + shipping) = 15.41%. And Amazon said that they will pay the difference if the fees aren't enough, so ordering from Amazon could actually save you a bit of money on the import fees! I guess the moral of the story is to stay under the AU$1000 threshold so you don't get Amazon Import Fees or Australia duty, taxes and charges applied, and allow a bit of room so you don't get caught out like BrettBrick did by going just over the threshold when Customs does their calculations. If you go over the threshold (either intentionally or accidentally), just be aware of the charges you'll likely have to cough up via Amazon or Australian Customs directly. Don't you just love the tax system?
the-bricking-builder Posted January 7, 2012 Posted January 7, 2012 Is it possible to buy sets from the german shop@home,even if you're from Holland?
Hewman Posted January 9, 2012 Posted January 9, 2012 Is it possible to buy sets from the german shop@home,even if you're from Holland? Just put something in your basket and try to check out, it will soon tell you if it will ship to your address or not.
Hewman Posted January 19, 2012 Posted January 19, 2012 Barnes and Noble have a bunch of new sets up, all at 10% off including Batman, Spongebob, Friends, Ninjago and City. Of course, based on my experiences (and that of many others), there's a good chance they'll just cancel your order, or if you're lucky enough to have your order honoured, there's also a good chance it will arrived with the Lego boxes damaged.
Esurient Posted January 21, 2012 Posted January 21, 2012 Word from Toys N Bricks that Amazon.it now ships worldwide with standard flat EUR20 shipping rate. I tried a few sets but it wouldn't ship to Australia. Anyone tried and tested which sets can be shipped worldwide?
Hewman Posted January 21, 2012 Posted January 21, 2012 Word from Toys N Bricks that Amazon.it now ships worldwide with standard flat EUR20 shipping rate. I tried a few sets but it wouldn't ship to Australia. Anyone tried and tested which sets can be shipped worldwide? I got the Mill. Falcon from them a while ago and last time I checked it was a great price. Sets that ship to Aus tend to be older but not all older sets ship, so you just need to try to get through checkout.
s2.jen.s2 Posted January 21, 2012 Posted January 21, 2012 If you're signed in to your account, in stock sets sold by Amazon.it will have "Non siamo in grado di spedire questo articolo al tuo indirizzo di spedizione predefinito." on the item page underneath "Disponibilità immediata" if they can't be shipped to your default shipping address.
Splat Posted January 25, 2012 Posted January 25, 2012 (edited) Just letting you know that Amazon.co.uk is able to ship some of the new Star Wars sets and Technic sets (and maybe others) to Australia. I ordered: 9390 Technic Mini Tow Truck 9391 Technic Tracked Crane 9392 Technic Quad Bike 9395 Technic Pick-up Truck 9492 Star Wars TIE Fighter 4433 City Dirt Bike Transporter Unfortunately the 9394 Technic Jet Plane couldn't be delivered to Australia, and 9397 Technic Logging Truck isn't available yet. Shipping works out to be about an extra 11.3% of the item costs (which is a little steep), and I'm getting the order in 3 separate packages via UPS with tracking (one from the UK, one from Italy, and one from France). Even with shipping costs, I should be saving about 37% off Australian RRP, which is still better than any of the Australian 20% off or '3 for 2' deals. I guess the key is to order in bulk (I ordered multiple of some of the above sets) so the shipping costs aren't a huge percentage of the overall costs. Edit: Amazon.fr will ship the 9394 Technic Jet Plane to Australia if you really want it now, but they are asking EUR 50.36 for it. That is EUR 42.11 after VAT is removed, but after EUR 23.92 is added for shipping, it comes to EUR 66.03, which is AU$81.80, plus international transaction fees. The Australian RRP when it is released here should be $69.99, and if I wait for a 20% off sale, I should be able to get it for AU$55.99. Edited January 26, 2012 by Splat
TheDarkness Posted January 26, 2012 Posted January 26, 2012 The series 6 Minifig boxes are up again at Amazon.fr, so I couldnt resist and ordered a couple I prefer buying the boxes as opposed to individual packs and figs, and the price was pretty good Also in the process of working out what to raid Amazon.it for Decisions, decision, after just returning from holiday!!!
Splat Posted January 31, 2012 Posted January 31, 2012 As mentioned above, Amazon.fr has the 9394 Technic Jet Plane but wanted to charge EUR 50.36 for it (with VAT, without shipping). This has now dropped to EUR 39.90, but after VAT has been removed and shipping added, it still comes to EUR 57.28 (AU$71.18). I have also found this set at The Hut with 25% off so it comes to GBP 29.99, which equals EUR 35.70. It isn't much cheaper than Amazon.fr, but The Hut only charge GBP 0.99 per item for shipping, so I should get it delivered for GBP 30.98 (AU$45.82), which is cheaper than the Australian RRP when this set gets released in Australia (which should be AU$69.99). That is a saving of 34.5%. For anyone that hasn't dealt with The Hut before: despite the website saying that this item is 'usually dispatched within 24 hours', sometimes they will list items on their website that they don't have in stock, and you either have to wait, or cancel the order (if you pay with credit card, they say they won't charge your card until the items are dispatched). Shipping can also be a bit slow - on my last order with them, I didn't receive the items until 19 days after they were dispatched. Of course the longer the package is in transit, the more likely it is to get squashed. I am willing to accept the risks in this case... fingers crossed though.
Legoman Posted January 31, 2012 Posted January 31, 2012 (edited) Has anyone noticed any sets availible from Amazon.es? I haven't noticed one yet.. The majority of my purchases recently have been with Amazon.it, with the exeption of the tower bridge from Amazon.Fr, Just because I was scared and didn't want to miss out on it. Really kicking myself for not picking one up a couple of months ago dirt cheap, but ah well. At least it was still under RRP, Unlike the Taj mahal I just bought for a rather high price. Really should have picked that one up when it was out 20% off. We live and learn, I won't be making that mistake again Edited January 31, 2012 by Legoman
Clone-Trooper Posted January 31, 2012 Posted January 31, 2012 As mentioned above, Amazon.fr has the 9394 Technic Jet Plane but wanted to charge EUR 50.36 for it (with VAT, without shipping). This has now dropped to EUR 39.90, but after VAT has been removed and shipping added, it still comes to EUR 57.28 (AU$71.18). I have also found this set at The Hut with 25% off so it comes to GBP 29.99, which equals EUR 35.70. It isn't much cheaper than Amazon.fr, but The Hut only charge GBP 0.99 per item for shipping, so I should get it delivered for GBP 30.98 (AU$45.82), which is cheaper than the Australian RRP when this set gets released in Australia (which should be AU$69.99). That is a saving of 34.5%. For anyone that hasn't dealt with The Hut before: despite the website saying that this item is 'usually dispatched within 24 hours', sometimes they will list items on their website that they don't have in stock, and you either have to wait, or cancel the order (if you pay with credit card, they say they won't charge your card until the items are dispatched). Shipping can also be a bit slow - on my last order with them, I didn't receive the items until 19 days after they were dispatched. Of course the longer the package is in transit, the more likely it is to get squashed. I am willing to accept the risks in this case... fingers crossed though. DO NOTE: that 'thehut' cancel orders very very easily because shipping costs to Australia are to high for them. That was their last excuse to me for a cancelled order I placed, sad part was that I had to battle them through the Paypal system to get my $130pounds back even though they kept promising a 5 day money refund (twice)!!! BE VERY CAUTIOUS!!! I only won the Paypal dispute case (25 days later I might add) because the postal tracking number 'thehut' provided as proof wasn't verified and wasn't legitimate when investigated by a Paypal customer service officer. So only then Paypal sided with me and returned my money, 'thehuts' customer service was terrible, promises and nothing to back them up with. I know the UK company needs money but ripping people off isn't the right away about doing it. I won't ever be using them again after those criminal tactics they used - keeping my money and providing nothing (otherwise known as stealing).
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