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This is a minefield, made the more painful by a Customs Branch that does not wish to deal with the public.
They have driven the private importer to brokers, who typically charge around $120 to do the paper for you.
You find these guys near the freight areas of all airports. Ring around, take three quotes, inform them of the true value of the product as purchased, add the shipping and any tax, and that is the basis of the customs fee you must pay to Aust Customs.The broker fee is additional.Air travel is best because it's less bureacratic. Sea is set up for containers of 20 and 40 tonnes, where customs fees are typically 2-4% only in total. The market is obviously stacked against the one off imports, ostensibly to save us from our unregulated whims!
Bill, this is indeed a minefield as Hugh says. I'd check carefully with bongoes to see if you can get an ironclad total quote. They seems to have an interesting system going but it appears the costs they list are on top of the charges from DHL, who they use as couriers.There's a couple of possibilities you might consider: * It's possible to split consignments into smaller packages to keep the weight below limits where the cost escalates. Customs don't object to you doing this, in fact they once suggested it to me as an option. * You can DIY Customs clearance. It's a bit of a pain but it can save quite a lot of money. Surprisingly perhaps, Customs are quite helpful if you want to do it yourself. The form work is formidable! It took me about a day to figure it all out.Ironically, given we've got a free trade agreement with the US, I've found it much cheaper to import massive electronics packages from the China than from the US. While it's tempting to think that maybe Customs have trouble with Chinese writing, it seems that in the US Fedex, UPS et al are much more creative in thinking up spurious extra charges such as a "remote distance charge" that arbitrarily comes in about halfway between here and the US.Bring back Fireworks I say jules
Hi RodThanks very much for the reply. I have now discovered Bongo which handles all the hairy stuff for you:http://bongous.com/mail_forwarding_individuals.phpIt looks the go and doesn't seem to require a separate customs broker.Bill
Hi Bill,I don't quite get the Bongoe website. What type of services are they going to provide? Are you now looking at shipping by air? I had a bad experience with DHL Express about 10 years ago when I imported a dac from the US. They charged me a couple of hundred dollars for customs brokerage fees.I shipped a 50 kilogram package by air and it cost me $400US.RegardsRod
Sheepishly, and with malice aforethought, I might suggest the VSonics are just as good, and a lot cheaper...... you can have the enclosures built by a cabinet maker if it's not your thing. Or my good friend Peter Roberts in Maroochydore, who is building one right now, might be willing to do another if you are quick.....
Hi Rod.To me it looks like Bonogo does it all for you - customs, shipping - everything. I simply pay the $5 joining fee and tell Bob at Aether Audio to ship his speakers to the address Bongo supplies me and they handle in all from that point on. No need for me to worry about anything. Thats my reading of it anyway. They use DHL and fed express evidently.My gut feeling right now is if they don't do it all then I don't want to put myself though this rubbish and I will simply forget about the timepieces. I will on-sell them with a heavy heart but really life is too short for this sort of hassle. I will need to contact them to pin down exactly what they do.ThanksBill
This bongos site really only handles the American side of the shipping transaction. You will still be responsible for all the Australian customs/shipping/brokerage/etc. regulations, which is the costly part.
I've enjoyed reading the postings on this thread as it gives good insight to why so many consumer goods, and electronic items in particular, cost 1 1/2 -2 times the cost of same item almost anywhere else.The only really good deals in Australian Audio are right here at Aspen Amplifiers!
You need to read the FAQ page, where you will see the below Q and A.Q) Is Bongo International's price all inclusive? Does it include duties and taxes?A) Bongo's price includes a full door-to-door transportation cost, however, there may be additional duties and taxes charged by customs in the destination country. These charges are the responsibility of our clients to pay upon receipt of the goods. Please see your local customs office to get more specifics. Information about duties and taxes can be found through the resources provided here.
