[bhobba]

Hi Hugh and All

I recently ordered some loudspeakers from the US and put a down-payment down (Aether Audio Timepiece Mini's).  The time is now approaching where I will want to actually get them delivered (and eventually team them up with Hughs Maya - I have one evil feeling about that amp - he he he  )

Does anyone know the exact process of how to do it? I have read elsewhere where this is greatly helped if you have someone handle it for you. Exactly who would that someone be and how much do they cost.

Failing that how would I go about it myself?

Also I have found conflicting information on what I need to pay. Since it is more than $1000.00 I need to pay GST. But my understanding is that we now have a free trade agreement with the US so no import duty is payable. Is that true?

Hope someone on Hughs great forum can help.

Thanks
Bill

[Rocket]

Hi Bill,

I imported Salk Sound ht2's to Perth from US in 2008.  Sorry to tell you but it isn't cheap to do this.

How much do the speakers weigh (each)?  If they aren't too heavy you might want to consider shipping by air.  I had my speakers sent by sea and they did arrive in Perth safely.  It cost me $400US for shipping.

If you ship by sea you have to use a customs broker.  I don't remember the exact breakdown of the cost but it was at least $1200AU for the pleasure.

If you send me a pm with an email address I have all the correspondence and paperwork that is required.

Personally I'd send them by air if they boxes aren't too heavy.

Best wishes

Rod

[bhobba]

Hi Rod

Thanks very much for the reply.  I have now discovered Bongo which handles all the hairy stuff for you:
http://bongous.com/mail_forwarding_individuals.php

It looks the go and doesn't seem to require a separate customs broker.

Yes I have discovered getting stuff shipped to Australia is indeed a pain.  You read about all this stuff in the US that piques your interest but when it gets down to the nity grity of actually getting them out here you discover just how isolated and 'protectionist' we really are.  I found one guy that posted all the hidden costs he had to pay - heaps of different handling fees for all sorts of stuff - it was absurd.  They had a $26 terminal handling fee, and heaps of other small charges for this and that that I cant recall off hand, but when you saw it all together it was laughable.   I suspect many of those charges are simply stuff to line vested interests pockets rather than actual value added.  I wish I could dig it up again and post it but I wasn't able to find it quickly. 

The average person does not see them when they purchase a product at their local store like Harvey Norman so they simply don't know the 'ripping off' that is going on.  If they did I suspect the pressure that would be applied to your politicians would have them the way of the do do in quick time.

Thanks
Bill

[AKSA]

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!

Good luck Bill,

Hugh

[bhobba]

This is a minefield, made the more painful by a Customs Branch that does not wish to deal with the public.

So I have found out, oh I have found out.

They have driven the private importer to brokers, who typically charge around $120 to do the paper for you.

Its not the only area government hates dealing with private people.  I have a little DIY super fund and when I stated it it was very good value compared to the private offerings.  However private companies lobbied government and they introduced all sorts of new requirements for DIY funds including a sickening levy by the ATO they keep increasing all the time.  This now has made it a quite uneconomical way to go.  To top it all off the latest submission by the super industry is they want the government to legislate against having a DIY super fund with anything less than about 300K.  First they lobby the government to make them more expensive then they say because of the cost you should stop people setting them up unless they have oodles of money.  It stinks- simple as that.  The only consolation I have is it would probably have been worse under a liberal government - they really love looking after private enterprise and blow how it affects your average person.

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!

'ostensibly to save us from our unregulated whims' - isn't the nanny state sickening.  I reality of course it is to protect vested interests.

I hope Bongoes will relieve me from all of that.  I will soon find out anyway.

Thanks
Bill

[jules]

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

[bhobba]

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

Thanks Jules.

I will indeed check them out very carefully when the time comes.  But for now they sure look pretty good.

Thanks
Bill

[Rocket]

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.

Regards

Rod

[AKSA]

Bill,

If you can, have the shipper understate the value at source.  Keep it if possible below $2K, with associated invoice inside.  Ask for a scan of that invoice so stories match.  Better still, have a friend in the US ship it to you.  This could save quite a lot of money.

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.....

Rocket:  That was cheap!!  I recently shipped a 11.7Kg package to Czech Republic and it came up just shy of $AUD300!  Someone is making money....

Cheers,

Hugh

[stvnharr]

Hi Rod

Thanks very much for the reply.  I have now discovered Bongo which handles all the hairy stuff for you:
http://bongous.com/mail_forwarding_individuals.php

It looks the go and doesn't seem to require a separate customs broker.

Bill

Bill,
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!

[jules]

Deleted ... there could have been some changes in the process since I last brought something in from the US.

jules

[bhobba]

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.

Regards

Rod

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.

Thanks
Bill

 

[bhobba]

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.....

No need to be sheepish about it Hugh - I believe they are as well - just maybe a bit different thats all.  When people ask me what speakers they should look at along with Bobs speakers yours are also heartily recommended.  I have great respect for both you and Bob.  As I have mentioned previously although listening is important of course you really need faith and trust in your designer because you can be easily fooled like I was with a ported bass speaker (the LS88's I purchased).  Great speakers - highly recommended.  But I thought the bass was initially better than the sealed Gale 402's I had previously.  Time told me otherwise - the Gales killed it in that area.  But it took time to realize it.  IMHO the only way to avoid it is choose your designer carefully.

The trouble with the VSONICS though is I am in no position to build them myself.  But I am sure something can be worked out if I need to go down that path.

Anyway off for a bit of lunch now and will reply to all the other wonderful people who were kind enough to post their thoughts as well.  Much appreciated.

Thanks
Bill

[stvnharr]

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.

Thanks
Bill

Bill,
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.

[bhobba]

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.

After looking further into it you are correct.  Groan I was hopeing to be relieved of that.

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!

I am fast reaching that conclusion myself.

Thanks
Bill

[bhobba]

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.

Thanks for spotting that.  Groan - looks like I will be sticking with Australian for a while - at least until my money situation is much better than now (it will be in November) and I can afford to put up with the hassle.  I haven't given up hope on getting stuff from the US.  I just want to be in a good enough financial position that if it goes sour it wont matter much.  Right now my money situation is such that it really would devastate me if problems developed. 

Thanks
Bill