Custom to France

[Souther]

Hi,
I have a problem when I order a statue from Sideshow. I live in France and I pay custom when I receive my packages and custom are too high and in my opinion, illegal. European government flies. I asked to sideshow support how to resolve the problem. They have 2 methods. The first is the following : "The first recommendation is to ship your items via a US freight forwarder who may have an easier time importing the product for you. Many of our international customers ship using freight forwarders and are very satisfied with the outcome." They told me to come here for that. I don't understand very well how to proceed and if it will be really more interesting for me. When I order a 400 dollars statue, I pay approximately 45 dollars shipping and when I receive the package, I pay approximately 120 euros custom (aproximately 160 dollars).

That is the same for the second method... I don't understand very well : "The second recommendation is to have your local comic book shop purchase through us directly. Keep in mind that a local vendor in many cases can deliver your item earlier and you may benefit from a considerable savings in delivery costs." They provided me a link : https://www.sideshowtoy.com/store-locator/. But I don't find a comic book shop close to me.

That would be nice if someone could help me.

 

[KingGrayskull]

If you order something from outside Europe, you have to pay taxes for import. There is nothing you do. In fact this is totally legal and any efforts to "save" these taxes is illegal.
If you dont want to pay taxes, dont import but buy from a Europe based store. However you will usually have to pay higher prices. Check out https://www.toysheroes.com. They are great and may be something for you as they are from Europe and speak French.

 

[**16k**]

Une seule solution : ne commande jamais chez Sideshow ou aux USA. Privilégie les sites Ebay chinois qui sous déclarent la valeur des objets ou des sites européens comme la cité des nuages en Belgique.

 

[Souther]

I'm going to do my response in english and french :
1) Custom are too high. Normally I would only have to pay the VAT but they increase tax to steal the French consumers. 400 dollars statue = 160 dollars tax. There is a problem, no ? I want add one thing : americans don't pay custom when they buy outside from USA.
2) I know web shop in France to buy statues but there is a problem. Sideshow often proposes an exclusive version of their statue (added item). I can't find this exclusive version in my French web shop. So, I have to order on Sideshow to get the exclusive version.
1) Les frais de douane sont trop élevés. Normalement, Je ne devrais payer que la TVA à 20% mais ils augmentent les taxes (2ème TVA, contre-remboursement, droit de présentation, TVA à 20% calculée comme ça les arrange, 1 dollar=1 euro pour eux, taxes calculées selon le prix total de l'article avec les frais de port) pour voler les consommateurs Français. Une statue à 400 dollars = 160 dollars de douane. Il y a un problème, non ? J'ai envie de rajouter une chose : les américains ne paient pas de douane quand ils reçoivent un article hors des Etats-Unis.
2) Je connais les boutiques en ligne en France pour acheter les statues mais il y a un problème. Sideshow propose souvent une version exclusive de leur statue (objet ajouté). Je ne peux pas trouver cette version exclusive sur les boutiques en ligne françaises. Alors, je dois commander sur Sideshow pour obtenir cette version exclusive.

 

[**16k**]

Yep, if you're after the exclusive, you don't have a choice and there's no real solution to your conundrum. It's either you get the regular from another source or get ready to pay the fees. I personnaly have solved that problem by getting relgulars for only the pieces that I want the most, and those I get from HK scalpers (I'm into 1/6 only though) as its a way to pay a similar price to what I would from Sideshow once you add shipping and custom fees but at least I get it fast.

For the less important stuff, I go Euro and wait a little more but get the regular edition. You know, come to think of it, our collectibles are only worth something to us. Show them to a normal guy and he'll say you collect Barbie dolls or lawn gnomes. So is it really worth paying that much extra cash for just a little bonus accessory that will most likely stay in the box?

Your call man!

 

[Souther]

If you speak French 16k, it's easier for me :
Si je commande la statue sur une boutique web française juste après la pré-commande débutée, je paierai moins cher qu'avec Sideshow et ses frais de douane. Mais tu sais, les objets exclusifs ne sont pas toujours nuls, loin de là pour moi. Par exemple, Purgatori a une arme dans sa version exclusive. C'est dommage de ne pas en avoir dans la version régulière. Lady Death a un emplacement pour planter son épée dans la version régulière (un crâne) mais l'épée n'est pas présente dans cette version. C'est dommageable.
Mais si non, que penses-tu des méthodes que m'a proposé l'assistance Sideshow pour réduire le coût ?

 

[The Ween]

If a Freak would send it to him, would he still have to pay all those taxes?

 

[Souther]

If a Freak would send it to him, would he still have to pay all those taxes?

A freak ? A monster ? I didn't catch...

 

[Medusoid]

A freak ? A monster ? I didn't catch...

Someone from these forums.

 

[Souther]

Someone from these forums.

Ok. Well... I don't know. I don't understand very well the two methods that Sideshow gave me. If I send the package to someone in this forum (who live in USA), he doesn't pay tax but if he sends to me, I would have to pay shipping twice (once to send to someone here and once to send to me). And when an american sends a package to me (in France), shipping for statue = at least 100 dollars. Sideshow charge me much cheaper (40 dollars approximately). So, I'm not sure that is a good method but Sideshow told me it was interesting. I don't understand. And that is the same for other method : https://www.sideshowtoy.com/store-locator/ I don't understand very well.

 

[generalszabo]

Customs fees are customs fees, deal with it or buy local and possibly lose out on the ex. Sounds harsh but I paid £95 import fees on the Arkham Asylum Joker PF, one of the reasons it'll be one of the last ones I order from sideshow. If I make an exception it will be because I really need to have the ex version, so not very often. The fees are a fact of living in the UK for me. On a side note, printed papers are exempt from customs charges so I can order all the comics I want! (in theory)

 

[KingGrayskull]

Sideshow simply gave you an asnwer to be polite.

They cannot free you of custom fees. Your real possibilities have already been mentioned. You get what you pay for. It sucks, but it is how it is. Personally I order 1-3 items from Sideshow each year and do it like 16k.

Btw: try to stay in English. This is the language everybody is using here. There are many Spanish and German people here aswell, but they write in English here.

 

[Souther]

Ok. And I stop to write French.

 

[KingGrayskull]

Ok. And I stop to write French.

Everything is cool. Its simply a matter of respect for the language on this board. English is a foreign language for me too and I can asure you, that the members here are very forgiving with mistakes.

Edit:

Oh, and welcome to the board. Members here are called Freaks. This is Sideshow-Freaks-Board. You are a Freak now too.