EU Wharehouse closing?

[MinMay]

ecekat,

I'll order the Sabretooth EX for you and let me know what shipping method you want.

Disclosure: I will not be responsible for damage or issues I got enough headache with work itself.

 

[ecekat]

ecekat,

I'll order the Sabretooth EX for you and let me know what shipping method you want.

Disclosure: I will not be responsible for damage or issues I got enough headache with work itself.

 

[Stampe]

What if Sideshow decides to keep the EU warehouse open, but how can they recoup the high expenses to stay in business in EU? Do you have any suggestion? What would you do if you are the owner of Sideshow?

Sideshow is taking measure in order to stay in business. Would you rather them go out of business?

I would prefer them to tell the truth: that they had to do this in order to stay in business! Instead they told us that it was for the benefit for the customers - that's has been proven false! I don't like being lied to - do you?

Several years ago, I couldn't order a statue from EU because they wouldn't ship it to the US. So, I had to ask a local friend in EU to order it for me. The statue costs $150 and shipping was another $150 to the US. After that journey, I decided not to go that path again. I don't blame the company at all.

Your poor thing ....... 1 statue several years ago - oh my - I hope it didn't leave you hopeless. If you only knew how many times I've had to order from the US and pay skyhigh shipping costs and vat, duty, fees & the lot to get something unavaliabel in EU.

It is what it is...either order it or forget it. I'm sure Sideshow is doing their best to ship worldwide from the US, but there are fees that are out of their control. Sideshow is not making money out of those additional fees.

In case you haven't read the entire thread I have made a clear decision about ordering from Sideshow and that's: no future orders except for ex. "must have" figures. I've cancelled preorders worth >$3000 and placed those orders elsewhere (FP). They may not be making money out of the fees but they're enforcing them on their customers due to their business decisions.

 

[-Super Hans-]

What if Sideshow decides to keep the EU warehouse open, but how can they recoup the high expenses to stay in business in EU?

If they cant afford to keep it open then thats fair enough just come out and say it but all this BS about it being for our benefit (which it clearly isnt) is pretty low ball IMO.

FYI...a warehouse lease about the size of the Sideshow building in Southern CA is easily over $1,000,000 a year in Northern CA

I dont think sideshow owns the EU warehouse

You may not be aware of this but Sideshow does not own the EU warehouse facility that serves our EU clients.

according to there website anyway

 

[MinMay]

I"m not complaining that I paid $150 shipping fee for a $150 statue. I was making a point that the shipping fee is what it is. It was MY choice to pay that shipping fees in which I accepted it.

In the end, Sideshow is not holding you to buy their stuff. They have made a decision already. So, now, it's your turn to make your own decision to support them or not.

But, for you to report them to the authorities is just wrong in my opinion. Then again, you do whatever makes you happy.

And I agree that Sideshow should just tell the truth instead of saying that it would benefit the customers. As proven, Sideshow is obvious wrong in making such statement.

If you feel that they are not being justice to you, then just cancel everything from them. I would do so... I just see Sideshow is just another company trying to stay in business just like Amazon, etc.

In due time if economy doesn't pick up, I wouldn't be surprise to see Amazon start closing facility around the world too.

Good luck with your choices.

I would prefer them to tell the truth: that they had to do this in order to stay in business! Instead they told us that it was for the benefit for the customers - that's has been proven false! I don't like being lied to - do you?



Your poor thing ....... 1 statue several years ago - oh my - I hope it didn't leave you hopeless. If you only knew how many times I've had to order from the US and pay skyhigh shipping costs and vat, duty, fees & the lot to get something unavaliabel in EU.



In case you haven't read the entire thread I have made a clear decision about ordering from Sideshow and that's: no future orders except for ex. "must have" figures. I've cancelled preorders worth >$3000 and placed those orders elsewhere (FP). They may not be making money out of the fees but they're enforcing them on their customers due to their business decisions.

 

[MinMay]

I agree with you 100% my friend. There must be a valid reason for them to go through this trouble to make their customers angry, besides the so-called "benefiting the customers" by shutting it down.

If they cant afford to keep it open then thats fair enough just come out and say it but all this BS about it being for our benefit (which it clearly isnt) is pretty low ball IMO.

 

[Domer]

Amazon will have better options than lie to their customers and hope that they are stupid enoug to believe the schwachsinn some marketing people told them.

But SS wont only suffer from economic problems in the US. Go to China and see whats going on there. People wont work for 50cents a day anymore. They can see whats going on in the rest of the world and want more than a bowl of rice and a slaves life. That can really suck if depend on them.

There were more options than closing the EU warehouse and shipping the stuff from the us. I have a strange feeling about paying US taxes and EU taxes for something which could have been shipped directly from china to me.

Dom

 

[toystales]

I agree. If SS is serious about helping us save costs and shipping times, then they should start shipping everything direct from China.

 

[Domer]

I agree. If SS is serious about helping us save costs and shipping times, then they should start shipping everything direct from China.

I think they dont care a second about helping us. Its about helping to squeeze the maximium as long as the license is there.

It would be nice to know how the tax system treats something which will be shipped from china to the us and then outside the us. Maybe the can get be the paid taxes which were paid to get the stuff in the us. Sounds like a win win situation for ss.

Shipping from China directly to the eu would be a blast, for the buyer. :chew

But to judge from the qc, the ordering system.... thats a dream.

 

[**16k**]

I've checked my pending orders... nothing that can't be purchased elsewhere, except for the exclusive punk zombie... so my little finger tells me I won't get the exclusive one, cancel everything and buy it somewhere else....

R.I.P. Sideshow... you will be missed....

 

[Karma]

I agree. If SS is serious about helping us save costs and shipping times, then they should start shipping everything direct from China.

won't happen as US customers would pay huge shipping costs

within the retail price is the cost to ship to USA, so really all customers outside US pay double shipping

 

[Mesa]

I agree. If SS is serious about helping us save costs and shipping times, then they should start shipping everything direct from China.

Worst idea ever.

Who would we send our items to in case of damage/breakage? How would retail shops get their items? Through customs, as in let each individual retailer and customer worry about the customs issues? How would Sideshow now when to charge us, having to rely on some shady factory telling them they shipped the items?

 

[Domer]

Worst idea ever.

Why? What would change if they put the US stuff as always in one big box in a container on a ship and the other stuff into the other box on the ship to the eu with little labels and adresses of the customers?

OK, this seems to be an easy task for a normal company, but if the qc staff is involved there it will be chaos.

Was a good time....

 

[ecekat]

come on guys!!!be logical!!!ss cannot ship from china for god's sake!!i trust america more than china!!they will occur more problems if ss ships from china,for sure.let's wait to see how things will change and we shall decide..sideshow will check if closing the eu warehouse was a good move or not..i have on po the white elektra and i dont know even the shipping rates for her..i will keep her and i think this will be a good check for me .i cancelled ,of course ,some of my other preorders but since ss has taken her decision we must step forward.if you ask me,i dont think that ss has from the eu customers so big profit...the exclusives always will sell out,either in 1 minute or in 3 days!!they dont really care...this is the truth guys...

 

[Swantiago]

Right.... several days/weeks ago I posted how it would be someway useful if sideshow provided us with a link or site for us to calculatte our costs.
I think it was Dusty who posted the link for international shipping costs form on SSC's website.

I asked them how much would the shipping costs, taxes, and fees I could expect to pay for a 12 inch figure.

Well I did that, and just now got my reply.

Thank you for your email. The item you are inquiring about is not yet in-stock (not ready to be shipped)
This item will be shipping from our US warehouse only as our EU warehouse is closing shortly. As the item will be shipping from our US warehouse, we will no longer charge you any vat tax. Sideshow will only charge you for the item price and the shipping cost. We unfortunately cannot give you an accurate shipping quote at this time. We ask that you contact us when you receive a processing email notification and we can then give you an accurate ship cost.

How is this supposed to reassure me in any way that I wont be ripped off?
Basically I have to wait until the last minute to canccel my order and then try to find it somewhere else...not much good when Its sold out now as it is.

Thanks for nothing.

 

[Chicky]

i told them so,also i gave them the link for the blackbeard, and they told me that i have to pay duty fees...the real problem is the 80 euros they want to clear the customs themselves...this is ridiculous...

Hey ecekay and everyone!

If you receive an additional bill for customs, can you send a jpg to our CS department, blocking out all your financial cc numbers of course if they are on the paperwork. Our Fed Ex rep tells us that the brokerage is included and must be shown the additional charge their offices are charging for Greece before they can address them.

Keep in mind Greece is expensive to ship to and that was certainly true as far as rates coming from the EU (UK) warehouse. The polystone items are considered customized statues and therefore when you contact customs you must tell them what they are and the category otherwise if you send them a link they will make up a category if they do not know what the items are or made of. Please read the help desk page we have about customs. We have also included for the EU region the TARIC database so you can get an estimate of what will be assessed duties and how much. https://www.sideshowtoy.com/helpdesk/?p=95.

We strongly urge you to contact us for a quote before you cancel your item. We will try to give you a rough shipping estimate if the product is still in production. We are working on providing all international customers with firm ship costs (obviously not including customs, duty or VAT) within their Estimated Arrival E-mails beginning January 2010. Therefore everyone should have a good idea of how much their item and ship costs are 14 to 21 days before their order is processed so they can configure their customs/duty and VAT and still have plenty of time to cancel the item if they wish.

Also many people should be receiving their items under the new ship rates and Duty classifications. I believe one forum member from Spain posted about his favorable duty rates but he may have mistaken it for a Fed Ex error. I hope others will also post their feedback on recent shipments.

Also our EU reps say that all eu inquiries from December 21st and earlier have been responded to. However, it is the holidays and an e-mail or two may have slipped by us so if you have posted about not receiving a response to your inquiry and you submitted it prior to December 21st, please make sure to resend it to our EU reps directly at [email protected].

We understand that the closure of the EU warehouse has upset a portion of our EU collectors. However we believe that these new changes and rates will be a benefit to the majority of our EU and international collectors. We hope that the discounted shipping, the gift card savings and improved delivery services will offset any additional expense that some of our EU clients might experience through the new shipping method.

As a reminder we cannot always get the the boards promptly to answer questions so if you need to receive an answer please e-mail us directly. Do not assume you are being ignored if we do not post a reply because this forum is not our official customer service channel.

Best,
Chicky

 

[Webb]

What if Sideshow decides to keep the EU warehouse open, but how can they recoup the high expenses to stay in business in EU? Do you have any suggestion? What would you do if you are the owner of Sideshow?

Sideshow is taking measure in order to stay in business. Would you rather them go out of business?

Several years ago, I couldn't order a statue from EU because they wouldn't ship it to the US. So, I had to ask a local friend in EU to order it for me. The statue costs $150 and shipping was another $150 to the US. After that journey, I decided not to go that path again. I don't blame the company at all.

It is what it is...either order it or forget it. I'm sure Sideshow is doing their best to ship worldwide from the US, but there are fees that are out of their control. Sideshow is not making money out of those additional fees.

As a company, Sideshow provides one of the best customer support out there. They are no such villain in my opinion.

Sure they are with all the awful paint job lately.

 

[devilof76]

You clearly have no idea how things work here in EU. Let me repeat for about the 500th time. Had Sideshow continued with the EU warehouse ALL us euros would have been under uk rules. And that's 15% But SIDESHOW choose to close the eu warehouse and thereby (without considering the consequenses) forcing eu buyers to be tax'ed by local/national rules. And in my case that's 25% (and in some cases there's 12% more and shipping costs are also tax'ed). Plus there's the fee - in my case FedEx charges $25.

So SIDESHOW is the villain

Actually, the villain is you. And your neighbors. You live by taxing the hell out of each other. Don't blame Sideshow for your rotten political philosophy. Suck it up.

The interesting thing is that I would probably report Sideshow to the danish tax authorities. If a compagny that's operates outside Denmark sells more than $5.000 to customers in Denmark they MUST charge the danish vat before sending the item and then send that vat to the danish taxauthories. That's why when I buy at Amazon.uk they remove the uk vat but add the danish vat. So if things should go by the book the eu warehouse should have done like Amazon when shipping to Denmark. The fine for this is pretty steep.

Yes, you should call in the rottweilers. Teach Sideshow how to sing the Horst Wessel. Du bist nichs, die volk ist alles.

 

[Bullseye]

Actually, the villain is you. And your neighbors. You live by taxing the hell out of each other. Don't blame Sideshow for your rotten political philosophy. Suck it up.



Yes, you should call in the rottweilers. Teach Sideshow how to sing the Horst Wessel. Du bist nichs, die volk ist alles.

Ah yes the Fox News anchor is on board.

 

[Dusty]

just talked to fedex in greece and look what they told me.

vat and import fees for a statue which costs 350 dollars and weights 5 kg are about 110 euros...but to clear the customs,you need one assistant which costs 80 euros...so,the real price is about 640 dollars and a 25 dollars gift card...

end of collecting for me.thank you ss!

Hi ecekat - got a reply back from our shipping manager about this, maybe it will help clear up some things? He used your example of $350 and 5kg. If FedEx takes advantage of you beyond the fees that are described below, please let us know! Hope this helps.

This is from the FedEx website’s duty & tax estimators, using Sideshow's billed shipping costs and using our import code that may or may not be tariff (duty) free in every country. It’s a pretty reliable estimator, although they do NOT include the $15-$20 FedEx advancement fee that would be added to the fees due at delivery (or duty). It's currently a 19% VAT rate to Greece. If there is duty, it is 6.5% in Greece (currently – this does change fairly often, and please note that VAT is scheduled to change in the EU in January).

Here's the estimate for the shipment direct from the U.S. warehouse with our new FedEx shipping rates applied (everything is in U.S. Dollars).

GSP [Generalized System of Preferences] 0.00 USD
VAT [Value Added Tax; Value Added Tax; ] 72.78 USD
Freight/Transportation (Sideshow's special rate) 33.05 USD
Customs Value of Goods 350.00 USD
Landed Cost Estimate 455.83 USD
(w/advance fee est. of max $20 + $455.83 = $475.83 total)
(if duty is charged = $475.83 x .06 = $504.38)

---> Sideshow would bill you $350.00 + $33.05 = $383.05 and the rest would be due to FedEx on delivery.

Here's the import code we use, for reference:

Product 1 bb
HS Code 392640000000
Description - Statuettes and other ornamental articles
Description - Statuettes and other ornamental articles
Weight 35.00 KILOGRAM
Customs Value 350.00 United States Dollars
Country of Manufacture CHINA

If we were, instead, to ship it from our former EU warehouse to Greece at the UK VAT rate, the total including shipping and VAT, would be $522.99 ($95.10 shipping fee, instead of $33.05).

Using FedEx direct from the U.S., with the new negotiated rates and adding a $20 advancement fee, the total cost should be about $475 before any duty; if there IS a tariff/duty fee applied (6.5%), the total would be about $505 (still less than it is when shipping from the EU warehouse).

Not sure where the $640 in your scenario came from – you may have been quoted the regular FedEx shipping rate (instead of our newly negotiated rates) since you called FedEx directly instead of getting a quote from Sideshow. We strongly urge you to call or email Sideshow to get shipping estimates, and use that total cost (shipping fee + product price) to determine your fees from FedEx. If your item is on pre-order and we cannot give you an accurate quote, try finding an item that is currently IN-STOCK that is similar in dimensions and weight. But please be aware that any shipping quote given will be for RIGHT NOW, and may not be accurate in a few months when your pre-order is ready to ship. We will usually be able to provide more accurate shipping quotes when the item is about 3-4 weeks away from shipping out, giving you adequate time to cancel if you decide you'd rather not pay the international shipping fee.

Additionally, if you are concerned for some reason that FedEx may overcharge you (ie: the 80 euros charge that they quoted you, which is nowhere to be found in the quotes from the duty & tax estimators on the FedEx website), you can instead choose to ship direct from the U.S. warehouse via UPS. Below is the breakdown using UPS, if you choose that method.

Here’s the estimated from the UPS website for the same item direct from the U.S. warehouse, with Sideshow’s negotiated shipping rates (all in U.S. Dollars):

Shipment Charges Sub Total: = 51.63
Cost of Goods: = 350.00
VAT = 80.93
Duties: = 30.27
Product Sub Total = 461.20
Total landed cost = 512.83
(w/advance fee est. of $20 + 512.83 = $532.83 total)


Again, we strongly urge all of our International collectors to call or email Sideshow to get shipping estimates on IN-STOCK products and pre-ordered items that are within 1 month of arrival, and use that total cost (shipping fee + product price) to determine your total import fees from FedEx (or UPS), which are due on delivery.