international Gifted Transactions from Seller Questions

[Spidey976]

Hey guys

So I am showing my newbie here, but I had a couple of questions to ask about gifted transactions.

Firstly, I am Canadian and as I am JUST getting into the hobby I am trying to get a few deals on pieces that either are sold out, which passed me by, or just a great deal via EBay auctions. However, I am dealing with a lot of American sellers who are great, but I will get dinged with taxes and duty every time so I have a few questions.

Now BEFORE any one yells I am NOT talking about sending a PayPal Payment as a GIFT, I have read to many horror stories. What I am asking is there any Benefit/Downside for a SELLER to send a package over the boarder as a "Gifted" transactions as long as they ensure that they get it PROPERLY INSURED?? In the end I guess my main areas of concern are:

1.If the Seller sends it as a gift is there a benefit/risk for the buyer or will it even make a difference with taxed and duty(CANADIANS HELP ME HERE)
2. If the Seller gets proper insurance have they put themselves at risk by sending the parcel as a "gift" if damage occurs???

In the end I am not willing to risk anything on MY behalf or on the SELLERS behalf, but if it isn't risky and it can save me $50 of duty on a $400 then I am all for it.

Help would be appreciated.

 

[cplhicks]

Yes the seller can mark full value for insurance purposes and mark the customs for as a "gift"

However, Canada customs states that they can tax you on "gift' shipments if they are over $60.

This leads to some getting through just fine and others you will be still taxed so it's a carp shoot.

If the item is damaged or goes missing you can make a insurance claim since the seller marked it as full value (assuming the seller gets insurance)

 

[Spidey976]

Yes the seller can mark full value for insurance purposes and mark the customs for as a "gift"

However, Canada customs states that they can tax you on "gift' shipments if they are over $60.

This leads to some getting through just fine and others you will be still taxed so it's a carp shoot.

If the item is damaged or goes missing you can make a insurance claim since the seller marked it as full value (assuming the seller gets insurance)

Thanks dude ... that is kind of what I thought. I wonder how often people get away without having to pay tax.

 

[BadMoon]

Thanks dude ... that is kind of what I thought. I wonder how often people get away without having to pay tax.

As a seller I would never mark an item as a gift for an international buyer. You would be asking me to commit mail fraud and if caught would be a felony. Just saying.

 

[pixletwin]

As a seller I would never mark an item as a gift for an international buyer. You would be asking me to commit mail fraud and if caught would be a felony. Just saying.

******-bag overseas buyers asking this are the reason I and many others here don't sell overseas anymore.

 

[amalak]

I believe your best bet is to get them to ship it via USPS (i think it's international express?) - I've had a couple large priced statue and collectibles (like 1500) shipped to my Canadian address and the tax was only 5% because it came via USPS.

I can't guarantee that but I have been told that USPS has the smallest brokerage fee. The problem I find is that many sellers do not want to ship internationally via USPS - the usual notion being that they can't get signature and tracking but I've found this to not be true for shipments to Canada.

As stated earlier, having it marked as gift won't save you taxes on the items we're talking about.

 

[Spidey976]

As a seller I would never mark an item as a gift for an international buyer. You would be asking me to commit mail fraud and if caught would be a felony. Just saying.

That is an EXCELLENT point, and it isn't one that I had considered. Hence the statement that I didn't want there to be any risk on the sellers behalf. Thanks for the information.

******-bag overseas buyers asking this are the reason I and many others here don't sell overseas anymore.

I NOW can understand why.

I believe your best bet is to get them to ship it via USPS (i think it's international express?) - I've had a couple large priced statue and collectibles (like 1500) shipped to my Canadian address and the tax was only 5% because it came via USPS.

I can't guarantee that but I have been told that USPS has the smallest brokerage fee. The problem I find is that many sellers do not want to ship internationally via USPS - the usual notion being that they can't get signature and tracking but I've found this to not be true for shipments to Canada.

As stated earlier, having it marked as gift won't save you taxes on the items we're talking about.

This is really helpful dude... I will file this info away.

Thanks guys... that was really helpful and good to know. I hadn't considered everything obviously.

 

[jkno]

In some EU countries doesn't matter if packages are marked as gift or not. The important thing is the value you add on the package. Not even the insurance is important for example in my country. You can add a value of $50 and then insure it for $300, the customs here will only care about the $50.

 

[I camp dbs]

So what would be the deal for Aussies, would tax be through the roof?

 

[Spidey976]

I think I have heard that Aussies get torn into tax wise, unless you buy from a LCS or from sideshow directly. If you are buying from a Local Store make sure you know what the price is to have a piece delivered from SSC (their rates are usually the best), so you can tell the local guy you aren't a sucker. Bartering is good.

 

[ditch]

England is the worst any thing over £40 and that now includes the shipping you have to pay import duty on. I have been hammered so many times by customs and then of course you have Parcel Force with there handeling charges.

 

[SAB]

So what would be the deal for Aussies, would tax be through the roof?

Are you new to all this?
And is your question, generally about collectibles?

Certain products and industries have specific customs laws for duties and charges. Be careful with leather jackets....I got stung badly once

In Australia for things such as collectibles, if it is under $1000 then no duties or GST is charged on the goods. This means almost anything you can buy won't be affected

....though be aware the new Sideshow Legendary Format statues are going to be a problem if you go down that route ...you can probably add $200-300 on those $2000 statues. But if $2000 sounds good to you, whats another $200