Cheaper on Amazon than locally

[lived666]

hey Galiderher, possibly misread it but lived666 says "there are no duties and shipping is only R208" - I presume by that that he means that there are no import duties. Could be wrong, will wait to see what he replies.

I showed you the total from Amazon, that is the delivered to your door fee.

 

[ponypony]

lived666, thanks for the clarification - Much appreciated. I have had similar issues to what you mentioned (photographic equipment isn't supposed to have import duties), but SARS seems to have their own way of doing things which appears to change all the time - and sometimes for R300 it isn't worth spending the day on the phone and UPS won't release the item without payment.

As for what's stopping me, it's more than I wanted to pay. I've also had bad experiences where I've been charged for import duty and VAT by Amazon as you mention, and then charged again when the item arrived here. So there is the hassle factor of trying to phone through and speak to the right people, and I also just assumed that the locally it would be cheaper or the same as what they advertise on Amazon, but you know what they say about assumption - make an ass out of u and umption

anyway thanks again for your time.

 

[lived666]

I have only had one or two hassles with amazon when checking out in USD, so I stick to Rands with them. If it happens again, all you have to do is just pay, go onto Amazon chat and they will refund, it is almost instant.

 

[Zenbaas]

lived666, thanks for the clarification - Much appreciated. I have had similar issues to what you mentioned (photographic equipment isn't supposed to have import duties), but SARS seems to have their own way of doing things which appears to change all the time - and sometimes for R300 it isn't worth spending the day on the phone and UPS won't release the item without payment.

As for what's stopping me, it's more than I wanted to pay. I've also had bad experiences where I've been charged for import duty and VAT by Amazon as you mention, and then charged again when the item arrived here. So there is the hassle factor of trying to phone through and speak to the right people, and I also just assumed that the locally it would be cheaper or the same as what they advertise on Amazon, but you know what they say about assumption - make an ass out of u and umption

anyway thanks again for your time.

I have only had one or two hassles with amazon when checking out in USD, so I stick to Rands with them. If it happens again, all you have to do is just pay, go onto Amazon chat and they will refund, it is almost instant.

Interesting. I have used Amazon dozen of times and never had any issues. The important thing is to select the "ships to SA" filter on your left after you searched for your item. The items listed then always have any other customs and shipping fees included in the checkout price. There are other sellers on Amazon that will ship to you but the customs fees aren't always added for them so you have that waiting for you when the item arrives. So I just make sure beforehand that the order is fulfilled by Amazon.

 

[bwana]

lived666, thanks for the clarification - Much appreciated. I have had similar issues to what you mentioned (photographic equipment isn't supposed to have import duties), but SARS seems to have their own way of doing things which appears to change all the time - and sometimes for R300 it isn't worth spending the day on the phone and UPS won't release the item without payment.

It depends - cameras do (7%), lenses don't.

 

[mister]

You just add to your cart, supply the delivery address and checkout what you want to purchase (normal online transaction).
Amazon calculates (estimate) courier fees and import duties already in the final price (as per lived666' post). Any duty fees that you/they overpay, they pocket and what you/they underpay they carry.

They don't pocket overpaid duties, they refund it to you!