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Question of the Day: How do you normally pay for purchases in stores?
Importing computing equipment from the US: Will you save money?
- Thread starter rpm
- Start date
I hope nobody is put off from importing themselves by this article. On some goods you can save a lot of money, some less, but most of the time there is a worthwhile saving. But yes, be aware of all the costs. Paying over 4k for shipping a laptop is madness though.
the graduate
Senior Member
Ok, this is a very, very poor article....
Now, I have not imported from the US, but I have from the UK...
There are some No-No's, like clothes, shoes, etc....local manufacturing stuff that going to get heavy duties and tax....
But, all in all, the article is pretty much mis-leading and written by a noob who, quite franckly has NOT bought ANYTHING from overseas...
I'll give you an example...
I ordered a set of custom built mountain bike wheels for my wife's bike from the UK...
253 GBP was the total cost of the wheels.....shipping and insurance was free for any order above 250 GBP....
I paid by credit card. The wheels were built and 4 days later I received confirmation that the wheels were shipped...
I received the wheels at my local post-office 10 days after I placed the online order....
Here are the charges...
253 british pounds x 13.01 = R3291 (credit card charges included)..
Shipping = free
in RSA
VAT @ 14% = R460.74
Clearence fee = R25.00
Total charges = R 485.74
Total cost of wheels = R3776.74...
Now the local qouted price for smae article....wait for it....R8900....
Anyone that knows CRC....the wheels were Red Hope Pro II hubs, red nipples, DT Swiss revolution spokes and Halo ExciteD rims...
and here is were the fool who wrote the article made an idiot of himself.....YOU DON'T PAY GST/VAT ON THE ITEM IN THE COUNTRY YOU ARE ORDERING IT FROM
Now, I have not imported from the US, but I have from the UK...
There are some No-No's, like clothes, shoes, etc....local manufacturing stuff that going to get heavy duties and tax....
But, all in all, the article is pretty much mis-leading and written by a noob who, quite franckly has NOT bought ANYTHING from overseas...
I'll give you an example...
I ordered a set of custom built mountain bike wheels for my wife's bike from the UK...
253 GBP was the total cost of the wheels.....shipping and insurance was free for any order above 250 GBP....
I paid by credit card. The wheels were built and 4 days later I received confirmation that the wheels were shipped...
I received the wheels at my local post-office 10 days after I placed the online order....
Here are the charges...
253 british pounds x 13.01 = R3291 (credit card charges included)..
Shipping = free
in RSA
VAT @ 14% = R460.74
Clearence fee = R25.00
Total charges = R 485.74
Total cost of wheels = R3776.74...
Now the local qouted price for smae article....wait for it....R8900....
Anyone that knows CRC....the wheels were Red Hope Pro II hubs, red nipples, DT Swiss revolution spokes and Halo ExciteD rims...
and here is were the fool who wrote the article made an idiot of himself.....YOU DON'T PAY GST/VAT ON THE ITEM IN THE COUNTRY YOU ARE ORDERING IT FROM
Last edited:
frailwings
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@ RPM
I think the point is, the article itself is somewhat misleading because it gives the reader the impression that the conclusion of the article is, we will not save money. While they may very well be real examples, you have not given any examples of real life examples in your article to show that savings can infact be made very easily. let me give two real life examples where it has both worked out more expensive, and cheaper. I would also like to point out simple ways to make things cheaper with importing.
A- I imported clothes and CDs to the value of R3000 rand, when it arrived I got slapped with R2000 tax and import duties. Shipping was around R700 rand. I ended up spending a few hundred more than I would've locally, however, the items I imported could not be found locally.
B- I imported a Philips electric razor.
Local price- R3000 (older model)
UK price - R1200 (new model, with charging stand, the special shaving cream) - the shaving cream locally is R300 for 300mls, I got 600mls with it
I paid UK tax, no SA tax or shipping costs, it was insured and marked as a gift. The shipping came to around R300. ended up paying half the price with some extras.
Tips for savings
If you import from an international site that ships to South Africa, you wont pay double vat.
If you find a site that "only ships to America"- use MyUS, they give you an American Address, and they'll then ship your items to you, however you like. (marked as a gift to avoid customs and double tax)
Always choose the cheapest shipping
If customs here slaps you with 40 percent customs, DO NOT PAY IT, send it to be re-evaluated.
The fact is, you CAN get items a lot cheaper from overseas, find a good special, and import it using the above tips. and you can make a HUGE saving.
I think the point is, the article itself is somewhat misleading because it gives the reader the impression that the conclusion of the article is, we will not save money. While they may very well be real examples, you have not given any examples of real life examples in your article to show that savings can infact be made very easily. let me give two real life examples where it has both worked out more expensive, and cheaper. I would also like to point out simple ways to make things cheaper with importing.
A- I imported clothes and CDs to the value of R3000 rand, when it arrived I got slapped with R2000 tax and import duties. Shipping was around R700 rand. I ended up spending a few hundred more than I would've locally, however, the items I imported could not be found locally.
B- I imported a Philips electric razor.
Local price- R3000 (older model)
UK price - R1200 (new model, with charging stand, the special shaving cream) - the shaving cream locally is R300 for 300mls, I got 600mls with it
I paid UK tax, no SA tax or shipping costs, it was insured and marked as a gift. The shipping came to around R300. ended up paying half the price with some extras.
Tips for savings
If you import from an international site that ships to South Africa, you wont pay double vat.
If you find a site that "only ships to America"- use MyUS, they give you an American Address, and they'll then ship your items to you, however you like. (marked as a gift to avoid customs and double tax)
Always choose the cheapest shipping
If customs here slaps you with 40 percent customs, DO NOT PAY IT, send it to be re-evaluated.
The fact is, you CAN get items a lot cheaper from overseas, find a good special, and import it using the above tips. and you can make a HUGE saving.
The article is complete misleading. Lately, I pretty much import anything from all over the world. It is much cheaper, even after shipping and tax. I saved over 50% on a pair of sunglasses and around 40% on a watch. Ordering a phone next week, saving: over 35%...
It is important to always check import duties in the SARS manual. Many things are free/VAT only.
So normally your costs are
US/Euro price * exchange rate * 1.02 (for credit card charges)
+ 14% VAT on 110% of articles worth, i.e. 15.4% VAT effectively
R25 clearance fee
+ shipping (no VAT on shipping).
Always make sure you have all invoices and proof of payment, they always ask for it at customs SA...
It is important to always check import duties in the SARS manual. Many things are free/VAT only.
So normally your costs are
US/Euro price * exchange rate * 1.02 (for credit card charges)
+ 14% VAT on 110% of articles worth, i.e. 15.4% VAT effectively
R25 clearance fee
+ shipping (no VAT on shipping).
Always make sure you have all invoices and proof of payment, they always ask for it at customs SA...
Thats what I said.
Can you PM me where you got it from - thats the exact one I'm looking for.
/end derail
Drunkard #1
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Sometimes it's cheaper to buy local, sometimes it's cheaper to import. I've personally imported a Dymo M1011 from cableorganizer.com, and it cost less than half of the local cost. I've got some automatic watches and a pocket watch waiting to board the DHL flight to Jo'burg right now; again, half the cost of buying local. Buy a 400mm Nikon lens, and it's cheaper to fly over to NY, stay in a decent hotel, buy the lens, fly back and pay the taxes, than it is to buy local. And their microscopes and scanners have even bigger price differences.
PCs are a different story entirely (except Apple crap, but then again, if you're buying Apple, you want to be ripped off); When I bought my last PC, PC Int was 2% more than New Egg's retail price (ie: excl shipping, tax, etc). Like your article, these are actual figures, copies of the invoices are lying here somewhere.
PCs are a different story entirely (except Apple crap, but then again, if you're buying Apple, you want to be ripped off); When I bought my last PC, PC Int was 2% more than New Egg's retail price (ie: excl shipping, tax, etc). Like your article, these are actual figures, copies of the invoices are lying here somewhere.
The article is actually spot on!
YES indeed all dem peeps that are now jumping up and down, you can import cheaper and I have on many occasions BUT to everyone quoting using USPS EMS shipping on a laptop - that is just crazy, their service is rubbish - took them 4 weeks recently to send something to me and no tracking available - the stress was unbearable - oh and I do have a spare Canon 7D if anyone wants...
Back to the article - many of the places you buy direct, such as Toshibausa.com or Sonyusa.com will charge state tax - SO YES you can buy these elswhere, but if you want to build your own configuration then you can't,so you will pay state tax
And then to Ship an 18lbs decent laptop with courier from the USA is around $240
So yeh, there are ways to get items in cheaper, BUT NOT ALWAYS
YES indeed all dem peeps that are now jumping up and down, you can import cheaper and I have on many occasions BUT to everyone quoting using USPS EMS shipping on a laptop - that is just crazy, their service is rubbish - took them 4 weeks recently to send something to me and no tracking available - the stress was unbearable - oh and I do have a spare Canon 7D if anyone wants...
Back to the article - many of the places you buy direct, such as Toshibausa.com or Sonyusa.com will charge state tax - SO YES you can buy these elswhere, but if you want to build your own configuration then you can't,so you will pay state tax
And then to Ship an 18lbs decent laptop with courier from the USA is around $240
So yeh, there are ways to get items in cheaper, BUT NOT ALWAYS
rrh
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My experience has generally been that one saves, though there are some items - e.g. at one stage, disk drives - that actually have a lower list price in South Africa.
A minor tip: the Post Office now has a parcel tracking website, making ordering small parcels via mail that much safer. Order the items, get a postal tracking number, phone the Post Office to get the local [South African] tracking number, then track via the web. I was able to collect an item from my local post office before the 'collect a parcel' advice had been placed in my postbox
A minor tip: the Post Office now has a parcel tracking website, making ordering small parcels via mail that much safer. Order the items, get a postal tracking number, phone the Post Office to get the local [South African] tracking number, then track via the web. I was able to collect an item from my local post office before the 'collect a parcel' advice had been placed in my postbox
rrh
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I think that there may be some confusion on state taxes.
1. Some states charge tax at the point of origin, i.e. they don't care where the item is going, so you will always pay tax.
2. Some states / countries treat parcels shipped to clients elsewhere as duty-free 'exports', e.g. VAT in Britain / the EU.
3. There is sometimes a minimum amount before the tax will be refunded.
4. Some companies - especially smaller ones - don't have the infrastructure to handle tax refunds. So they won't claim a tax refund on your behalf.
5. Finally, some documentation is difficult to read. I remember an invoice from Amazon UK where the price invoiced included VAT, then the VAT was deducted ...
1. Some states charge tax at the point of origin, i.e. they don't care where the item is going, so you will always pay tax.
2. Some states / countries treat parcels shipped to clients elsewhere as duty-free 'exports', e.g. VAT in Britain / the EU.
3. There is sometimes a minimum amount before the tax will be refunded.
4. Some companies - especially smaller ones - don't have the infrastructure to handle tax refunds. So they won't claim a tax refund on your behalf.
5. Finally, some documentation is difficult to read. I remember an invoice from Amazon UK where the price invoiced included VAT, then the VAT was deducted ...
MadMailMan
Expert Member
Are you all reading the same article as me??? Nowhere does RPM say you wont save money by importing. He is just pointing out that the price you see on the website or in a catalogue is not the price you will pay, multiplied by the exchange rate of course. Have you all gone off your rockers??
guest2013-1
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lol@article
What a bunch of hooey... propoganda to keep the South African consumer paying high prices for what they want where they can get it for cheap elsewhere.
Give you an idea, I bought a laptop battery for my Dell. SA Price without courier: R1760 ex vat. With courier, almost R2200 excl VAT
Bought one on eBay, R669 including courier costs and had it 10 days later. Plus it comes with a full money back guarantee if I'm not satisfied with the product PLUS 2 year warranty on the battery itself, something the SA people couldn't give me.
Same with a KVM Switch, here, R520... imported, R129 and free shipping...
And I haven't paid more than R39 for "tax"... in fact, the last 7 purchases I made and imported weren't held up at customs and I didn't have to pay anything more than what the original asking price of the item were.
What a bunch of hooey... propoganda to keep the South African consumer paying high prices for what they want where they can get it for cheap elsewhere.
Give you an idea, I bought a laptop battery for my Dell. SA Price without courier: R1760 ex vat. With courier, almost R2200 excl VAT
Bought one on eBay, R669 including courier costs and had it 10 days later. Plus it comes with a full money back guarantee if I'm not satisfied with the product PLUS 2 year warranty on the battery itself, something the SA people couldn't give me.
Same with a KVM Switch, here, R520... imported, R129 and free shipping...
And I haven't paid more than R39 for "tax"... in fact, the last 7 purchases I made and imported weren't held up at customs and I didn't have to pay anything more than what the original asking price of the item were.
gregmcc
Honorary Master
I've bought a load of things overseas and if do your research properly you will save money.
The latest thing I got was a special battery for a heart rate monitor. Here they wanted R500! I imported 3 batteries direct from the German factory for $10 (for all 3 ....including shipping!!)
The latest thing I got was a special battery for a heart rate monitor. Here they wanted R500! I imported 3 batteries direct from the German factory for $10 (for all 3 ....including shipping!!)
Plaasjapie
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Oops, it seems RPM have to again wipe the egg yolk off his face. That comes from writing articles with input from your advertisers to please and support them, when your true customers are actually MyBB members.
This is exactly why I love this forum. Here the truth comes out and expose those market participants that wants to rip their customers off.
This is exactly why I love this forum. Here the truth comes out and expose those market participants that wants to rip their customers off.
the choice of article title doesn't help him
damian24
Senior Member
myus charges $190 for premium members on 25lbs... I order quite a lot, so membership is paid up annually at R400 for the year.
as for the EMS it's EMI and takes around 48 hours to get out of the states the rest of the time it's sitting in customs. you can track the stuff by phoning up customs at the airport, you'll be able to get a local ii number to track in RSA.
D