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Can someone give me an example of the customs fees and VAT they were charged? Looking at buying something from the UK.

Thanks
 
peeryus said:
Can someone give me an example of the customs fees and VAT they were charged? Looking at buying something from the UK.

Thanks
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I bought a Nexus 5 and some screen protectors - paid no customs / VAT more. I only paid what I agreed with Amazon PBCourier. Can't really help you. Others' experiences might be different
 
OGroteKoning said:
I bought a Nexus 5 and some screen protectors - paid no customs / VAT more. I only paid what I agreed with Amazon PBCourier. Can't really help you. Others' experiences might be different
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Cool thanks bud.

Can someone just confirm the charges involved:

1. Order some item from UK (for eg) and it gets shipped to PBC UK address.
2. PBC UK then requests payment for shipping to SA then item is sent to SA once payment is received.
3. Now when it lands in SA, what charges are there? VAT, customs charge, anything else?

Thanks
 
I've never has any additional charges from PBC from UK to SA.
Parcel sent from seller to their UK depot, paid their shipping charge to SA, delivered in a few working days ;)
 
howardb said:
I've never has any additional charges from PBC from UK to SA.
Parcel sent from seller to their UK depot, paid their shipping charge to SA, delivered in a few working days ;)
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Thanks Howard. So there were no customs or VAT charges once it landed in SA?

Sorry I've never done this before so just wanted to clarify.

Thanks
 
Hey peeryus, no nothing extra was charged. I've bought in a few items over the last 12 months (3 cctv cams, pc bits, etc) and didn't get any additional charges ;)
 
Just had something arrive through Seabourne ( PBC's new shipping agent )

Value: 29GBP

Here's what I paid..

Customs: R82
Disbursement: R57
Communication: R57
Documentation: R250
EDI Fee Int'l: R25

So on something worth less than R600, the fee to bring it into the country is R364 for them to administer the R107 that Customs takes.

I'm going to take this up with PBC, that's absolutely ludicrous, previously they worked out the customs on the UK side, and I never saw a "Documentation" fee.

Anyone know of a similar service to PBC?

EDIT:

To their credit, Seabourne have very, very friendly staff. Extremely helpful, efficient and quick to respond, even when load shedding hit them. I just think the fees are a little excessive.
 
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bullzeye.za said:
I'm going to take this up with PBC, that's absolutely ludicrous, previously they worked out the customs on the UK side, and I never saw a "Documentation" fee.
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I've paid duty and VAT on stuff that was clearly of a commercial use and of course when I import multiple items of the same thing.

It will be interesting to hear what Gary says about this.
 
hilton said:
I've paid duty and VAT on stuff that was clearly of a commercial use and of course when I import multiple items of the same thing.

It will be interesting to hear what Gary says about this.
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I'm happy to pay the VAT and duties, but I think an extra R350 is insane. That's more than I paid for the shipping.
 
bullzeye.za said:
I'm happy to pay the VAT and duties, but I think an extra R350 is insane. That's more than I paid for the shipping.
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That's insane bud. Are you taking it up with Gary? If you are, let us know what he says.
 
Bummer, no more bookings for the immediate future whilst Gary sorts out a new partner in the UK.
 
Since they don't take new bookings nor respond to my e-mail, can you guys please suggest an alternative.

Guess it's between myUS and Shipito.

Any recommendations?
 
I think his USA operation may still continue but let's see what happens. I would also like to hear from folks what their experiences are with myUS and Shipito. One of the US based shops that I've bought from recommend comGateway but I've yet to find any positive reviews for them so I'm staying well away for now.
 
calypso said:
I've used myus, had no issues, they were just expensive
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Avoid myus - they are quite bad.
They had an FBI raid last year, must have shipped a lot of no-no items, anyhow they went down hill with so many rules and regulations- they have some silly compliance committees and give a lot of grief.
 
hilton said:
I think his USA operation may still continue but let's see what happens. I would also like to hear from folks what their experiences are with myUS and Shipito.
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MyUS used to be very reliable and have excellent customer service, but have been very expensive for a long time. They were once relatively cheap, most probably through subsidising the shipping costs.

bullzeye.za said:
Communication: R57
Documentation: R250
EDI Fee Int'l: R25
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Now that's what you call taking the piss. Why not just bundle these into a single item called Customer Extortion Fee?
 
lived666 said:
Avoid myus - they are quite bad.
They had an FBI raid last year, must have shipped a lot of no-no items, anyhow they went down hill with so many rules and regulations- they have some silly compliance committees and give a lot of grief.
Click to expand...
Not necessarily anything to do with anything they did. It is the US after all, a country wall to wall with paranoid paramilitary police forces. Undoubtedly the company is now covering themselves in every way possible to avoid harassment.
 
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So for how long do you reckon this will take? can someone advise if the US shipping is also on hold?
 
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