Desparately need advice re shipping car parts from US to Aus

michael · Postby **michael** » Wed May 28, 2014 7:55 pm

Hi All,

I have bought several thousand dollars worh of parts in the US and a friend who was going to bring them back for me over a few trips can no longer do that. Anyone got any suggestions or experience about how to reduce the overall freight cost from US to Aus including GST and any other Aus duties.

Hope you can help
Michael

MrRevhead · Postby **MrRevhead** » Wed May 28, 2014 7:56 pm

You can't really avoid duties and GST if >$1000.

To reduce shipping costs, consider sea freight/container or use a mail forwarder.

Some options:

http://mx5cartalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=58973

http://mx5cartalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=82&t=59975

zossy1 · Postby **zossy1** » Wed May 28, 2014 7:59 pm

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=61871&p=776846&hilit=Usatoaus#p776846

sailaholic · Postby **sailaholic** » Wed May 28, 2014 8:02 pm

You can ship in separate lots but the extra freight might cost more then the duty.

You could try and declare the value as less or get invoices re issued for lower quantities. Fees for electronic versions of installation instructions is always a good one to shift expense onto, but that's not going to get 2k down to 1k.

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michael · Postby **michael** » Wed May 28, 2014 8:10 pm

Thanks for that.

Has anyone considered the merit / effectiveness of different invoices to different invoicees in the one shipment.

Michael

Muzdaman · Postby **Muzdaman** » Wed May 28, 2014 8:18 pm

When i had coilovers shipped over it was only about $60 more to have them shipped in 2 separate lots about 3 weeks apart than shipped together.

that saved me a bit on GST duty etc.

Magpie · Postby **Magpie** » Wed May 28, 2014 8:28 pm

You run the risk of getting caught splitting packages to avoid duty/gst. Customs has very powerful data mining software and well practiced at finding these sort of shipments. You would need to send them to separate people at separate addresses more than likely in different states.

You would also need to have where you purchased the goods from not use the same invoice number etc.

Good luck.

Regie · Postby **Regie** » Wed May 28, 2014 8:42 pm

Your mates not a Qantas pilot being affected by the latest round of redundancies is he?

Just thought I'd ask, as you said it was over a few trips.

bear2230 · Postby **bear2230** » Wed May 28, 2014 8:43 pm

I use a customs broker all the stuff we bring in from overseas.
Contact Sharon at All Cargo Logistics. sharon@acli.com.au or give her a call (02) 9669 7000.
She is terrific and does this all day every day. Tell her Richard at FountainLine recommended her and she should look after you.
From past experience though it is expensive. My PSS9's got caught and I hd to pay nearly $200 extra in duties to get them. Sometimes they get through and you get away with it but Ive been caught the last 2 times.

Richard.

sailaholic · Postby **sailaholic** » Wed May 28, 2014 8:51 pm

I disagree magpie. We used to bring stuff in for work, aslong as each shipment was under 1000 we didn't worry about duty. Having said that we had regular small shipments from varying suppliers.

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MrRevhead · Postby **MrRevhead** » Wed May 28, 2014 9:13 pm

To put it into perspective, I recently imported a diamond, which weighs a matter of grams and still had to pay GST and duty.

It is not something you can easily avoid unless the party on the other end is willing to declare the item at a lower cost (which can influence insurance on the item) or participate in fraud by declaring the item as something it isn't.

P.S The customs process can vary depending on the shipping provider from the US eg FedEX, USPS, DHL etc From experience, FedEX are more compliant with customs, USPS are a bit more lenient.

Mr nanotech · Postby **Mr nanotech** » Wed May 28, 2014 9:18 pm

But how can they prove these items weren't bought separately with different invoices for each part? Surely if you coincidentally bought several items that added up to over a thousand dollars, but were sent separately by the seller, I don't see how they could prove you were actively splitting packages to avoid tax.

MrRevhead · Postby **MrRevhead** » Wed May 28, 2014 9:24 pm

They don't have to approve or prove, they will accuse and hold the items until you pay the duty/tax then release.

If you don't want to pay, they will dispose or return it.

Custom's aren't consumer compliant, but government compliant.

bear2230 · Postby **bear2230** » Wed May 28, 2014 9:26 pm

Mr nanotech wrote:But how can they prove these items weren't bought separately with different invoices for each part? Surely if you coincidentally bought several items that added up to over a thousand dollars, but were sent separately by the seller, I don't see how they could prove you were actively splitting packages to avoid tax.

They're sneaky little shits, just like Neidermeyer. (Animal House)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1tfK_3XK4CI

Lokiel · Postby **Lokiel** » Wed May 28, 2014 10:36 pm

MrRevhead wrote::
P.S The customs process can vary depending on the shipping provider from the US eg FedEX, USPS, DHL etc From experience, FedEX are more compliant with customs, USPS are a bit more lenient.

I strongly discourage anyone from using USPS for expensive items. I bought some Fab9 COPs towards the end of last year and after 2 months they hadn't shown up. The tracking number showed that they were in the Chicago distribution centre and when I queried USPS they basically said that they were no longer tracking international orders "for free" and could not help me. They do offer an additional tracking service for international items which costs extra but I'm too pissed off at them to use them again.