I’m in the UK and, maybe too cautious for my own good, but took the following into account:
I’m buying a product directly from the supplier, outside of my home country. I anticipated and expected to pay an import duty based on value being above a threshold. If I had bought the Planix from a UK-based distributor, I’d have expected them to pay import duties before listing a UK price for it.
In simple terms, I assume the USD price will be replaced with a GBP and if the overall cost comes in under that, I’m happy.
Maybe a more prominent “buyer responsible for import duties, where applicable” is a step in the right direction but it’s about doing your research as a buyer, in my humble opinion.
Welcome to the nature of cross-border shipping. Those of you in the US are lucky to not have to deal with brokerage fees and customs charges like those of us elsewhere do. I’m in Canada, so that’s frequently an issue when ordering gear from the US.
A few years ago a US software vendor I worked with sent me a free promotional tshirt out of the blue. A few weeks later, I got a bill from UPS for brokerage fees for something like $40 – for something that I hadn’t ordered and had received for free. I argued my case with UPS and they cancelled the fees.
this weekend I received a letter from CA dept of tax and fee admin saying I owe close to $550 for use tax for the two systems I bought last, again something I didn’t receive on the first two. This really has me considering going to a different provider in the future.
I don’t see how you can hold a vendor responsible for warning you of taxes or fees in your own jurisdiction. It should be a given that you’re responsible for that.
If you’ve bought four IMS-5 cameras, then I’d hope that they are paying for themselves many times over – like mine have for me – and a few hundred dollars levied by your tax authorities shouldn’t be show stopper. Nobody likes surprise fees, but we’re dealing with changing policies about international and even inter-state taxes and fees so the onus is on the end user to account for that.
Maybe a more prominent “buyer responsible for import duties, where applicable” is a step in the right direction but it’s about doing your research as a buyer, in my humble opinion.
I too was a little frustrated with the extra Taxes/fees here in the U.S. However I don’t think it’s Planitar’s responsibility to educate me about my government’s intrusion into my business dealings. Caveat emptor unfortunately also should apply to the “Invisible Hand” of our not so laissez-faire taxing policies. (Voice and Vote or put up and shut up)
(Irony…The Wealth of Nations, Book IV, Chapter II. Adam Smith.)
I have to say it’s not Planitar’s fault and I agree they cannot know the duties and taxes for each country.
I am in Italy and I knew I have to pay something for importing this camera, I could not find out for sure until I have received the bill. And I payed something like 730 US dollar in taxes.
Hi all, to put this topic into perspective, I paid US$ 1’865 in import duties to import a single IMS-5 into Uruguay. I think our American friends should be happy with their import duties and everybody knows that when you import something into an other country, you will have to pay import duties and can’t be blamed at the manufacturer!
A smaller camera store in NY state where I used to purchase a fair amount of equipment actually changed their shipping policies because there were so many complaints from their Canadian customers. They stopped shipping by courier and instead shipped by US postal service, because the fees to the consumer are so much lower (and if you are real lucky sometimes they don’t “catch” the item and you pay no duty at all. Delivery was slower but much less expensive than paying the often ridiculous broker fees to courier companies.
I received the same thing. It was not very happy about it. They should disclose it on the website prior to purchasing that there may be additional charges. And because I already have an account with UPS I’m having a hard time getting it paid. I reached out several times to IGuide and did not receive a reply until I did a ticket. If I known about it it would not have been a big deal. Also it says 3 days to get your camera. It was a week and a half. Just saying…
I wish I was that lucky. I just got a bill from my state saying I owe $300 + for taxes on the imported item! Evidently the feds are turning import information over to the states so they can start taxing for things coming in from abroad. I have purchased many thousands of dollars of equipment from outside the country and never had this issue. This was for an IMS-5 purchased 2 years ago and I have not lived in that state for a year and a half:(.
Well if it makes any of you feel better, i recently bought a plantix 2nd hand from hawaii. I had to pay 260$ duty. The kicker is I live in Canada. So i had to pay 260$ to re-import something that comes from Canada.