Tariffs

[needsmorecowbel]

I just ordered some spruce from those lovely people at MoonWood...anyone know what the rough cost of the tariffs when they get into the country? Apparently there is a VAT tax and a DDU?

[kiwigeo]

VAT..not sure. Duties......if total value of your order (including freight) comes close to or is over $1000 then you're going to attract attention from customs. Ditto if youre using some courier services to freight your goods.

I scored some very nice Swiss spruce from Tim Spittle recently...didnt have to worry about VAT, duties and all that stuff.

[needsmorecowbel]

It's only like $300 so i wouldn't expect much more than 60 bucks tax otherwise that is steeeeep

[woodrat]

Hey Stu, You wont get slugged anything. As Martin said the threshold is quite high (good for luthiers) so you will just get a card in the mail box to pick it up. I had a parcel of wood come from overseas yesterday and it was more than you mentioned and I just picked it up at the PO. If you do get taxed I would be surprised. Out of probably 20 OS shipments that I have had over the years I have only had to pay duty on a couple.

WoodRat

[needsmorecowbel]

Well these guys made a big deal out of understanding that i'd prbly get slapped with transfer tariffs for getting the package out of Switzerland i was like...hmmmm

[needsmorecowbel]

I have only been taxed once (5-8 hundred bucks) when i imported a 30-40 kg of Lino into the country. That was an interesting experience. I thought the 50 dollar documentation handling fee was a bit rich. But The best part was when the dude transporting it decided he'd put his heavy metal frame trolley on top cracking the first 2-3 sheets of lino. What an idiot...

[charangohabsburg]

Well these guys made a big deal out of understanding that i'd prbly get slapped with transfer tariffs for getting the package out of Switzerland i was like...hmmmm

They can't know. Threshold for paying VAT on imported goods in Switzerland is much lower (ca. $ 60.-) than in Australia, and for small orders (ca. $ 250 - 400) all carriers charge us more handling fee for the tax related paper stuff than the tax itself is. Therefore the concerns of the Swiss exporter. An yet, importing goods in (for example) South American countries is even much worse than it is here in Switzerland. I am moaning about this "on a high level".

[woodrat]

Well these guys made a big deal out of understanding that i'd prbly get slapped with transfer tariffs for getting the package out of Switzerland i was like...hmmmm

Yes, on the end of the Stew Mac Ordering page it says something similar that they are not responsible for taxes and duties that the customer may be liable for when he orders from them from a foriegn country. It is just them stating what their lawyers say they have to. If you keep you shipment well under the threshold you are generally going to have no further charges.

WoodRat

[peter.coombe]

I have imported quite a bit of wood from those moonwood people in Switzerland over the years and never had amy problem with tariffs. Don't worry about it if the cost is less than $1000 AUD. Nice wood, you will like it.

Peter

[Nick]

Moon wood, is that in a similar vein to Martin's bear arse spruce wood in that you can see images of somebody arse in it?
I have that crowd bookmarked but have never purchased from them, will be interested to hear what you think of it Stu, already it has Peter's endorsement so it's all sounding good so far. Was a bit sceptical by the schpeel that goes along with it, you know, harvested during a full moon e.t.c, sounded a little "new agey" but I'm always open minded.

[Mike Thomas]

If you want some nice European spruce, Nick, and you are a bit wary of buying from Moonwoods because of the name, may I suggest Rudy Fuchs?

[charangohabsburg]

Nick, there's nothing esoteric about moon wood (has nothing to do with earthquakes) but really seems to have to do with the living cycles of plants (metaphorically speaking, plants don't close the curtains at night to not be disturbed by the moonlight when trying to sleep). When a tree is cut in a sap-retracting stage the wood will be earlier stable. Two centuries ago it was normal that the trees were felled only at decrescent moon, and for the same reason also only in the winter half year (talking mainly of construction wood, not only furniture and guitars). But industrialisation has accelerated everything an harvesting wood only at wintertime was not enough any more. Like this, part of important knowledge almost got lost.

[needsmorecowbel]

Yeah the only time i incurred tax was when i went over 1 grand. Dealing with the middle man who had my goods in a warehouse was very annoying and the handling fees were pretty funny. But if you have to deal in commercial quantities then it's something you have to plan for. I thought i was getting a bargain...until i was slapped with 500 bucks in tax and was like oooouch...

[simso]

I have packages coming in every week.

Under 1000 aud with shipping included and shipped via the postal system there is no issues, however if you use a private freight company like dhl or fedex etc, then the limitation is less, I think it was 250 dollars including shipping and then duties have to be paid, that being said, my parcels are usually shipped via dhl and there most of the time close to the 1000 mark, never recieved an additional tariff (a lot of it I belive is up to the private company to enforce)

[kiwigeo]

I have packages coming in every week.

Under 1000 aud with shipping included and shipped via the postal system there is no issues, however if you use a private freight company like dhl or fedex etc, then the limitation is less, I think it was 250 dollars including shipping and then duties have to be paid, that being said, my parcels are usually shipped via dhl and there most of the time close to the 1000 mark, never recieved an additional tariff (a lot of it I belive is up to the private company to enforce)

DHL are generally ok. Fedex and many of the others are sus.