I’ve noticed lately several dealers in Japan on Ebay are saying they are paying all duty fees. I’m in negotiations right now with a Japanes seller on an item. He has made this commitment. If I close the deal I’ll post how it tirns out.
Do you mean they are absorbing the cost of the duties, or they're prepaying them and passing along the cost to you?
It's probably not just Japanese sellers on eBay. You may not be aware that through the elimination of the duty-free de minimus, the Trump administration has forced exporters/shippers sending goods into the US to prepay applicable duties/tariffs. Historically this was always the importer's (your) responsibility, if duties were applicable. Historically many photographic items were not subject to duty. This has now changed with the implementation of country-specific tariffs.
By shifting this to exporters there are certain benefits, some legitimate and some dubious. It reduces processing time of items once they are in the USA and makes for an easy transaction from the POV of the importer/recipient. It supports the administration's claims that foreign entities will be paying tariffs, not US residents. The hope appears to be that exporters will absorb the cost of prepaying the tariffs and not pass them along to US customers, in order to retain US-based customers, on whom many sellers to US-based customers had become reliant/dependent. Of course it's possible for exporters to cover the cost but not make it obvious that the US recipient is paying the duties, such as by increasing the selling price. Unfortunately this will also impact non-US buyers interested in the same items, thus increasing the cost for those who should not be impacted by US tariff policy.
The purchaser must pay the additional expense including Import duties, Tax and the entry charges. These charges are the sole responsibility of the buyer.
Note: The purchaser must pay the additional expenses such as Import duties, Tax and the entry charges.
Looks like he is bundling the duty for US into the shipping charge of $44. If you switch shipping destination to the UK the shipping charge drops to $29, though there is still a remark that duty may be due.
Norm Shapiro wrote:
Yes, I thought it was strange that they would pay the tariffs, or so they said. From what I’ve read is you pay the shipper before you get your goods.
You can choose to pre pay them when generating the shipping label. 99% of the sellers are just baking this into the cost of the item or shipping.
Norm Shapiro wrote:
Yes, I thought it was strange that they would pay the tariffs, or so they said. From what I’ve read is you pay the shipper before you get your goods.
It's probably to encourage US buyers to continue buying from them. FWIW, if I were selling into the US via USPS, I *must* pre-pay the duties as USPS has not set up (and never will?) a system of assessing/collecting duties from the recipient. I won't get into why...
Couriers have always had that ability, although probably most Americans never saw it as 95% of stuff fell below de minimus. But, if I ship via courier, I always have had the option of having the duties paid by me (shipper) or the recipient.
In the last 20+ years I have never had to pay duty on anything I bought and had shipped from the U.S. and never has a U.S. buyer had to pay duty on anything I sold and shipped to the U.S.
That was on about 150 transactions.
Taxes and brokerage fees were charged, but not duty.
This has been true to my experiences as well.
I have yet to perform any foreign transactions after the the tariff rule, and I don't wish to either.
Imagemaster wrote:
In the last 20+ years I have never had to pay duty on anything I bought and had shipped from the U.S. and never has a U.S. buyer had to pay duty on anything I sold and shipped to the U.S.
That was on about 150 transactions.
Taxes and brokerage fees were charged, but not duty.
I just bought a used lens off eBay from Japan. The seller told me up front that I'd have to pay the import duties at 24%, and offered to cancel the sale if I declined to do so. I reluctantly agreed because I couldn't find a US seller offering the same lens in the same or better condition at the same or better price even with the additional fees. Sure enough, DHL sent me a bill for the import duties. But I got the lens I wanted for a fair price overall.
Just bought something on eBay from MapCamera, great Japanese store that has eBay listings, free shipping and they paid all import duties (as stated in the listing), arrived today 3 days after I ordered it...highly recommended.
I ordered a $299 item from Japan. I had to pay DSL about $64 for tariff, fees and taxes. I had already paid for shipping when I purchased the item, so these fees are in addition to shipping.
I don't know what it is like in the U.S. with U.S. Postal Service, but in Canada when I buy something from Japan, I only buy from sellers willing to ship by free Expedited Shipping. Japan Post delivers it to Canada Post which charges either no brokerage fee or a low brokerage fee.
I will not buy from a seller that ships by DSL, FedEx, UPS, or other private shippers as their brokerage fees are usually 2 to 5 times higher than Canada Post.
Americans should find out what brokerage fees USPS charges compared to those private shippers.
I’ve had a few mixed experiences buying from Japan. Some sellers include all the import fees up front, while others pass them along quietly in shipping or invoice later through DHL. It’s a bit hit or miss depending on the seller and carrier. I agree with Imagemaster, Japan Post and USPS are usually smoother and cheaper than DHL or FedEx, especially for smaller items.
I bought a samyang lens, and the seller in Japan prepaid the tariffs. I didn’t have to pay anything when it’s delivered. Read the ad carefully. These sellers often have 2 ads of the same item, one with lower shipping without prepaid tariffs and one with higher shipping that includes the tariffs.
danski0224 wrote:
If you dig into the HTS code for some camera items, there is little to no duty or fee for countries with "normal trade relations" with the USA.
Applying the proper HTS code is important, so the Japanese sellers must be classifying the shipment properly.
I believe the rate of duty is separate from the country specific tariffs currently in place. So while a made in Japan camera would still be duty-free, it would also be subject to the current tariff rate for Japan, which I believe is 10%.
Whether the seller is prepaying the tariff or not may depend on how they ship the item. If it will be received by USPS then it appears that prepayment is a prerequisite. If it's sent via a courier such as UPS, FedEx or DHL, it may be collected by the courier from you at some point.
