Customs bill on Imported games

[goemon_guy]

Long story short, I bought a bunch of Super Famicom games on eBay (52 games total), from Japan.
The subtotal was $137.83USD. No big deal.
Then shipping was tacked on; make the total $258.83USD. (~290CAD)
Again, as expected.

NOW, Canada Post brings me the bill: an additional $139.56CAD for my purchase, thanks to import taxes/duty from customs.
Like, what? That's nearly as much as I paid for the items.
I was definitely expecting some customs fees, but not this much.

So, my question is: how on earth is this fee calculated?
My best guess is the large volume of games boosted the price, but I honestly don't know.
They wouldn't even take debit, so I couldn't even get my games today, and I'll have to go and pick them up tomorrow, and pay this massive bill.

I ordered two Wii U Pro controllers from Play-Asia a couple months ago, and their customs bill only totaled $20...

 

[DinohScene]

Customs tax is a percentage of the new value of those games iirc.
Or some similar bullshit.

That's why I try n contact sellers if they can mark it as gifts.

 

[3DSXLGamer]

Just bought 2 extended Wii-U batteries from YesAsia, hope I don't get a import fee but I'm almost certain I will. Seems random what they charge obviously throw in tax on it and some handling fee.

 

[goemon_guy]

I dunno, this seems outrageous.
If I include shipping, it's almost 50% tax here.
If I don't, they practically DOUBLED the price of my games.

I want to know how they even calculated it.
I honestly doubt they opened the box and counted the value of all games and slapped their total on it as taxes.

Has anyone ever had any luck disputing customs charges?

 

[Armadillo]

Doesn't it say on the bill or can't you get one? If they tax you here (UK), you generally get a breakdown of charges (value of goods, tax to pay, duty to pay, handling fee).

Nothing like that there?


They won't have counted all the games. They will have just gone on the value declared on the shipping/customs form.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

http://www.dutycalculator.com/

According to this, with all the values you submitted (and guessing which Canadian province, but meh), customs charges should've only totaled ~$20CAD.

You should probably contact the post office, see what the fuck they're on about.


EDIT: Woah wait hold on...After doing a little bit of math and calculating how much you paid for shipping, the Canadian Post bill (the $139) is asking for the exact amount of shipping PLUS the import tax...Meaning, I think they're charging you twice for shipping...

Because from my basic math, you paid $121 for shipping and the total import tax according to the site above was like ~$18.something CAD. Which totals the $139.

Which is strange.

 

[goemon_guy]

Armadillo, They just gave me the Canada Post invoice thing, saying that I can pick it up tomorrow.
No physical customs form or anything. (I would've liked to have seen it, but meh.)

Tom Bombadildo, I'm pretty sure I listed all the info that would be required, other than my province (Nova Scotia).
I did the same calculation with that website earlier, and got a similar result as well.
I even tried a different site and got ~$40CAD. (A lot less bullshit than $140...)

Honestly, I hope you're right about the doubled shipping fees.
But does that mean that they'll only charge me the $20, or are they gonna follow through and screw me over? >.<

 

[Issac]

Wow that's a lot!
I had to pay $ 276 CAD in taxes (customs) for the guitar I bought from the states, but that's because it's a 25% tax thing here in Sweden (and the guitar was over $1000).

Call them up and see if there has been any mistake somewhere. I think Tom Bombadildo's guess sounds legit.

EDIT: You should get the specifications when you pick up the package (it *should* be attached like in a plastic bag on the package (That's how packages I've got from all over the world looks)).

 

[goemon_guy]

Well, they don't have the package in their system now, when I called, so I'll have to call again later.

Crossing my fingers, and hoping that you guys're right.

 

[emmanu888]

I think i payed 25 bucks of customs when i got a package from UPS. (Which was a set of Madoka Magica necklaces) I got two things recently. (DDR GB from Japan and a GBA and GBC link cable from Hong Kong) And i didn't payed customs on those, neither did i payed customs on my Everdrive 64 or the games i ordered from JJGames. I'm planning to get a complete set of Novi Stars and i hope i won't get billed on customs

 

[cinhomartins]

In most countries the shipping cost is considered for taxing purposes. Here in Brasil the import tax is 60%... you didn't even check the import tax before buying? :eek:

 

[tbb043]

you didn't even check the import tax before buying? :eek:

A lot of times you just don't get charged anything. I know the few times I've ordered from overseas I never had to pay customs, and I don't remember asking them to pull that "declare as a gift" fraud or anything. Not that I'm opposed to such things. Fuck taxes.

 

[goemon_guy]

Well, I got a hold of them, and apparently the total is right, broken into duty, import tax and something else.
It'll be easier to deal with in person tomorrow, and see how it was all broken down, since they wouldn't tell me over the phone.

Seems a little steep if you ask me, but I dunno.
I'll have to have a closer look tomorrow when I go pick it up.

Damn customs... >_>

 

[nukeboy95]

most importing laws are bullshit, just look at the vehicle importing laws/fees

 

[Issac]

Seems a little steep if you ask me, but I dunno.
I'll have to have a closer look tomorrow when I go pick it up.

Let us know how it goes, man!

 

[Armadillo]

Well, I got a hold of them, and apparently the total is right, broken into duty, import tax and something else.

"something else" is probably some bullshit handling fee from post office.

Same here, if a package gets charged you get VAT + Duty + handling fee.

 

[goemon_guy]

Pfft.
They (customs) valued my package at $864.08CAD.
--NOWHERE near the amount I paid.
That explains why the price in taxes was so damn high.

Now, what the heck should I do?
I can request a refund in some way using the form they have on the back, but how would I 'reassess' what I think the value should be? Just say what I paid? Or what?

 

[FAST6191]

It has happened for a few Canadian 'tempers in the past that have ordered things, more often tools and other such things but this is pretty close to that. Typically it was resolved by bringing a bank statement or equivalent (how this works with Paypal around you remains to be seen -- Paypal seems to resist being a proper money company unless local laws force them to be) to them and saying "look at this, this is what it was and I would appreciate you revising your figures a bit".

 

[Lumstar]

A lot of times you just don't get charged anything. I know the few times I've ordered from overseas I never had to pay customs, and I don't remember asking them to pull that "declare as a gift" fraud or anything. Not that I'm opposed to such things. Fuck taxes.

I'm not sure why USPS is "behind" much of the civilized world, by rarely ever charging customs. Miraculous as it makes US residency for importers.

 

[TheCasketMan]

The United States doesn't do custom fees right? Because I had bought stuff from Japan, China, UK, and never payed any custom fees.