Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

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r1chard
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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by r1chard » Thu Nov 10, 2011 8:54 pm

I had this experience one time with Canadian customs.
So I bought a watch from eBay Germany and the seller sent it via tracked shipping, and never declared the value (I think it's about 60 CAD). The package went through customs and they freely assessed the value to be 300 CAD and charged me big time on duties plus the $5 handling fee back then. I did get a refund after filling up some form and sending documents showing the items true value. In my experience buying from EU sellers, mostly the ones that were sent through tracked shipping have the highest possibility of going through customs. The basic idea is these items are valuable enough that they were sent with tracking number, hence the customs will get more tax from expensive items. Those that were sent through regular (canadapost) parcel seldom go through customs, except when they are bulky enough.. but usually it is just luck or the inverse of luck. :lol:

eliminator
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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by eliminator » Mon Nov 21, 2011 9:03 am

Finally got all the stuff I ordered from Amazon.fr.

My order shipped in two parts:

Part-1: 3x 7280 Straight & Crossroad Plates: No Customs/Duties
Part-2: Level Crossing 7936 and Cargo Train 7939: $26.83 ($8.50 brokerage + $18.33 HST)

Grand total after currency conversions, shipping, brokerage, and taxes:
-$222.87 CDN,
which is still a good savings from MSRP of $369.45 CDN (with taxes)

Savings: 40%

I'll probably buy from Amazon.fr again, but try to buy smaller things to keep the order under $60CDN and avoid the brokerage and HST. Boxes arrived pretty good, but *slightly* crushed. Still sealed.

Ice
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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by Ice » Tue Nov 22, 2011 7:43 pm

There's no customs if the value is under $60 right? Or is that only if the package was marked as "gift"?

eliminator
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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by eliminator » Wed Nov 23, 2011 8:40 pm

nope, no customs or brokerage if under $60cdn value....doesnt matter if marked a gift or not.

yihsheng
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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by yihsheng » Wed Dec 07, 2011 8:36 pm

I ordered two winter set 1099 and 10216 from Amazon France on 23th November 2011 and the estimated date to be arrived is 5th December 2011.

Although I choose the option to ship the item together, the delivery confirmation email come in this order which means they ship it separately:
1. 10216 Winter Bakery
2. 10199 Winter Toyshop

Guess what... I received my 10199 Winter Toyshop on one week before the estimated time.
Now, still waiting for my 10126. Is there possible that my parcel get lost? I picked the cheapest shipping option.
Please advice and share your experience, Thanks a lot!

Ice
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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by Ice » Thu Dec 08, 2011 11:42 am

Does it have a tracking number? I wouldn't worry too much as you can let Amazon know if you don't get your package. ;-)

yihsheng
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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by yihsheng » Thu Dec 08, 2011 7:15 pm

By the time, i tried to reply that I do not have the tracking number, I got my parcel already! Hurray!
Definitely will buy from amazon france again, just that need to complain to them about the box protection. :razz:

unclephn
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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by unclephn » Thu Dec 08, 2011 8:54 pm

It seems like everyone that has ordered from Amazon France has been pleased with the outcome, save for the few who were hit with customs/brokerage fees, correct? So is it safe to assume that this is a good way to go for us Canadians to save some money? I've been hesitant to order anything this far, but it seems everyone who has ordered anything have saved substantial amounts.

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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by bulwark » Fri Dec 09, 2011 8:37 am

I've placed two further orders with them and when they shipped today, it appears they were shipped via UPS. Anyone else notice this?

I don't mind, since I factored this into my calculations, I just don't get to play tax-free roulette any more.

ricefields
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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by ricefields » Sun Dec 11, 2011 12:38 am

I just ordered the tower bridge, so I will see if UPS or not pretty soon.

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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by grego85 » Wed Dec 14, 2011 9:18 am

Ordered the 8070 Super Car and the Architecture Robie House from France last Friday. The super car shipped DHL on Saturday, the Robie House shipped on Monday UPS Express Saver (which according to the website has brokerage included). The UPS package is scheduled to arrive today. The DHL package hasn't updated since the weekend so it's probably sitting in Canadian customs.

My shipped price for both sets amounted to $300cdn. Which is pretty good considering the S@H price for the Robie House itself was $250. Even if I pay the taxes I'll end up saving around $100cdn on the two sets.

bulwark
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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by bulwark » Thu Dec 15, 2011 8:11 am

I got both my orders today. As expected, $10 brokerage fee + taxes. Still quite satisfied with the price I paid though.

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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by grego85 » Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:39 pm

Received my robie house last night, late delivery for ups (7:30pm) but worked out well since I get home from work around 6pm. Paid $10 brokerage + taxes on it. Still ended up saving about $50cdn on it. Box was dented in one corner since the box it came in was only slightly larger than the actual Lego box. Still satisfied though! Now just waiting on Canadian customs to release my other package.

ricefields
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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by ricefields » Thu Dec 15, 2011 9:50 pm

ricefields wrote:I just ordered the tower bridge, so I will see if UPS or not pretty soon.
forget pretty soon, tower bridge is not expected to arrive until jan 10, 2012! Lets hope the slow service gets to bypass customs.

yihsheng
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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by yihsheng » Mon Dec 19, 2011 6:50 pm

i have a trouble to track my package by using the tracking number providef by Amazon France, they stated using DHL to send the package. When I try to use the tracking number provided and check at DHL website, it showed Invalid... please kindly share your experience, thanks!

Is ok by now, need to track from http://www.dhl.de/en.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

grego85
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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by grego85 » Wed Dec 21, 2011 9:40 am

Received the 2nd part of my order that was shipped via DHL. Arrived via Canadapost Xpresspost, no duties or customs to pay. Box was in perfect shape too! Definitely will use Amazon France in the future.

brickity
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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by brickity » Thu Dec 22, 2011 3:20 pm

Ordered 4 sets from Amazon France to Canada. The Ninjago Fire Temple and Dojo were great deals. I ordered them 1 week apart from each other, but they arrived at the same time. They were both shipped DHL, but only the Fire Temple had a tracking number. The third set I ordered was shipped UPS and arrived in 3 days. WOW, but I got hit with customs ($10 brokerage fee + GST, but that's not bad considering I've heard horror stories about UPS brokerage fees). 4th set is still on its way.

To summarize:
1) $37 Set Shipped (saved about 45%) arrived in 3 weeks (DHL) with some minor creasing.
2) $80 Set Shipped (saved about 50%) arrived in 2 weeks (DHL) with some minor creasing.
3) $110 Set Shipped + $15 in brokerage and taxes (saved about 20% - i regret this now) arrived in 3 days (UPS) with some major creasing
4) $52 Set Shipped (waiting on delivery by DHL, but I expect no taxes and should save about 30%)

Lesson for Canadians:
Great deals can be had, but you need to be selective with the purchases. Expect 2-3 weeks for delivery and I'm almost certain your box will arrive with creases (not a big deal to me, but for collector or resellers... you may want to reconsider). If UPS delivers, then customs is likely going to hit you (if over $60) and UPS will ding you an additional 10 bucks for brokerage. If DHL delivers, then you may not have to pay customs.

Hope that helps.

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Re: Amazon France Customs/Brokerage Fees

Post by stoneboi » Fri Sep 21, 2012 7:43 am

best thread ever for countries with cut throat prices for lego!! I am from singapore. gotta give amazon .fr a try !!
i think it is even better than ordering from amazon US! because of direct shipping being available to singapore!!

for those who have purchased from amazon.fr, why didnt you purchase from amazon US?

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