Thread: FOB Shanghai

I reckon Aldav would be the person who'd know.

Hi Damien

I have bought a few things through AliExpress, the retail arm of Alibaba, without incident, except mail services out of China are very, very slow. Quite different from buying something from Europe, Japan or Hong Kong, and even worse than america.

Until 1 July 2018 packages valued at less than Au$1,000 addressed to an individual are fully tax free into Australia and just come through the usual postal system - delivered to your door.

For all packages addressed to a business, or a company, or valued over $1,000, plus everything after 1 July next year, Customs duty (rates vary, but 5% is common) plus GST at 10% are payable. You may also need to hire a Customs Agent - fees $200 upwards per clearance.


Cheers

Graeme

Damien
Could I suggest that you read the following post

importing machines


Kel

In calculating the value for import duty and GST purposes, the exchange rate on the day of purchase is the one to watch out for. A 1c jump in the A$ as happened last night can make a big difference if you are close to the $1k threshold. Once you go over you have to also add the shipping and all associated costs before GST is calculated.

I have saved quite a lot by importing my chainsaws, but one at a time to keep under the $1k thresholding. Even with GST, I expect you will still be ahead on the $s, but remember that after sale service is all on yourself.

Unless you want to turn it into a business, the customs and agents thing is probably something you would want to avoid.

On shipping, with larger items of equipment the volume rather than weight can be how that is priced. Get a quote on that before making the purchase.

Sent from my ZTE T84 using Tapatalk

Have now read the link that Damien posted above and it is highly relevant, particularly on shipping cost.

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Originally Posted by NeilS

In calculating the value for import duty and GST purposes, the exchange rate on the day of purchase is the one to watch out for. A 1c jump in the A$ as happened last night can make a big difference if you are close to the $1k threshold. Once you go over you have to also add the shipping and all associated costs before GST is calculated.
.....

All good advice, Neil.

Most of my purchases I find I am paying around 40% of the Australian price, add freight and it is around 50% - all good. Occasionally the price is much less than that.

Admittedly, after sales service and warrantees are unenforcable, but at those prices I can simply buy another and I am still matching or beating the local price. And, for electrical stuff from Europe, I have had no difficulty getting stuff repaired locally. "We increasingly buy spares direct from Europe because the local agent is so slow or unreliable..."

If the overseas price plus freight is more than 80% of the local price, then the warrantee and convenience factors kick in and I buy local.

Often the decider is my experience, or friends' experiences, with that particular local supplier. I do not support deadbeats!


Cheers

Graeme

Thanks for all the feedback.

The item I am considering is only USD$580 and I can get it shipped from Shanghai to the Port of Brisbane for only USD$25. As far as I can tell there will be no GST or any other duties due.

The challenge I am faced with is getting the item into my hands in a cost effective manner.

Originally Posted by Damienol

Thanks for all the feedback.

The item I am considering is only USD$580 and I can get it shipped from Shanghai to the Port of Brisbane for only USD$25. As far as I can tell there will be no GST or any other duties due.

The challenge I am faced with is getting the item into my hands in a cost effective manner.

That sounds like it's coming in LCL (less than container load). Sounds a bit odd that they can quote and charge a shipping fee when your original post indicated an FOB price, ie. no shipping, port or customs clearance fees included. You would still need to employ a customs clearer to get the goods out of bond and there are a lot of fixed fees (eg. order fee, automation fee, service fees etc, etc - the list can be as long as your arm) that have to be paid. On low value items like this LCL is fine for the seller, but you will potentially be up for A$500 of costs to get it out of bond.

How big and heavy is the item? Because of the value the best option, if the seller will agree to send it that way, may be to have it sent by China Post Ocean Freight. Sure it takes a while, but it gets delivered to your door by Australia Post at a price you know and pay ahead of time and with none of the nasty paperwork to do.

Originally Posted by Damienol

Thanks for all the feedback.

The item I am considering is only USD$580 and I can get it shipped from Shanghai to the Port of Brisbane for only USD$25. As far as I can tell there will be no GST or any other duties due.

The challenge I am faced with is getting the item into my hands in a cost effective manner.

Without knowing what it is no one can give you solid advice. What shipping method is being quoted for?

Definately not a container load. 1 item, dimensions and weight in the photo.

IMG_4795.PNG

China Post Ocean Freight sounds interesting. I will do some research

Originally Posted by Damienol

Definately not a container load. 1 item, dimensions and weight in the photo.

IMG_4795.PNG

China Post Ocean Freight sounds interesting. I will do some research

It doesn't have to be a container load. With LCL they get a lot of smaller orders together, load them into a container and they're unpacked in a bond store at the destination and then directed to their various recipients.

While the dimensions of your package are not a problem for China Post Ocean Freight I suspect the weight will defeat you. Maximum weight limits are generally around 20Kg. That'll be why the supplier is quoting you an FOB price, LCL is the only option without paying a bomb for air freight (a rough guesstimate would be US$400+). Mind you the air freight could still work out cheaper than LCL!

I'll bet buying one locally is starting to look a bit more attractive.

On the subject of warranties, I have had experience on claiming warrantee from USA, UK and China sellers and not had a problem with any of them.

Cheers
Arron

Yeah nothing much came from my research on China Post Ocean Freight.

I got an express air freight quote of USD$260 which I suspect is the best I will do.

Total costs are just more then I am willing to pay

Have you got an online quote from this crowd?

Freight Forwarder Quote Online