Importing espresso machines

[blend52]

Ebay and the seller have nothing to do with import duties or local tax's. You cannot "pre-pay".
That is all assessed at ( local) customs clearance, and you will be advised by the freight handler before you can take delivery.
you can make a self "estimation" if you know the duty & tax rates, but that is no guarantee of the precise payment.

[Bobrob]

Ebay and the seller have nothing to do with import duties or local tax's. You cannot "pre-pay".
That is all assessed at ( local) customs clearance, and you will be advised by the freight handler before you can take delivery.
you can make a self "estimation" if you know the duty & tax rates, but that is no guarantee of the precise payment.

I don't know about anybody exporting coffee machines that would have such an arrangement, but you sure can buy on a door to door basis with clearance included duties pre-paid, guaranteed no "extra charge" on delivery, from major US retailers. That's to NZ - I assume the same service is offered for exports to Aus.
I take it from these discussions that there's still some tariff protection/duty on espresso machines in Aus? Why?

[Banjo.au]

If the goods in the consignment are valued over $1000, then a Customs fee is charged and GST is assessed on the cost of the goods, the freight charges, and the Customs fee. Someone will correct me if I didn't get this quite right. This applies to all shipments, and there is no tariff or protection duty on coffee machines.
As noted above, GST and fees are assessed locally, often while the goods are still in transit. If no fees are payable the shipment continues on its way to you. If there is a charge a switched-on freight handler with good procedures will advise you of the amount and tell you how to pay it, and will often collect the payment in time to allow the shipment to carry straight on. If the handler is not so switched on, Customs may have to advise you and will hold the shipment until you pay.
There are also overseas vendors who sell lots of similarly-priced items and know what the usual charges will be. They can ask you to pay this up front or include it in the shipping cost, and to make life less stressful for the customer they guarantee that they will pick up any difference in charges. I'm sure they don't lose too often.

[Vinitasse]

Ebay and the seller have nothing to do with import duties or local tax's. You cannot "pre-pay".
That is all assessed at ( local) customs clearance, and you will be advised by the freight handler before you can take delivery.
you can make a self "estimation" if you know the duty & tax rates, but that is no guarantee of the precise payment.

I pre-payed all my cutoms duties, fees and taxes when I imported my roaster so I guess it really can be done. Never say never blendy old sock.

[Bobrob]

If the goods in the consignment are valued over $1000, then a Customs fee is charged and GST is assessed on the cost of the goods, the freight charges, and the Customs fee. Someone will correct me if I didn't get this quite right. This applies to all shipments, and there is no tariff or protection duty on coffee machines.
As noted above, GST and fees are assessed locally, often while the goods are still in transit. If no fees are payable the shipment continues on its way to you. If there is a charge a switched-on freight handler with good procedures will advise you of the amount and tell you how to pay it, and will often collect the payment in time to allow the shipment to carry straight on. If the handler is not so switched on, Customs may have to advise you and will hold the shipment until you pay.
There are also overseas vendors who sell lots of similarly-priced items and know what the usual charges will be. They can ask you to pay this up front or include it in the shipping cost, and to make life less stressful for the customer they guarantee that they will pick up any difference in charges. I'm sure they don't lose too often.

The duty (if any) and GST (if any) is payable on the CIF value. The only unknown is the exchange rate which might apply to CIF value is if not sold in local currency from which that duty and/or GST is calculated. The customs processing fee is in local currency.
There's an added risk if the consignment is sold in EUR or USD, and with freight is close to (but below) a limit on which GST is imposed ($1,000 in Aus, $400 in NZ) that the assessed value will creep over the limit if the exchange rate changes between date of purchase and date of customs clearance, so that GST will be imposed.
So the more switched on US exporters convert to and invoice in $NZ for cost/insurance/freight, there's no exchange rate variation to worry about, the goods can be pre-cleared by the shipper with exact costs known. I just imported a US$1,000 dinner set from the US "pre-cleared". The only paperwork needed after purchase was signing the delivery docket when the courier dropped off the packages.
The European companies selling espresso machines direct don't seem to have such systems in place. For NZ (not sure about Aus these days) for imports of anything with CIF value > NZ$1,000 that you will clear yourself, you need a customs importer code. This is free, but you need to apply for it, including providing ID / identity verification etc.

[Vinitasse]

Ebay and the seller have nothing to do with import duties or local tax's. You cannot "pre-pay".
That is all assessed at ( local) customs clearance, and you will be advised by the freight handler before you can take delivery.
you can make a self "estimation" if you know the duty & tax rates, but that is no guarantee of the precise payment.

Additional information and clarification on evilbay's new international shipping policies:

It's been nine months since evilbay launched its Global Shipping Program last September.
The Global Shipping Program (GSP) is meant to help international buyers with their purchases by essentially covering all import taxes and providing tracking from the U.S. to an item's destination.
GSP handles the international shipping leg

Last fall, evilbay opened GSP to sellers in the U.S. who opted in, but it intends to make this program the default international shipping option for all merchants unless they opt out, and eBay will expand the service to other countries.
U.S. merchants who use GSP are responsible for shipping their international sales to designated shipping centers in the U.S., which are managed by Pitney Bowes, a mailing systems service. Listings that offer GSP automatically figure international shipping and import costs—plus a brokerage fee—and add them to the checkout process for international buyers to see.

The idea is that the shipping center will handle all of the customs forms and shipments once they leave the U.S., creating a "hassle free" experience for sellers and buyers who may otherwise be faced with added taxes and duties from their governments.

[blend52]

Thats good to know for ebay sourced , USA based, vendors,...... but doesnt help much for anyone dealing with the European espresso equipment suppliers, who mostly seem to stick with the universal warning of buyers responsibility for local duty's and tax's.

[Dragunov21]

Thats good to know for ebay sourced , USA based, vendors,...... but doesnt help much for anyone dealing with the European espresso equipment suppliers, who mostly seem to stick with the universal warning of buyers responsibility for local duty's and tax's.

Good. If someone can't be bothered working it out themselves then they don't deserve the discount by bypassing the local distributor/retailer.

It's not difficult stuff...

[Jimmytheboot]

The idea is that the shipping center will handle all of the customs forms and shipments once they leave the U.S., creating a "hassle free" experience for sellers and buyers who may otherwise be faced with added taxes and duties from their governments.

Are sure sure the idea isnt evilbay scraping a few more % profit from the transaction?
Was recently looking for something on there and one seller had the same item listed twice, once with regular airmail ($8) and once with GSP ($29), easy decision. When it becomes opt-out it will be back to the days of messaging the seller first to ask for USPS instead of GSP (old days it was UPS).

[Dragunov21]

Are sure sure the idea isnt evilbay scraping a few more % profit from the transaction?
Was recently looking for something on there and one seller had the same item listed twice, once with regular airmail ($8) and once with GSP ($29), easy decision. When it becomes opt-out it will be back to the days of messaging the seller first to ask for USPS instead of GSP (old days it was UPS).

Pretty sure you can offer two different shipping methods on the same ad, no?

UPS is for when you want it now.
USPS is for when you want it at some stage.

[skelly]

This thread is always good for a chuckle

NZ basically gave up on the "buy local" philosophy about a decade ago when we removed all import duty. It's a thought provoking experience.

Here, I have noticed that the functions of traditional retailing are typically more specialized. importers import (popular models, in bulk for cheap). Shopping (ie, selecting what to buy) is done more online and sales are done through existing outlets (cafes, in the case of espresso machines) or on the internet via an 'import to order' model.
Dedicated service centres take care of the servicing (cheap and quite good quality in my experience).

We also have NZ post service centers in the USA (and soon, the UK, China, etc)...so i can use my very own genuine USA address and take advantage of their free domestic shipping.

I don't know how many of our espresso machines are imported as "grey imports" (nz doesn't actually use the term "grey import".... Virtually every product sold here is a grey import!). The only time I remember seeing "authorized retailer" is in relation to Apple products.

The end result of very tight margins is that we have a huge number of import clearance warehouses (pop up stores) selling from containers or in crappy warehouses. A good proportion of NZ retailers (especially used cars, electronics and appliances) are operating on margins of 10% or less. I was in a cellphone shop last week where they had turned the heating off (it was about 9 degrees outside)...and most of the lights, to save costs.

Not a pleasant way to shop, but you can't begrudge the prices. We are a country of cheapskates, so giving up the experience of "good customer service" came easy. Weirdly, the shops that still do involve trained sales staff (Harvey Norman etc) do a terrible job of convincing people that we need their "service"... The Internet is just too good at debunking advice from a salesperson who is on min wage + commission.

All that being said, espresso machines are complicated, fragile and horribly expensive to fix. So they may be one of the few products where a person is sensible in paying a premium for a locally tested machine.

Good luck with your imports....You'll need it

[WIREDUP]

Izzo Alex Duetto III

Can some explain to me why the Izzo Alex Duetto III is been sold for $2595 US and also is offered with a 2 year warranty and i can not find it no way near that price in aust ? do we have a different machine here?

[Vinitasse]

Can some explain to me why the Izzo Alex Duetto III is been sold for $2595 US and also is offered with a 2 year warranty and i can not find it no way near that price in aust ? do we have a different machine here?

It costs much less in the US for the same reason that a VW Golf GTI is only $24,200 ($26,300 in our money vs the $40k+ we are charged downunder) and a Porsche 911 Carrera costs just $84,300 in the US ($91,730 in our money vs the $225,998 list price in AU) ... their market has a population base in excess of 300,000,000, not to mention the neighbouring Canadian, Mexican, Central and South American markets that lend them the economies of scale we will never be able to match over here. It is what it is so I would suggest that you get used to it.

[hamm]

Is an espresso machine really the first place you've seen this kind of price differential between the US and Aus?

ignorance is bliss sometimes.

It's not all about costs associated with marketing/freight/import either, another big part is just that we'll pay it. Aussies have too much disposable income I think.

[ArtW]

another big part is just that we'll pay it. Aussies have too much disposable income I think.

Hmmm, I don't think so. This would suggest either that there is significant price collusion across the market or that Australians are stupid and won't look for the best deal. I guess given that machines equivalent to the Izzo from Vibiemme, Rocket etc. are no cheaper suggests you believe the collusion hypothesis. If so, who are fat cats getting rich off their huge markups? Nah, if that were the case, the big retailers like Myers and Harvey Norman would be onto it in a flash and would be stocking these type of machines.

The economies of scale argument, together with the tyranny of distance (transportation costs) makes much more sence to me. I don't know if any additional taxes or duties apply as well here? Certainly in the automotive industry this is a factor.