Ordering From Overseas Still?

[MeatMan]

2 hours ago, SpeedAndViolence said:

Proceed with caution.

Back in February of this year, I placed an order and one of the items I ordered is 'on demand'. I think I had to wait about month for it to be delivered to Spotmodel. In the meantime, I added many additional items to my order. The order in its entirety shipped the week of April 22nd and was due to be delivered within 10 days. I was tracking my order and one day before it was to be delivered I received an email from UPS stating that I owed UPS an additional $395 for Tariffs, and Customs fees. The amount I was getting billed was 110% more than I paid for everything.So I declined delivery and immediately requested my package be returned to Spotmodel. Conveniently, UPS has misplaced my package and although Spotmodel filed a claim and appears on the surface to be working on my behalf for a refund, I still have not received it. In regards to communication with Spotmodel, I am having to continuously email them for updates. The more this drags on, the less and less (it seems) they are interested in helping me. 

I read today where people are getting hit with enormous tariff charges by carriers. I'll hold off buying anything from overseas until the process is more up-front, and I know the total cost before buying.

[Lownslow]

i just get it through Laredo Texas, i currently have a order on the way through there 

 

[niteowl7710]

Commercial shipments aren't affected by this, those tariffs have been in place since early May (10% globally, 55% China) and then as the individual country agreements fell into place those either superceded or replaced the baseline. So for Round2, Revell, Moebius, Tamiya, GSI/Creos (Mr. Hobby), Dspaie, etc etc et al they've been paying tariffs for several months now. There's no shortage of those products, and there's no need to go ransack the Tamiya paint racks.

The end of de minimis is just Rick Rolling *you* buying *yourself* something from overseas. 

[fumi]

1 hour ago, niteowl7710 said:

Commercial shipments aren't affected by this, those tariffs have been in place since early May (10% globally, 55% China) and then as the individual country agreements fell into place those either superceded or replaced the baseline. So for Round2, Revell, Moebius, Tamiya, GSI/Creos (Mr. Hobby), Dspaie, etc etc et al they've been paying tariffs for several months now. There's no shortage of those products, and there's no need to go ransack the Tamiya paint racks.

The end of de minimis is just Rick Rolling *you* buying *yourself* something from overseas. 

The end of de minimis means that overseas shops cannot ship to individuals in the US due to the US government demands tariffs to be collected by the shipping agents of the origin country, and no sane shipping agent would be willing to do that only to have the packages refused by the recipients in the US, and eating the tariff already paid by the sender when that package gets returned.

That is exactly the reason our eBay sellers refuse to ship to Russia and South Korea.  Too many packages got kicked back due to the recipients got the tariff shock.  Only now the tariff is not paid by the recipient in the US, but the shipping agents.

You can still buy from your LHS, but those prices will also rise within the next few months due to the tariff just kicking in.

[oldcarfan]

12 hours ago, SpeedAndViolence said:

Proceed with caution.The more this drags on, the less and less (it seems) they are interested in helping me. 

I love SpotModel and have ordered a lot of stuff from them over the years. I'm guessing they are a small company and are overwhelmed with the new reality, the constant 'will they or won't they' of tariffs and the lack of solutions. I don't know what percentage of business the Asian and European companies get from US customers, but they may decide the sales aren't worth the trouble. 

[niteowl7710]

5 hours ago, fumi said:

The end of de minimis means that overseas shops cannot ship to individuals in the US due to the US government demands tariffs to be collected by the shipping agents of the origin country, and no sane shipping agent would be willing to do that only to have the packages refused by the recipients in the US, and eating the tariff already paid by the sender when that package gets returned.

If the tariffs are pre-paid why would anyone reject the package? There are not double charges. Aka I pay JapanPost via HLJ 15% taxes on my order, that's it I've paid. There is not also an $80 charge on the delivery. It's one or the other, not both, and the flat fee is only in place until February. There aren't any Duties paid on Toys (which is what Models fall under for Customs purposes) in the U.S, and we don't have a VAT or other Federal Sales Tax in place here.

[bobthehobbyguy]

The current changes eliminate the tariff exception on toys. 

[niteowl7710]

38 minutes ago, bobthehobbyguy said:

The current changes eliminate the tariff exception on toys. 

Tariffs and Duties are two separate things. Tariffs is a tax on top of everything, duties are a tax on specific things. Tariffs are in addition to a Duty due on a given item, but with the scheme to make Tariffs pre-paid on the shipping end, the duties would be charged once the item is imported into the U.S. 9503.00 (Toys) continues to have a 0% Duty.

[niteowl7710]

As an interesting aside USCP posted on FB this morning that Ukrposhta was able to quickly implement the ability to charge their 10% tariff on U.S. bound items and has resumed shipping.

Leave it to a country in an active war zone to figure things out first.

[junkyardjeff]

I have no desire to buy anything from those countries at this time,I will do my best to find locally or in the states.  I have enough in my stash to keep me busy for years so it should not effect me.

[SpeedAndViolence]

This is a screenshot from the shipping company Correos, which for those interested, is what Spotmodel opted to ship with until the USPS takes possession..   

 

 

[Dragline]

My lips are sealed... I'm being a good boy even though I don't want to be.

There, got that out. I feel better.

[oldcarfan]

I saw this on a Facebook page, for what it's worth.

[SpeedAndViolence]

3 hours ago, oldcarfan said:

I saw this on a Facebook page, for what it's worth.

That's good to hear...  I just bought from them earlier in the year before this mess started. Im sure  they have something I need.

[oldcarfan]

9 hours ago, SpeedAndViolence said:

That's good to hear...  I just bought from them earlier in the year before this mess started. Im sure  they have something I need.

They are good people. I've ordered from them several times and they have great products and service.

[oldcarfan]

Reliable information is our best tool for this situation, so I hope this helps. This one is from Model Hiro. If we come across an official announcement maybe we can post them?

[SpeedAndViolence]

@oldcarfan  I'm not considering purchasing a MFH kit at the moment, but any idea of how much these additional fees are once you clear the $800 threshold?  I paid $1200 for Cobra Daytona two years ago... 

[oldcarfan]

6 hours ago, SpeedAndViolence said:

@oldcarfan  I'm not considering purchasing a MFH kit at the moment, but any idea of how much these additional fees are once you clear the $800 threshold?  I paid $1200 for Cobra Daytona two years ago... 

Someone with more knowledge might comment, but it seems to me that the companies are about as confused as us. 

[The Junkman]

6 hours ago, oldcarfan said:

Someone with more knowledge might comment, but it seems to me that the companies are about as confused as us. 

To say nothing of those charged with making this work.  Not the ones imposing this idiocy, talking about the working types.  

(Trying really hard to not insert political commentary, I think I'm doing OK)

[Bugatti Fan]

While thing is a bit of a mess !   Hopefully this will pan out eventually as folk begin to see reason.

[niteowl7710]

18 hours ago, SpeedAndViolence said:

@oldcarfan  I'm not considering purchasing a MFH kit at the moment, but any idea of how much these additional fees are once you clear the $800 threshold?  I paid $1200 for Cobra Daytona two years ago... 

There aren't any additional fees as a $1,200 value item wouldn't be(or shouldn't have been) covered by de minimis in the first place as that's $400 more than the prior de minimis limit. You "snuck" that in here because at the time there were no tariffs on Japan and there are 0% duties on model kits - so even without a de minimis you didn't owe anything. Today you'd been looking at a $180 tax bill (15% of $1,200). 

That's really the bottom line kicker to the grand stupidity of baseline tariffs, they're taxing entire wide swaths of things that previously had no tariffs/duties regardless as to the value for self-importation even if they were over the $800. I'll be interested to see how well toy prices (like actual toys) are able to be kept artificially low through Christmas. Popular electronics (Playstation, X-Box, Nintendo Switch) have already seen price increases over the summer. 

[iamsuperdan]

14 hours ago, oldcarfan said:

Someone with more knowledge might comment, but it seems to me that the companies are about as confused as us. 

And that is exactly why a lot of companies are temporarily stopping the use of their postal systems for shipping to the US. Until the muddy waters are clear, they're just stopping.

Here's the thing though, many companies are also choosing to offer shipping through couriers like DHL or FedEx or whatever. It works, but is expensive. How badly do people want their stuff?

And work, we're wading through this issue with parts for our trucks. Parts for our US built trucks are more expensive now, and the extra shipping costs are kind of crazy. Good thing we shifted production back in January, and all of my Canadian market trucks are built in Canada now. No shipping issues here.

And on that note, the only country I'm not purchasing from right now is the US. It's disappointing that models, model parts, and supplies; not to mention vehicle parts and guitar parts, are now cheaper for me to purchase from Europe or elsewhere, than from the country closest to me.

[LDO]

I live in a neighborhood that has several banks of mail boxes, instead of one at every house. A package is out for delivery and it will have a bill. I’m hoping I get a knock at the door, but I wonder how a letter carrier would take payment. Has anyone dealt with this? 

[iamsuperdan]

I can't speak for the US, but here in Canada, we would get a parcel notice in our mailbox that states we have a parcel awaiting us at the post office and that there are COD charges involved. Then we have to go down to the post office, pay the bill, and they hand us our package. I've never refused payment, so not sure what would happen then. I guess it gets shipped back to the sender?

[LDO]

I’ll darn sure pay it. I ordered a magazine back issue from Japan. An American magazine that I couldn’t find anywhere else. A second issue that my work schedule means I can not get to the post office on a weekday.