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since early May (10% globally, 55% China) and then as the individual country agreements fell into place those either superceded or replaced the baseline.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since early May (10% globally, 55% China) and then as the individual country agreements fell into place those either superceded or replaced the baseline.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.