Buying stuff via Mail Order

Does anyone know if import duty is applicable if I mail order stuff from Evens or Chain Reaction Cycle?  How troublesome will it be?

 

Thanks.

Hi TT. I have ordered stuff from CR and Evans. Both are really efficient and I've never had stuff go missing. If it's worth over 1000TB including postage then usually you will have to pay 7% GST (VAT) plus import tax, which seems to vary between 20-30% depending on what customs officers think the parts are for. My bicycle parts are sometimes classified as 'Moto Parts' and there's no arguing. Expect parcels to be opened and inspected. If stuff is sent via DHL or similar courier, there is also an extra charge and that seems to be around 20%-30%. DHL told me it was their 'Freight Charge' and explained usefully that it was 'A charge on freight.' So it is far cheaper if you can get stuff sent via normal post office mail and collect from your nearest PO. I don't think Evans offers this option but CR sometimes sends smaller parcels by normal mail (£9.99 postage charge). But they also sometimes use DHL for that rate too and they cannot tell you at time of ordering which they will use so you end up with this random DHL freight charge. So estimate that you will pay the UK non-VAT price plus postage fee plus 27%-57% extra on collection. There's no option to ignore a parcel even if it massively overcharged by a courier etc as they will chase you later and add more fees. I did order some stuff from China and it came via EMS courier but arrived at the post office so no random freight charge for that.

Great question. It comes up often, really.

 

There is some good advice in this forum topic about bringing bikes into Thailand - http://bicyclethaila...land/?hl=online

 

Concerning buying bicycle items online from CRC and EVENS and having them shipped to you in Thailand...

 

Here are some basic guidelines:

1. Keep your orders small. In size and dollar amount. BIG boxes with BIG declared values attract BIG attention.

2. Use a Thai address and a Thai person's name (preferable) for shipping purposes.

3. If at all possible have your order routed through a neighboring country (a package from Singapore, Taiwan, or Hong Kong to Thailand is supposedly less scrutinized than a package from the U.K. to Thailand).

4. Avoid using express delivery services like DHL or FedEx. It will do nothing to get the shipment to your door faster once it reaches Thailand.

5. Be ready to pay 7% VAT and anywhere from 20% to 40% customs 'tax', 'duty', or whatever they like to call it these days.

6. Be delightfully surprised when your shipment arrives 'under the radar'. Don't expect ALL of them to make it through ;-)

Thanks, Tim & CMO.  Really great info.  

I wanted to add some details to this thread. Hopefully, it will help some one with their decision of whether to order items and have them shipped to Thailand.
 
From recent personal experience here are the details of a package I ordered from Chain Reaction Cycles (CRC) in the U.K.
 
I chose it to be delivered standard (which was free from Chain Reaction Cycles) and it took approximately 22 days to arrive (3 weeks). I did not choose DHL or any other Express delivery option.
 
The contents were listed simply as 'New Cycling Goods' (by CRC) and they were valued at 45.49 GBP. The weight of the package was 1.095 Kg.
 
From the photos you can see:
 
Photo 1 - The standard postal form that you will receive in your mailbox when a package has arrived and you need to visit the post office in order to collect it. This standard form is stating that a fee (consisting of Import Duty + Value Added Tax) is due upon pickup and the post office will also require the item to be signed for (by the recipient with some form of photo ID). No you can not send someone else to pick up your package - even if send them with your ID.

 Standard postal form.JPG   31.02KB   0 downloads
 
Photo 2 - On the standard postal form there will be a stamp stating (in Thai and English) that your parcel is Subject to Customs Law and that each item in your parcel valued over 1,500 Thai Baht will be charged for Import Duty and Value Added Tax.

 Subject to customs law.JPG   31.87KB   0 downloads
 
Photo 3 - On the outside of my parcel a customs official determined that the value of 45.49 GBP (about 2,250 THB) for the 'bike part' should be taxed at a 10% rate. This percentage will be written on the outside of the parcel and noted on the standard postal form. The customs official has the authority to open the parcel in order to determine if the items listed and/or the value written is correct or fraudulent.

 Bike part 10% image.JPG   31.89KB   0 downloads
 
Photo 4 - The 200 Thai baht Import Duty fee is written on the standard postal form. It is shown as 10% of the 2,000 Thai baht value of my 'bike part'.

 Simply listed as bike part.JPG   26.78KB   0 downloads

 
Photo 5 - An additional 154 Thai Baht was collected for Value Added Tax (VAT). This amount is 7% of the 45.49 GBP (in Thai Baht of course).

 2000 baht value.JPG   28.79KB   0 downloads

 
So, my standard delivery parcel valued at 45.49 GBP, weighing 1.095 Kg from Chain Reaction Cycles in the U.K. cost me a total of 374 Thai Baht to collect.
 
Oh, did I forget to mention the 20 Thai Baht 'handling fee' that the post office charged on top of the 354 Thai baht Import Duty and Value Added Tax?
 
200 Import Duty + 154  Value Added Tax + 20 Post Office handling fee = 374 Thai baht

Yes, It's definitely pot luck.  On the larger scale (containers) they absolutely sting you.  Currently I'm getting hit for 400, 000 THB on an order worth just slightly less.  Its incomprehensible actually, especially when they are E-bikes which are good for the environment etc.

 

On the smaller scale, tax on parts etc should be 10% only + 7% VAT.   The problem is they charge whatever they want actually.  Last time I bought in some LockAlarms, they tried to charge 100% again (even with Thai names).  We had to explain this is totally "stupid" & they dropped the price to 2000THB.  On this occasion my wife waited for the receipt which only had 465 THB on it.  Obviously, they pocketed the rest.  

Bottom line - avoid ordering anything which is shipped to Thailand via DHL. I order a lot of bike accessories etc from Ebay and always make sure the seller uses a standard postal service from whatever country it's being shipped from. That includes the US Postal system, Royal Post, China Post etc.

Addendum: Just ordered some forks from wiggle.co.uk. They're usually more expensive than CR or Evans and have less gear but they had some good prices for RockShox Recons. They offer free post to Thailand and they didn't send via DHL. Actually the stuff left EU via some Spanish outfit but arrived ultimately via EMS in about seven days. With EMS you collect from the post office. The PO admittedly makes fairly random charges for import tax but they don't have the huge admin fee 'freight charge' that DHL adds so it's always much cheaper than DHL. Wiggle told me that they don't use DHL so, for the time being, they go to the top of my list for cheap fees when ordering from UK. CR and Evans still make you use DHL if your parcel weighs much over 1.5-2kg or is bigger in size so avoid these.