I was thinking of buying a Caravel on ebay Italy and having it shipped to the US and was wondering if anyone has experience of customs (4%?) duty or other fees besides the shipping cost associated with the purchase. Thanks.

Holly

If you have the shipping company deal with clearing customs, then there will be brokerage fees, sometimes substantial ones (depending on carrier). If you can collect the package at the depot (airport, for example) and file the customs paperwork yourself, the fees are minimal.

Does customs contact you or is it the shipping company that contacts you? If i buy it, I would have it shipped to San Francisco and can fill out the forms and pick it up. The last espresso machine i bought from italy and had it shipped to my home in china, i paid a hefty custom fee (20% of retail) and was contacted by UPS directly and was'nt even told there was an option of picking it up myself...

Parcel companies like UPS and Fedex are unlikely to let you do your own customs clearance. A long time ago I used to import fine mechanical clocks from Germany and the UK and the UPS customs brokerage fees were not too bad. Conversely, with a very large clock, I once had a very bad experience with Schenker Logistics (the clock was too big for Fedex or UPS at the time) and was reamed up the A** by their customs broker.

You might consider calling the likely shipper to find out their rates. If it is UPS and the shipment is coming in to the USA, you might find that the customs brokerage fees (not the duty itself, which is another matter) to be minimal and not worth your efforts to avoid.

ken

Ken Fox wrote:Parcel companies like UPS and Fedex are unlikely to let you do your own customs clearance.

UPS will let you, BUT they will not guaranty the delivery - so if you pay for next day, which can be expensive, and use your own broker it may take a week to get there (or longer - if they really feel like screwing you). My wife's work refuses to use them for this purpose alone, as they have their own broker. Also, UPS's cut off dollar amount for not paying any brokerage fees is $20. Anything above that and you are screwed per se.

KnowGood wrote:UPS will let you, BUT they will not guaranty the delivery - so if you pay for next day, which can be expensive, and use your own broker it may take a week to get there (or longer - if they really feel like screwing you). My wife's work refuses to use them for this purpose alone, as they have their own broker. Also, UPS's cut off dollar amount for not paying any brokerage fees is $20. Anything above that and you are screwed per se.

I would not extrapolate to US deliveries what happens in Canada. UPS has a bad reputation among Canadians for their charges surrounding customs clearance in Canada; I have read quite a few horror stories online and assume them to be based in fact.

I was responding specifically to the situation with incoming shipments to the USA, which in my experience were fine. If I recall correctly, the customs brokerage fees were already bundled into the shipping charges I paid, so there was no separate customs clearance charge for shipments I received.

ken

When I bought my new Microcasa 8/09 it was delivered from Italy by Fed Ex 2 Day service. About a week after it arrived I received a bill from Fed Ex for a $45 brokerage fee & the 4 or 4.5% duty.

About 25 years ago I had a custom made bicycle ordered at the factory in Leeds England (I visited the factory). At the time I was living in NYC and it arrived at JFK and I received a bill for several hundred dollars to retrieve it, this was not customs and no broker involve. I reported it stolen to the insurance and eventually was able to pick it up at the airport with only paying a small customs duty. The "wise guys" tried to get a couple of hundred dollars out of me.

Marvin

If it is being used in Italy I am sure it is 230 volt 50 hz. If you need service what are you going to do about parts??? The 220 volt machines that are imported and built to be use in the USA are 60 hz not 50 hz. You will have problems with extremely noisy solenoid valves for starters. Remember the expression buyer beware??