Desmolicious wrote:
I received a tax bill from the State of California for the Leica M6 that I bought/shipped from England.
Curious about your statement that I didn’t have to pay that, because the State of California disagrees. And they hold all the cards.
Maybe something changed. I have not paid duties on anything coming from abroad, except some fees when FedEx was used or the eBay sales tax they tack on, wherever you buy from. And I have bought a lot from abroad while in the US.
johnvanr wrote:
Maybe something changed. I have not paid duties on anything coming from abroad, except some fees when FedEx was used or the eBay sales tax they tack on, wherever you buy from. And I have bought a lot from abroad while in the US.
This is not import duties strictly speaking. It is state sales tax for the state of California. Most states say that you need to pay sales tax on items that you buy from a retailer outside of the state. What I find interesting is that the state of California knew he bought it when it came from outside of the country and sent him a bill.
Bob W wrote:
This is not import duties strictly speaking. It is state sales tax for the state of California. Most states say that you need to pay sales tax on items that you buy from a retailer outside of the state. What I find interesting is that the state of California knew he bought it when it came from outside of the country and sent him a bill.
I wondered later too how a state could levy an import duty, seeing that its the federal government that levies those duties.
Anyway, I edited my comment to reflect what others have said. The reactions to my comment only underscore the hesitation of many Americans to buy from abroad.
There shouldn't be any dispute on whether there is any US import duty on still camera and lenses, as it can be looked up on the US Customs website. The last time I looked, there was no import duty. I've bought cameras from dealers in the UK and in Japan, and did not have to pay any import duty. There was a time when UPS had a $75 charge for "customs clearance" (actually, I don't recall exactly what it was called), but my cameras were sent by another courier company.
Mitch Alland wrote:
There shouldn't be any dispute on whether there is any US import duty on still camera and lenses, as it can be looked up on the US Customs website. The last time I looked, there was no import duty. I've bought cameras from dealers in the UK and in Japan, and did not have to pay any import duty. There was a time when UPS had a $75 charge for "customs clearance" (actually, I don't recall exactly what it was called), but my cameras were sent by another courier company.
Then why was I charged a US customs duty on my Leica lenses just 3 months ago. Also charged duty on my M6 from Japan last year. Either the US Customs Duty web site is outdated or the US customs duty officer is updated.
stgrove wrote:
Then why was I charged a US customs duty on my Leica lenses just 3 months ago. Also charged duty on my M6 from Japan last year. Either the US Customs Duty web site is outdated or the US customs duty officer is updated.
For us US folks, if you buy from Japan, there are no duties (at least in the $100-1000 range). Likewise, I have never paid a duty from anything I've purchased from the UK. Nor China.
All of my purchases from EU countries have been changed import duties. All of them.
Oldwino wrote:
For us US folks, if you buy from Japan, there are no duties (at least in the $100-1000 range). Likewise, I have never paid a duty from anything I've purchased from the UK. Nor China.
All of my purchases from EU countries have been changed import duties. All of them.
All of my camera purchases from Japan ( Hasselblad SWC, Leica M6, etc) were more than $1k and on all the US Customs officer charged duty.
As for when you look at info on the internet nothing seems sacred, but to emphatically say something like, "No duties are charged on camera or lenses" is irresponsible especially when others are paying US Customs duties regularly and even at the same week this statement is made and back to a many years ago. No changes AFA US Customs duty charges on camera gear from my experience in the last 12 years. Once the value gets up to $500 or more I get charged as a US citizen generally no matter where it comes from-Canada, Europe, Japan or HK.
stgrove wrote:
....Once the value gets up to $500 or more I get charged as a US citizen...
Being a US citizen has nothing to do with it: US import duties are charged on any dutiable items imported into the US, regardless of whether you're a citizen or not. I just downloaded Chapter 90 from the website, HTS.USITC.GOV. I read it to say that cameras are duty-free, under the general heading of 9006 — and that has been my experience. I haven't looked into the duty status of lenses.
I could care what the statues say, I get charged for cameras coming into the US.
It seems to be people saying there are no duties have never imported a camera into the US from either EU , Japan , HK etc. I speak from experience not from reading US government websites. My gosh, cut it out! It's a fact people get charged US duties on a regular basis when importing cameras into the US.
Mitch Alland wrote:
There shouldn't be any dispute on whether there is any US import duty on still camera and lenses, as it can be looked up on the US Customs website. The last time I looked, there was no import duty. I've bought cameras from dealers in the UK and in Japan, and did not have to pay any import duty. There was a time when UPS had a $75 charge for "customs clearance" (actually, I don't recall exactly what it was called), but my cameras were sent by another courier company.
I think there needs to be a little clarification here..
UPS, DHL and maybe FedEx charge what they claim is a customs clearance fee.
They also report the customs clearance to whatever state entity it is going to.
So for my 2022 M6 - DHL - they charged me that 'customs clearance' fee - which IMO is a scam because I already paid DHL's shipping fee and they knew where it was going. This was a little add on they do later - and if you do not pay it they will not deliver the camera. If it was legit - add that to the shipping cost at the beginning so there are no surprises.
Then... the shipper on the import forms reported it to the State of California who then hit me up with a tax charge which I had to pay.
For some reason if sellers ship with a service that is then handed off to USPS, none of this happens.
AndrewPiper wrote:
Wow.. quite the mix of replies..SOme I agree with and some lets just say I dont.
I would for my part say I ALWAYS speak with courtesy, manners and a friendly deposition which is very easy. Not hard to be decent really..
But OK..Maybe my membership here isnt the best idea as it would seem you people have a very protectionist regime if we/I ...anyone outside the US replies to an ad!
Quite sad really as clearly the item I was enquiring about hadnt been sold..lol..lol
Basically there were two things against you. Firstly you are new here with no history. Why would anyone take a gamble on selling to you?
Secondly, you replied to the post rather than using PM. Many people don’t check their listings after they posted them. In fact many say right in the listing not to reply to the post. It just clogs the for sale listing with a bunch of gibberish. You should have PM’d the member if you wanted to communicate with them.
Best way to fix this is actually join FM to discuss photography. There are many boards here, contribute to the forum and get yourself established. This will go a long way to getting people comfortable with you and entertaining your offers.
stgrove wrote:
...It seems to be people saying there are no duties have never imported a camera into the US from either EU , Japan , HK etc...
I have imported into the US new cameras from the UK and Japan and a used lens from Australia, and paid no import duty on any of these. As Desmolicious states, some people I know were charged a $75 customs clearance fee by UPS, but there was a discussion on a photo forum — can't recall which one — that this was a spurious charge and could be avoided by using another courier service.
chez wrote:
Basically there were two things against you. Firstly you are new here with no history. Why would anyone take a gamble on selling to you?
Secondly, you replied to the post rather than using PM. Many people don’t check their listings after they posted them. In fact many say right in the listing not to reply to the post. It just clogs the for sale listing with a bunch of gibberish. You should have PM’d the member if you wanted to communicate with them.
Best way to fix this is actually join FM to discuss photography. There are many boards here, contribute to the forum and get yourself established. This will go a long way to getting people comfortable with you and entertaining your offers....Show more →
I did send a pm and did send a public message and have checked it daily since sending expecting a reply!
How can new people get over the fact we have no feedback..? I would love to know the answer to that.
As far as risk is concerned..hmm..Where is the risk to the seller?? They receive the money and then and only then do they post said item. They have been paid in full so clearly ZERO risk..
stgrove wrote:
All of my camera purchases from Japan ( Hasselblad SWC, Leica M6, etc) were more than $1k and on all the US Customs officer charged duty.
As for when you look at info on the internet nothing seems sacred, but to emphatically say something like, "No duties are charged on camera or lenses" is irresponsible especially when others are paying US Customs duties regularly and even at the same week this statement is made and back to a many years ago. No changes AFA US Customs duty charges on camera gear from my experience in the last 12 years. Once the value gets up to $500 or more I get charged as a US citizen generally no matter where it comes from-Canada, Europe, Japan or HK....Show more →
That’s really strange. I have bought tons of gear from different Asian countries and not once paid duties. And as Mitch said, I also remember reading in the customs site that photographic equipment doesn’t carry duties. It might have changed, but your experience before any potential changes doesn’t match mine at all, nor my understanding of the rules at the time.
Desmolicious wrote:
I think there needs to be a little clarification here..
UPS, DHL and maybe FedEx charge what they claim is a customs clearance fee.
They also report the customs clearance to whatever state entity it is going to.
So for my 2022 M6 - DHL - they charged me that 'customs clearance' fee - which IMO is a scam because I already paid DHL's shipping fee and they knew where it was going. This was a little add on they do later - and if you do not pay it they will not deliver the camera. If it was legit - add that to the shipping cost at the beginning so there are no surprises.
Then... the shipper on the import forms reported it to the State of California who then hit me up with a tax charge which I had to pay.
For some reason if sellers ship with a service that is then handed off to USPS, none of this happens....Show more →
Interesting, I’ve been hit with fees by FedEx, but always after delivery and without getting a sales tax charge from NYS.
AndrewPiper wrote:
I did send a pm and did send a public message and have checked it daily since sending expecting a reply!
How can new people get over the fact we have no feedback..? I would love to know the answer to that.
As far as risk is concerned..hmm..Where is the risk to the seller?? They receive the money and then and only then do they post said item. They have been paid in full so clearly ZERO risk..
The risk to the seller is that you say you didn’t receive the item or claim it was broken, while in fact you received it and it’s working fine. PayPal will likely take your side and pull the money you paid from the seller, who now has no money and no item.
So, since that’s the reality, the seller needs to believe that they can trust you. When I was new here, I gave my eBay feedback. With new people, if I consider it worth the hassle, I will ask for a ton of personal information before I proceed. Basically, I want to be able to call the local cops on them. That’s a bit harder internationally.
It’s not fair, but it’s understandable.
As to someone not responding to a PM, that’s a different story. Common courtesy would expect a response.
Re. the original post in this thread. How about buyers who send a message "is it available" and then never respond when you reply? Or, "I will take it" and then come up with an excuse on how they are waiting to sell something to raise money. I had quite a few of these.
Bottom line, no one is obligated to reply to anyone, so no need to feel offended.
Jaree wrote:
Re. the original post in this thread. How about buyers who send a message "is it available" and then never respond when you reply? Or, "I will take it" and then come up with an excuse on how they are waiting to sell something to raise money. I had quite a few of these.
Bottom line, no one is obligated to reply to anyone, so no need to feel offended.
To me the funniest ones are someone saying they like to buy it but they’re just a poor student and could I give it to them for a steep discount. I was a poor student when I had my old Pentax, but I didn’t go around asking random strangers for gear. Have some perspective…
