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I recently ordered a full wimberley head, flash bracket etc. from Naturescape. The items were over $1k which is apparently the magic figure to grab the attention of the Customs people.
They sent me a great wad of paperwork and I guess they want some money from me for GST and who knows what else.

Is there anyone out there who has been through this experience and could give me any helpful advice.

Or maybe someone who works in Customs can help me to "get it right first time" to avoid in further delays with my stuff.

Thankyou

Bob G

P.S. If I posted this in the wrong section... whoops...sorry

Bob G, sorry to hear that, indeed $1k is the magic figure or the courier you use. Worth doing a search always before ordering. Grin and bear it is all I can advise.

Good luck

I've been in this situation before (not with camera gear mail orders, but that's another story....)

Glen is right! Fill out the forms, pay the money, and be happy.

Don't get into an argument with customs, you won't win.

Oh, and avoid UPS in the future.....

Cheers

Thanks guys.

It has always been my intention to pay up etc.

But the bloody paperwork they sent me is more than a little bit confusing.

Guess I just have to wade my way through it.

And send it to them hoping I have done it correctly.

Thanks again


Bob G

... Obsolete ...

FedEx, UPS, DHL. all of them are scammers that hit you for duty and gst regardless of customs asking or not.
We use a small company that just got swallowed by toll to bring stuff from england and when we get hit by customs there is a wad of paperwork.
A small parcel that we needed urgently got sent a couple of weeks ago and unfortunately got sent via ups, they tried to hit us up for duty and gst before it had even hit customs, when we called their bluff and asked for customs forms the whole delivery got delayed for a week due to some 'paperwork issues'.
I'm more than certain they keep any money they charge if the item isn't caught by customs on its way in, and the 'paperwork issue' was them getting caught out and charging us without needing to.

The paperwork looks confusing at first but it's really not and if you do get stuck just give them a call and they'll be happy to help. The hardest part is finding the correct tarriff rate but it's all on the website but again if you can't find it (I had some trouble finding the last one as it wasn't in the section I expected) just give them a call.

Alternatively post your specific questons here and I'm sure myself or someone will be happy to help.

Note there's a processing fee for that paperwork as well, $4x.xx IIRC but you should only have to do most of it once (2 of the forms will just be for registration into the customs system to get you an ID).

That is sad to hear... let us know how much you end up paying and how it goes