Cue import tax?? What is this?

Based on my experience in Canada, there are probably two components here.

1. Actual duty or taxes. I don't know if these apply or what they are, but if they apply they are charged by your government. For me in Canada, there are taxes imposed on some imports.

2. A customs brokerage fee. This is a charge by a private company contracted by the courier company to get your package through customs. In my experience, the customs brokerage fee can be much higher than the taxes themselves.

I have been burned once (and only once) on 2. I did some investigation and found that (a) if I get a package sent to me from the US via USPS, the postal service deals with customs and there is no customs brokerage fee - you just pay the taxes; and (b) some courier companies do offer an all-inclusive price that includes customers brokerage, usually if you go for the higher shipping options.

As a result of this, I will only buy US products if they are shipped via USPS.

I suggest that if anyone is buying stuff from another country they figure out the best way to get the product to them without paying the customs brokerage fee.

Gideon
 
If you want to find out if this is a scam send them your credit number, ss number, PayPal password, and a money order for $1000. See what happens..
By the way, I have to charge you $500 for my assistance..I only take cash or beautiful women. Let me know when she is coming over. I have to the wife out of the house.
 
garczar said:
IEvery country in Europe is going broke so i guess this their way of paying some bills.
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If this is an IMPORT duty (tax), it would be paid to the USA, not some country in Europe. Thus, (if true) this would be the USA's way of paying the bills, so it won't go broke.

Check who the payment is actually going to should help in determining the legitimacy of the charge.

Thank you kindly.
 
ChopStick said:
I recently bought a Mezz Carom Cue from Kozoom. It was shipped to me from France. I received the cue last week. Now I get an email from this outfit IBC Customs Brokerage, Inc. demanding "payment of duties and taxes" regarding my recent import of "billiards accessories".

Anyone ever heard of this? I am inclined not to pay. I never agreed to pay it in the first place.
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I got a Hanbat from Kozoom as did a couple of other guys I play with and none of us got anything like this.
 
brokerage fees

First, thanks for the heads-up on Molinari gloves. Boffo!!!

Now , for the ugly truth. You did implicitly sign up for any fees imposed at destination. See "customer care/shipping and delivery" on Kozoom home page.

Brianna's link explains it all.

Full disclosure: I was a licensed customs broker for twenty years, mostly on the Canadian border.

pete
 
Never heard of charges coming after delivery unless you have an account with the delivery service.

The delivery company would hold the item until ransom was paid. :D
 
Customs wasn't letting this cue go without someone's filing a parchment.

You could have driven from Orlando to Memphis (I assume) and filed the entry papers yourself. The customs guy/gal at Fedex would have helped you.

Is it worth 42 bucks to have this done remotely rather than appear in person?

You got an unobtanium (in the US) cue. I'm assuming you're not gonna remit Orlando sales/use tax to Tallahassee. There's 30 bucks right there.

You got at least a ten dollar lesson on the ins and outs of offshore trading.

Seems like wash to me.

pete
 
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GideonF said:
Based on my experience in Canada, there are probably two components here.

1. Actual duty or taxes. I don't know if these apply or what they are, but if they apply they are charged by your government. For me in Canada, there are taxes imposed on some imports.

2. A customs brokerage fee. This is a charge by a private company contracted by the courier company to get your package through customs. In my experience, the customs brokerage fee can be much higher than the taxes themselves.

I have been burned once (and only once) on 2. I did some investigation and found that (a) if I get a package sent to me from the US via USPS, the postal service deals with customs and there is no customs brokerage fee - you just pay the taxes; and (b) some courier companies do offer an all-inclusive price that includes customers brokerage, usually if you go for the higher shipping options.

As a result of this, I will only buy US products if they are shipped via USPS.

I suggest that if anyone is buying stuff from another country they figure out the best way to get the product to them without paying the customs brokerage fee.

Gideon
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I too am also from Canada and I'd like to add one more thing to this. The United States, Canada and Mexico are under the NAFTA (North American Free Trade Agreement). What this means is that, under this agreement, any duties or taxes that were applied to an internationally delivered product made in any of the above stated countries to one another are exempt from it. If you are somehow taxed and or received duties, you can fill out a form for a refund. You just have to provide proof that it's actually made in those countries.

But aside from that, OP you've never had to pay customs/duties before? I have to deal with this all the time whenever I get something delivered internationally via UPS/FedEx and it's usually a ridiculously stupid amount. I prefer to have my items shipped via their country's governmental carrier (eg USPS, Canada Post, EMS, Royal Mail etc).
 
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cueenvy said:
It's a scam
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Actually it's not a scam except that OUR government is the one getting the money from it.. I was sent a letter saying that my package was being held until the extortion fee was paid based on the value of the item I was receiving and it was a Customs and DHS document.. You get screwed at every turn...
 
paulcourville said:
Actually it's not a scam except that OUR government is the one getting the money from it.. I was sent a letter saying that my package was being held until the extortion fee was paid based on the value of the item I was receiving and it was a Customs and DHS document.. You get screwed at every turn...
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Only if you think your money is yours.

That's the government's money and they're gonna get it all back in the long run.

Not all of it at the same time, but yeah...uncle Sam will have all of it.
 
Sounds like it's VAT (Value added tax) like they have in Europe, and if so you're likely gonna have to pay it. I ordered a Snooker cue from Mike Wooldridge in England years ago and ran into this VAT thing and had to pay it to get my cue. It was like 20% if I recall correctly.
 
just dont pay anything that isnt from the gov. and you can vette it.

never pay any bill you havent known about, and anything that is sent over the internet.

and why on earth would anyone pay a bill from someone they dont know and over an email to boot.
 
maha said:
just dont pay anything that isnt from the gov. and you can vette it.

never pay any bill you havent known about, and anything that is sent over the internet.

and why on earth would anyone pay a bill from someone they dont know and over an email to boot.
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only thing i can come up with is people pay because they don't like money
 
This is an eight year old thread. Maybe the OP could tell us how it came out.
 
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