im fucking screwed

[qumefox]

The upside is that if the laser was damaged in route, it's insured. If it was declared as a low value item with no insurance to sideskirt import fees and it got damaged.. somebody would just be SOL then..

 

[Elektrotechniker]

Those taxes and fees are in place to encourage people to buy from within their own country instead of sending their money abroad. It may be frustrating and seem unfair, but the money, like other taxes, goes towards paying for what your country does for you.

There are obviously times at which fees and taxes are completely bizarre and unfair. For instance, a $14 fee for the "service" of customs sending you a letter to tell you that you have to pay to get your item.. or the time I had to pay $36 to get a small helmet camera costing $19 through customs. You could also argue that it is silly to enforce protectionism when the item in question is not produced in the buyer's country, which is typically the case for lasers.

If you want to make it less likely that you have to pay fees and taxes, avoid putting high values on the postage info, avoid insurance and use the smallest box or envelope you can (and large envelope rather than small box). Using less expensive shipping options (flatrate first class instead of Express, Fedex) will also make it less likely that customs will inspect and add fees to your package. However, all these things will make it more likely that your package is damaged or lost and that you receive no compensation in those cases, so do it at your own risk.

Seb

I was afraid to have it shipped without insurance. You would do the same. I guess. Fucking shit. It never occured to me before.

 

[Jaseth]

I was afraid to have it shipped without insurance. You would do the same. I guess. Fucking shit. It never occured to me before.

Yes, I would also have chosen insurance on an item such as this. Look on the bright side - at least you have received a working argon (remember to check if the head is rattling before you pay them anything though) rather than it being lost in transaction and you being out $600.

When you are considering whether you want to and can afford to buy something online, always add import taxes and about $15 for fees to the price and see if you still want to buy it. You will get lucky at times, but if you choose the safe shipping options, you are very likely to run into these extra costs. If you add them from the beginning, you will not be disappointed later.

 

[Coherent Light]

Man Customs SUCK!!! What a SCAM!!! They do NOTHING, but still take peoples money. I feel your pain Silvershot!!!:beer:

 

[Elektrotechniker]

Thanks guys, although you can do nothing about it, I now know I have not been the only victim :/

 

[Elektrotechniker]

UPDATE: I got it finally. I paid the amount. Before doing so I asked if I could check if the item was okay. The woman said no, you need to pay first. Well I insisted but she refused. Anyway I got it to my house, opened it, and the head seems to be okay at least thats what I want to believe. Nothing seems to move inside it All I need now is wait for the fan and build my interface It was quite risky with all this custom shit. it could be worse,( laser smashed or custom fee higher ). I'll post a review of this system as soon as I get it up and running.

 

[Rafa]

The woman that said no has to be a pure asshole. You have the RIGHT to open it BEFORE you pay ANYTHING. Well, thats in Spain... but it's probably the same thing in all the UE countries.

 

[reginak]

And you're the lucky ones.... Here the import taxes for some products are over 60%, sometimes over 80%. So I always ask to the seller (with lasers anyway) to write "led flashlight" with a value no higher than US$100,00, sometimes I get lucky and they don't bother to charge me.

Cheers

 

[Elektrotechniker]

And you're the lucky ones.... Here the import taxes for some products are over 60%, sometimes over 80%. So I always ask to the seller (with lasers anyway) to write "led flashlight" with a value no higher than US$100,00, sometimes I get lucky and they don't bother to charge me.

Cheers

Yeah I had no issues till now. It's the first time I need to pay for a package to get it.

 

[HIMNL9]

The woman that said no has to be a pure asshole. You have the RIGHT to open it BEFORE you pay ANYTHING. Well, thats in Spain... but it's probably the same thing in all the UE countries.

Not everywhere ..... here in Italy you can only choose to pay and get it, BEFORE open it, or reject to pay and not get it ..... no other choices.

The only thing that you can legally do if you suspect a damage and still want to get the package, is to sign the delivery note "with reserve to check the content", and this give you the right to file a claim if the content is damaged (if you don't do this, you also lost the right to claim after, cause your sign automatically means "i've received integer packages", without that clause) ..... but NO RIGHTS to open and check it before, also in front of the postman / courier.

 

[Elektrotechniker]

Not everywhere ..... here in Italy you can only choose to pay and get it, BEFORE open it, or reject to pay and not get it ..... no other choices.

The only thing that you can legally do if you suspect a damage and still want to get the package, is to sign the delivery note "with reserve to check the content", and this give you the right to file a claim if the content is damaged (if you don't do this, you also lost the right to claim after, cause your sign automatically means "i've received integer packages", without that clause) ..... but NO RIGHTS to open and check it before, also in front of the postman / courier.

Same here.

 

[donprado]

Probably, there is one possibility to get at least a part of the money back:

you have to send a parcel back to MarioMaster (of course not the laser, just a dummy) and go through customs: when you resend an item, they have to give you the import taxes back. :eg:
So all in all, you get back the taxes, but have to pay for shipping something back to MarioMaster. So probably, you have only to build ONE laser and sell it here to recover the money

 

[Elektrotechniker]

Probably, there is one possibility to get at least a part of the money back:

you have to send a parcel back to MarioMaster (of course not the laser, just a dummy) and go through customs: when you resend an item, they have to give you the import taxes back. :eg:
So all in all, you get back the taxes, but have to pay for shipping something back to MarioMaster. So probably, you have only to build ONE laser and sell it here to recover the money

I am not sure about this. I don't wanna mess with this matter anymore anyway. Need to recover some money in a legit way. Not that I don't want in a cheaty way but at the moment need something that would work.