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Old 12-02-2020, 04:48 PM
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Harpage (Danh)
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Question about GST, Import Duties, and UPS Fees

Hi,

Thinking of ordering a refractor from Teleskop-service in Germany. Total value of the purchase would be about $1170 AUD (the scope an flattener cost about $970 AUD, but shipping costs about $200 AUD). From my understanding, GST applies to all overseas imports now, and it includes shipping, so I should expect to pay about $117 GST, right?

Additionally, I heard there is an electronic entry fee of $50. But what I’m not sure about is whether UPS will charge any broker fees, or any other surcharges and such. So, does anyone here have experience importing a scope with UPS? How much was your scope valued at, and how much did you have to pay in total? UPS is the only courier available for this order, so I can’t use anything else.

Thanks in advance,

Danh.
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Old 12-02-2020, 05:44 PM
glend (Glen)
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Yes I have imported several scopes from TS, using UPS, both before and after the changes to GST.
UPS handle all of the inbound processing, so you don't have to worry about anything. They will ring you up or email you, when the package is inbound and give you the charge for the GST and their admin fee (which is reasonable I believe as otherwise you would need a broker or do it yourself). You can pay them over the phone using your credit card, they email you a receipt, and that is all there is to it. You will have excellent UPS tracking info the whole way, and honestly they are very fast. To give you an example, I have ordered from TS on a Tuesday, and by the following Monday I had the scope at my house. Be aware that TS needs to get an export clearance for your scope (so that you don't have to pay The EU VAT), and that can take a day on the TS end.

Note that in my experience, UPS call when the package is inbound, they don't wait for it to land and be stuck in a customs warehouse, so your package will usually land already cleared in terms of payment.

Tracking tends to get a bit murky once it leaves customs and it is turned over to a local carrier for delivery to you. Tracking within Australia is only as good as the local delivery guys who don't necessarily scan it every step of the way. I admit I got used to seeing every little movement, plane change, etc displayed by UPS tracking system, then things can go dark once it leaves Mascot, just my experience.
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Old 12-02-2020, 08:50 PM
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Harpage (Danh)
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Hi Glen,

Glad to know you had good experiences with UPS and TS. I can't believe it travelled all the way from Germany to here in less than a week! The tracking issues aren't much of a problem for me - as long as the scope arrives safe and sound, then that's all that matters.

Do you remember how much one of the scopes you ordered was, and approximately how much you had to pay to UPS? Also, just to confirm - telescopes don't have any duties, and the admin fee includes the customs clearance and brokerage fee? So nothing else?

Thanks.
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Old 13-02-2020, 07:13 AM
glend (Glen)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Harpage View Post
Hi Glen,

Glad to know you had good experiences with UPS and TS. I can't believe it travelled all the way from Germany to here in less than a week! The tracking issues aren't much of a problem for me - as long as the scope arrives safe and sound, then that's all that matters.

Do you remember how much one of the scopes you ordered was, and approximately how much you had to pay to UPS? Also, just to confirm - telescopes don't have any duties, and the admin fee includes the customs clearance and brokerage fee? So nothing else?

Thanks.
Well don't forget they are behind us by half a day, so timing of when you place the order is important for delivery times. For example if you order on say a Wednesday or Thursday here, it could leave there before the weekend. If you order on a Saturday or Sunday here they may not action it until their Monday. So yeah a week of transit is very doable, and it usually travels via the US UPS depots, so from Germany, to Louisville, to Honolulu, to Sydney.

I would say 10% is very close, being mostly the GST charge. The actual UPS shipping charge is a standard one by weight, or size, from TS, and they quote that during checkout. That is separate to the Inbound charges I spoke of below, which would be the clearance charges/admin, but no others required.

I have not had any damage concerns, as TS always double/triple box for shipping. The exterior shipping box can contain foam beads, and the internal box or boxes can sit in that foam bead bed. My TS115 APO was triple boxed.
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Old 13-02-2020, 02:31 PM
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Harpage (Danh)
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Thanks for the info Glen.
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Old 13-02-2020, 11:12 PM
Astronovice (Calvin)
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UPS Charges

Hi Danh,

As Glen has said importing from TS via UPS is straightforward. Last September I bought goods from TS to value $2194 including shipping. UPS charges for GST and handling etc totalled $315.
I ordered the goods on September 4th and they were delivered to me in far north QLD on the 13th.
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