I have been buying a lots of products from Aliexpress and when I received them even though they are or $10 the seller will mark them as $2 or $3.
I think we already are paying them a fair price. Isn't that fooling the system to save money ?
They declare packages as a lower value to try and avoid customs tax as some countries have a much lower threshold than Australia.
avoid customs tax
the sellers are technically not avoiding the customs taxes. the importer is the party that's liable to pay vat/gst and duty.
Yes that's what I meant. They're doing you a favour.
I just felt that I should point out that from the 1st of July, Australia will have the lowest possible threshold, with on-line marketplaces (and other vendors) shipping items from overseas (worth less than $1000) having to "volunteer" for GST registration.
If a flat $5 fee was introduced as well, I wonder how we would fare by world standards? Maybe a foreigner can chime in.
With a $5 flat fee we'd probably be the winners of the prestigious 'getting shafted' award.
People from the UK do the most grumbling, it's common to see forums posts along the lines of "Yeah, that'll cost me a fiver plus anthor fifteen in fees so not worth it".
They have a 20% VAT on anything over $15. They may cop a 'handling fee' of about $15 anyway, and then customs fees as well for higher priced items (> $250)
'Gift' only counts for stuff under $100.
There's also another tax on items from outside the UE, which of course is everywhere these days. Go Brexit! Lol.
There will be a federal budget on may 8. Get ready to hear the treasurer postpone it another year.
some marked as a gift / sample with 0 value.
If anything the sellers are trying to save you, OP (the buyer), money.
This is good (for us buyers), why is this an issue for you?
As Clear mentioned above, the buyer/importer is liable for any import fees/taxes, not the sellers.
P/s: you will find that some sellers even refuse buyers’ request to falsely declare item as cheaper to save them of import fees. Now that is not good for buyers (but good with the laws)
Read it again, I said even though it is $10 (much less than $1000)
You do realise Australia is not the only country Aliexpress sellers sell to right?
Some countries, again, as Clear mentioned above, read it again, have much lower tax-free threshold than us.
Like I said, the sellers save no money doing this, it’s you they are trying to help save money.
And for the record I don’t think it’s out of the goodness of their hearts, it’s just that people are more likely to buy from them if they don’t get hit with a tax/import bill when items reach destination countries.
Again, the buyers ultimately save money, the government may lose out some profit, the sellers may make more sales.
Unless you are The government, tell me why this is an issue to begin with?
Furthermore the sellers don't necessarily know the tax threshold for each country so they just declare EVERYTHING low.
Clearly don't understand how an individual can succeed if society fails :|
This is a good thing and part of the reason I like buying from and dealing with Chinese.
They willing help their customers circumvent taxation and controls.
Another example is cheap Chinese DVD players were dead easy to region unlock whilst expensive Sony ones were not.
If I bought something that is over $1,000 I would hope that they bumped down the price.
Note that if Customs assess the item value to be over $1,000 they'll still impost the fees.
Ah crap….
And cutting your Ferrari in half and importing it as 'scrap metal' hasn't worked for long time.
@D C:
I was thinking something more borderline.
If say a Mavic Pro Fly More was just over $1k and someone like LITB or GB listed it as $900, would Customs base the price on how much it costs in Aus?
@tsunamisurfer: If you can show the $900 was a genuine price you can contest it as per here: https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/370041
I'm not sure he 'won' as he still paid the customs fee that negated his saving, unless local price was $1500 or something.
Stuff like this a bit marginal, can go either way probably depending on the mood of whoever checks it.
All becomes moot in few months anyway. :(
learn chinese, buy from taobao and pay the $2-$3 price
Ohh wow first time I hear of that.