Customs, too stupid to be idiots

[cheshirecat]

Make it out to Mr. C Ash and send it c/- me...

With a bit of luck the punctuation might be out by a couple of zero's

[98tls]

Are you buying from an indivdual or a vendor?

Most of the stuff i buy is off a forum centered on my specific bike,theres plenty of group buys ie a member in the states will deal with a company over there directly and buy a large number of whatever it is guys are after.In this case a bloke managed to get an exhaust outfit to do a run of complete exhausts for an old bike,one that they had stopped making aftermarket exhausts for years ago,as long as we had a decent number they agreed to do it,higher the numbers the lower the price.

[Dragon]

Most of the stuff i buy is off a forum centered on my specific bike,theres plenty of group buys ie a member in the states will deal with a company over there directly and buy a large number of whatever it is guys are after.In this case a bloke managed to get an exhaust outfit to do a run of complete exhausts for an old bike,one that they had stopped making aftermarket exhausts for years ago,as long as we had a decent number they agreed to do it,higher the numbers the lower the price.

Generally the orginal vendor will give you a basic warranty ie welds will last etc

Generally customs wont ask for a copy of the invoice from the orginal item that is being replaced under warranty

The theory is you shouldnt have to pay duty on something youve already paid it on and are getting replaced due to a defect.

Its quite hard to explain and tbh I don't do it i am just aware of how it works, if I were to do it I would only do it for personal items ie a 2 set of leathers for example

The issue the govenment says they are having is that they lose out on gst etc when people buy there own stuff from outside nz however alot of the time its not charged anyway its all the luck of the draw

If the govenment really wanted to stop it they would police it better

[boman]

I bought an exhaust, for my bike, out of the USA. (No NZ dealers, before you slate me for doing so.)

It was labelled correctly, it was priced as I paid for it.

And it took a week to get here. NO extra Customs duty. I assumed it was because it was Motorcycle parts, and therefor exempt from Customs duty.

[Robert Taylor]

Wondered what you would have to say when i kicked off,believe me for the reason stated everything was done to ensure a smooth end to the parts turning up asap.

Its clear you acted properly rather than trying to pull the wool over their eyes. No deceit

[Robert Taylor]

I blame Thatcher.

Thats totally impossible. A lovely woman who loved her country so much she reversed its decline, only for the successive idiots to stuff it all up again

[Robert Taylor]

If it's your money Robert would your answer be different ? had to buy parts on line for my VMX KTM, NZ can't supply so ordered from a guy in Austria. Needed a apple lap top charger can't get here , Ebay $39nz delivered. A lot of the time parts from overseas will keep a bike going as opposed to being junked here due to cost.

Many many times I have stated that I can see ALL sides of the story and yes there is now so much product worldwide you cannot source it all through NZ retailers. I myself occassionally purchase stuff online but not before I check if its first available in NZ. If it is available here I first give the NZ retailer the chance

If a purchase is made online I personally have no issue with paying clearance and gst. Looking at the big picture because so many sales have now ( for many reasons and this is not about justification or otherwise) been displaced away from NZ retailers there is a substanial reduction in tax take ( gst ). We all want social services, good roads etc ad infinitum and because of a failure to tax everything that comes in do we really want Governments to find tax in other areas?

[Robert Taylor]

Another way around duty is to send the parts as a warranty item that way you can put the correct value of the goods for insurance purposes but for customs because its a replacement on the orginal good there is no charges as it has a $0 value.

So you condone declaration fraud?

[Robert Taylor]

I bought an exhaust, for my bike, out of the USA. (No NZ dealers, before you slate me for doing so.)

It was labelled correctly, it was priced as I paid for it.

And it took a week to get here. NO extra Customs duty. I assumed it was because it was Motorcycle parts, and therefor exempt from Customs duty.

Exhausts actually are a very good example, for many reasons;

1) Every man and his dog makes the damn things, there are just so many it would be impossible for every brand to be represented in this tiny country and many others

2) Because of the above its economic suicide on that count to stock a range that with many of the items you will die with. Remember that exhaust systems are very model specific so if you have something that is not current your chances of selling it without making a loss becomes extremely negligible. So the profit you may have made on a few sales is swallowed by the dead stock you cannot sell. In fact one of the major accessory distributors here in NZ had quite a high profile with a leading brand of exhaust over the last few years. They ended up ( excuse the pun ) canning it. In part for the reasons above but also because of lead times to forward order product that has to be manufactured. In deference to the ( Im sorry ) uninformed reading this thread manufacturers dont have endless inventory of product nor do they have the capacity to make something at the click of ones fingers. Production of successive and different lines is planned through a year and also has to be timed with raw material deliveries and also assembly components from sub vendors. There is only so much production capacity and sometimes production can be several months out. So when you complain that its not available straight away then there is a very solid reason why.

3) Imagine having to crystal ball product that you should stock when serving a VERY tiny market. The size of this market exacerbates that whole issue, BIGTIME

4)Youve also answered a BIG part of the problem, you paid no clearance fees or gst and really should have been for there to be a level playing field. That places commercial operators who have to pay custom brokers fees, clearances ( at a higher rate than private individuals ) and gst on EVERY link of the transcation ( including freight ) at a serious disadvantage. Rather akin to a rower losing an arm.

So given all ( but not restricted to ) the above reasons would you become a commercial motorcycle exhaust distributor?

[98tls]

I bought an exhaust, for my bike, out of the USA. (No NZ dealers, before you slate me for doing so.)

It was labelled correctly, it was priced as I paid for it.

And it took a week to get here. NO extra Customs duty. I assumed it was because it was Motorcycle parts, and therefor exempt from Customs duty.

Been buying motorcycle parts for years from the states and been charged duty for most of it if valued over $400 NZ.

[boman]

Been buying motorcycle parts for years from the states and been charged duty for most of it if valued over $400 NZ.

I guess I was lucky then. I did expect to pay extra, and I was surprised I did not have too.

[98tls]

Exhausts actually are a very good example, for many reasons;

1) Every man and his dog makes the damn things, there are just so many it would be impossible for every brand to be represented in this tiny country and many others

2) Because of the above its economic suicide on that count to stock a range that with many of the items you will die with. Remember that exhaust systems are very model specific so if you have something that is not current your chances of selling it without making a loss becomes extremely negligible. So the profit you may have made on a few sales is swallowed by the dead stock you cannot sell. In fact one of the major accessory distributors here in NZ had quite a high profile with a leading brand of exhaust over the last few years. They ended up ( excuse the pun ) canning it. In part for the reasons above but also because of lead times to forward order product that has to be manufactured. In deference to the ( Im sorry ) uninformed reading this thread manufacturers dont have endless inventory of product nor do they have the capacity to make something at the click of ones fingers. Production of successive and different lines is planned through a year and also has to be timed with raw material deliveries and also assembly components from sub vendors. There is only so much production capacity and sometimes production can be several months out. So when you complain that its not available straight away then there is a very solid reason why.

So given all ( but not restricted to ) the above reasons would you become a commercial motorcycle exhaust distributor?

The process of getting this M4 system was indeed bloody lengthy,after 1st agreeing to make the things if we got the numbers to make it worthwhile they then had to fit it in to there schedule,was at one stage put on hold due to them running out of carbon but all in all well worth the wait,quality stuff and the soundA pic fwiw.

[PeeJay]

4)Youve also answered a BIG part of the problem, you paid no clearance fees or gst and really should have been for there to be a level playing field. That places commercial operators who have to pay custom brokers fees, clearances ( at a higher rate than private individuals ) and gst on EVERY link of the transcation ( including freight ) at a serious disadvantage. Rather akin to a rower losing an arm.

So given all ( but not restricted to ) the above reasons would you become a commercial motorcycle exhaust distributor?

BS is still BS, no matter how many times you say it and hope that it changes.

1) The gst free threshhold is the same for private and commercial importers.
2) Commercial importers have an advantage in that all expenses, eg brokerage fees, etc are tax deductible
3) gst paid to customs is refunded to commercial importers via the IRD
4) Clearance fees are the same for private and commercial importers.

I have sympathy for NZ manufacturers who are undercut by imports, both commercial and private, this actually costs kiwi jobs.
But commercial importers ? no sympathy at all.
Its actually commercial importers who have cost NZ manufacturing and kiwi jobs
Look around you, its commercial importers who have stuffed our clothing industry, shut car assy plants and associated industries, electronics manufacture and assy, we even used to make motorcycle helmets here, etc etc etc

So before slagging off private importers, look in the mirror.
All that money you send overseas supports Swedish, Japanese, Korean and Chinese workers not Kiwi workers
Dont throw stones if you are in a glass house, and get off your high horse before you fall off.

[Arronduke]

I buy from the USA ... generally that parts are 50% cheaper.
I also tell the bike shop what I can get the bits for and they have the opportunity to match the price.

Most of the time they don't, yea yea yea tell me all the shit about trying to run a business etc, don't wash with me.

Don't get me wrong I will support the local shop but if they are ripping me blind then no thanks.

example.. Kick stand for a dirt bike.. in NZ $94, landed from USA $48.. don't know about you but when I look in the shitter there is not heaps of used $100 notes
Sorry but that's the way life is now.

How many of you buy NZ made tee shirts?

[98tls]

How many of you buy NZ made tee shirts?

I only buy NZ made tee shirts,the sizings always wrong and there made of shit so virtually see through so i pass them on to the Mrs.