Collecting from UK just got more expensive!

[VergenceITF]

support <[email protected]>


9:29 PM (4 hours ago)








to me




















Dear VergenceITF




Thank you for your recent Sideshow order. We wanted to share an update about the duty and tax amount on your recent shipment that originated from our International warehouse.




All import fees are collected by your government, not Sideshow, and are always ‘in addition to’ our USD retail price on our website. These fees are based on the shipment value and are not related to the carrier (UPS/FedEx). We discovered the value listed on your recent package/shipment was incorrect and lower than the actual value. As such, you were charged less for your import fees and taxes. The good news is that unless requested, Sideshow will not be sending revised documents to customs for the shipment.



The following items were shipped to you with the incorrect, lower value:



- Spacetrooper - Episode IV: A New Hope - Sixth Scale Figure (Hot Toys)

- Luke Skywalker - Episode IV: A New Hope - Sixth Scale Figure (Hot Toys) - EXCLUSIVE

- Darth Vader - Episode IV: A New Hope - Sixth Scale Figure (Hot Toys)



We have corrected the issue and all future shipments will have the proper value listed.




Please let us know if you have any questions about how we bill and invoice.




Happy Collecting,


Sideshow Support

 

[Smudger9]

This, I believe, was an issue from the UPS parcels originating from HK and has only been happening for a few months.

Looks like normal service has now been resumed and we can now be bent over and shafted for the full amount again.

 

[anwe]

...and like that [snaps finger] all further thoughts about ordering from SSC directly dissapears.

It was always too good to be true, but for a while we lived it.

 

[TheSensationalSean]

I got this email and said "Ouch"! I'm glad I won't be getting another bill for Kylo Ren though.

Why doesn't Sideshow have a warehouse or partner company in Europe? I'd love to get my figures shipped to U.S. friends, but I don't want to wait months for my figure before I go over/they visit!

 

[Smudger9]

...and like that [snaps finger] all further thoughts about ordering from SSC directly dissapears.

It was always too good to be true, but for a while we lived it.

I now buy direct from HK and they usually get through without customs charges. Boba will be my last SS order when my Vader points become useable.

 

[Cr00ky]

Hi guys - I live in the UK and have only ever bought from UK sites, I've always been a bit nervous about the import duty side of things - are there still savings to be had buying from US retailers like Sideshow or does it work out more expensive? Any advice gratefully received!

Sent from my Blade S6 using Tapatalk

 

[Tee-Kay]

This email from Sideshow support team must be related to an event that happened to customers in France as myself.

Received an invoice from Fedex last week following an inspection from the french customs authorities. Basically, from what i understood, customs claimed several parcels coming from Sideshow weren't properly declared.

A copy of that claim that was attached to my Fedex invoice did not specifically claim items were undervalued but instead were using a wrong category code thus benefiting from a better import duty rate.

 

[Collectorcol]

They were declaring a lower value on toys?

 

[Sidewinder]

I got this email too, but it hasn't affected me as the tax threshold is 1K here until it changes mid next year....then it will be bye bye to ordering from Sideshow.

 

[Cr00ky]

It depends. You have to do the math for each figure.

Add 20% to the Sideshow price; estimate an exchange rate; then add £11.25 brokerage for each UPS order out of Hong Kong (UPS say they also include a £2 surcharge for residential deliveries but I'm not sure whether they do, or whether it's absorbed into the customs bill).

I emailed Sideshow asking if it's possible to have my orders sent direct from the US by Fed Ex, since with a Fed Ex account there aren't any added brokerage costs for paying the customs bill on your behalf - they just deduct the actual customs bill from your credit card.

I'm sure Sideshow would rather sell direct than through third party retailers as there must be a bigger profit margin. They might find themselves with an overstocked US warehouse as more and more customers find cheaper alternatives locally.

Thanks for that - I think when I looked at this a couple of months ago I assumed the tax would be about 20%, based on that the figure I was considering was about the same as from a UK supplier (if not more), always good to have the sums validated by someone with actual experience of the process.

 

[gypsycatcha]

Sux being in the uk. I have a couple of suppliers I go to here and a couple in germany and france which have been decent so far.
I try to avoid the USA at all coasts now.

 

[VergenceITF]

Why doesn't Sideshow have a warehouse or partner company in Europe? I'd love to get my figures shipped to U.S. friends, but I don't want to wait months for my figure before I go over/they visit!

Sideshow used to have European warehouse but closed it down, long time ago though.

 

[Cr00ky]

Sux being in the uk. I have a couple of suppliers I go to here and a couple in germany and france which have been decent so far.
I try to avoid the USA at all coasts now.

Hi - who would you recommend please? I've only been collecting for about 18 months but so far I've mostly bought from Collectibles Direct (who are excellent to be fair), also once from Collectible Kitbash and a couple from (ahem) One Sixth Bruce ...
Apologies if there's a whole subforum dedicated to this BTW, I'm still finding my way around on here...

 

[gypsycatcha]

Hi - who would you recommend please? I've only been collecting for about 18 months but so far I've mostly bought from Collectibles Direct (who are excellent to be fair), also once from Collectible Kitbash and a couple from (ahem) One Sixth Bruce ...
Apologies if there's a whole subforum dedicated to this BTW, I'm still finding my way around on here...

collectablesdirect are very good as are moviefigures.co.uk. Liam from moviefigs has a thread on here. In Germany, iv just used eliveshop.de who were excellent and there is www-figurine-collector-fr based in france who seem decent too.

also a lot of stuff iv ordered from kk, china.... have normally come through without any customs.

 

[Racetrack]

What's worse is that UPS add an £11 admin fee for collecting the tax, plus (it says on the delivery paperwork) £2 for delivering to a residential address.

The reduced tax offset this cost.

It would be cheaper to have deliveries made by Fed Ex from the US since they don't charge admin fees when you have an account with them.

I always get my Sideshow orders shipped with FedEx from the US so didn't benefit from this which i did know about and sucks for you guys. If you want your items shipped FedEx you need to request that all future items recieve a "pack out" which means they will double box it for you. They only do this from the US so it won't ship from HK that way. It costs $10 but would still work out cheaper than UPS and your item will arrive with a mint box. Win-win.

 

[sithlord13]

I've never had a admin charge from ups. If they start that game it will be the end of direct ordering unless I can request FedEx only (I have an account set up).

Bad news for sideshow good news for collectibles kitbash etc.

 

[sithlord13]

Every single order I received by UPS had an £11 brokerage charge. According to their list of rates this is rising to £11.25.

That's 8 orders, but at least the item valuations were all in Hong Kong dollars.

Did you pay cash on delivery? Or did they bill you later ? I always ring up when it says it's cleared customs and pay over the phone

 

[sithlord13]

It was always cash on delivery. I didn't know there was another option.

So if you pay over the phone there's no admin charge? What number did you call?

I use the tracking link. Can't recall the number off the top of my head but yea I Called them to find out how much and they were oh you can pay over the phone I'll put you through. Only paid like 8 quid last time so they can't have been any surcharge.

 

[koon]

Kiwi's get a biosecurity fee too!
Here's a breakdown of one of my customs charges:
Tax on product: $75.30 (15% of declaration including postage)
Import fee: $25.44
Tax on Import fee: $3.82
Biosecurity Levy $17.37
Tax on Biosecurity $2.61

Shipping is already atrocious. This game is almost over for me...

 

[Jme_c]

I recently requested that Sideshow switch all my orders over to UPS as I was finding the FedEx charges extortionate and people on here mentioned UPS charges were much less. Are you guys saying that will now change?

I have just had an e-mail from Sideshow stating that as I paid for my Darth Vader before the request to switch to UPS I only paid $30 shipping and now need to pay an additional $32.68.

Is there any point if the UPS charges are now going to match FedEx?

I don't know what to do?