Sideshow supplying incorrect customs information to Fed Ex on sale items / discounts

[Rorywan]

So here is some information directly from European Customs regarding Valuation and discounts. I was told this was also relevant to most countries outside of Europe.
Alex you really need to talk to your shipping agent (FedEx) about this. If you still think that FedEx are correct and all point discounts will be disregarded in relation to duty and custom fees, you really need to warn people from outside the US when using points to order.

Personally, based on the information below, I think it's laziness on FedEx's behalf. There is no rule that states discounts should be excluded, you can look for a reason to exclude them, but this situation is different because the discount is earned and agreed before the sale.
.................................................................................................................
1.6 How is the customs value calculated?
There are 6 methods for calculating the customs value of goods. However, the normal method of
valuation is method 1 – the transaction value method. The transaction value is defined as the price
actually paid or payable to the seller for the goods being imported when they are sold for export to
the customs territory of the Community.
Method 1 must be employed before going on to Method 2 and so on. Details of how and when to
use the other methods are set out in chapters 2, 3 and 4.

2.2 How to Use the Valuation Methods
The most common method of valuation is the transaction value, which uses the invoice price.
Wherever possible this is the method to be used.
Only when the transaction value method cannot be used should the other methods be considered.

3.2 What is the price paid?
The price actually paid or payable is the total payment made or to be made by the buyer to, or for
the benefit of, the seller for the imported goods. It includes all payments made or to be made as a
condition of sale of the imported goods by the buyer to the seller. It may also include payments
made by the buyer to a third party to satisfy an obligation of the seller. Payment need not
necessarily take the form of a transfer of money. Payment may be made by way of letters of credit
or negotiable instrument. It may be made directly or indirectly. An example of an indirect payment
would be the settlement by the buyer of a debt owed by the seller

3.8 Are there any deductions allowable from the customs value?
Where the value is based on the invoice price, certain deductions are normally allowable provided
the deductions are clearly distinguished in the documents produced.

Discounts. These can only be left out where they relate to the imported goods being valued and
there is a valid contractual entitlement to the discount at the material time for valuation.

i) Quantity or trade discounts. The trader can leave out these discounts where earned. In other
words the price paid or payable net of these discounts is acceptable.

 

[dao2]

Someone is doing some BS. UK you are definitely supposed to pay PAID value, and only move on to something like retail value very far down the line if a value can't be established. Fortunately I live in the US and we don't deal with this BS for personal hobbies, but for tariff collecting it's actually illegal to use wholesale price, replacement costs, etc or anything other than the actual invoiced costs. Somebody is is spewing some BS

Also this is a pain in the ass for you guys, and I probably would just stop ordering from SS direct (or in general if it's so high) but as the importer but it's actually YOUR duty to make sure the value is correct. Now this is normally for undervalued items (cause they can't go after the exporter often, so they blame you ) however it goes both ways. It will require some effort (probably more than it's worth) but with a copy of your invoice you can argue and get refunded.

 

[CAhobbit]

So here is some information directly from European Customs regarding Valuation and discounts. I was told this was also relevant to most countries outside of Europe.
Alex you really need to talk to your shipping agent (FedEx) about this. If you still think that FedEx are correct and all point discounts will be disregarded in relation to duty and custom fees, you really need to warn people from outside the US when using points to order.

Personally, based on the information below, I think it's laziness on FedEx's behalf. There is no rule that states discounts should be excluded, you can look for a reason to exclude them, but this situation is different because the discount is earned and agreed before the sale.
.................................................................................................................
1.6 How is the customs value calculated?
There are 6 methods for calculating the customs value of goods. However, the normal method of
valuation is method 1 – the transaction value method. The transaction value is defined as the price
actually paid or payable to the seller for the goods being imported when they are sold for export to
the customs territory of the Community.
Method 1 must be employed before going on to Method 2 and so on. Details of how and when to
use the other methods are set out in chapters 2, 3 and 4.

2.2 How to Use the Valuation Methods
The most common method of valuation is the transaction value, which uses the invoice price.
Wherever possible this is the method to be used.
Only when the transaction value method cannot be used should the other methods be considered.

3.2 What is the price paid?
The price actually paid or payable is the total payment made or to be made by the buyer to, or for
the benefit of, the seller for the imported goods. It includes all payments made or to be made as a
condition of sale of the imported goods by the buyer to the seller. It may also include payments
made by the buyer to a third party to satisfy an obligation of the seller. Payment need not
necessarily take the form of a transfer of money. Payment may be made by way of letters of credit
or negotiable instrument. It may be made directly or indirectly. An example of an indirect payment
would be the settlement by the buyer of a debt owed by the seller

3.8 Are there any deductions allowable from the customs value?
Where the value is based on the invoice price, certain deductions are normally allowable provided
the deductions are clearly distinguished in the documents produced.

Discounts. These can only be left out where they relate to the imported goods being valued and
there is a valid contractual entitlement to the discount at the material time for valuation.

i) Quantity or trade discounts. The trader can leave out these discounts where earned. In other
words the price paid or payable net of these discounts is acceptable.

Unfortunately Sideshow has no authority or influence on tax laws and on trained customs brokers in regards to how international customers are taxed for their items. We fill out all forms as they are meant to be filled out and once that item is in the hands of the country its been shipped to then customs will step in and do their portion. I did some further inquiring today and it's been recommended that folks go to your countries VAT authority and take up the issue with them directly. If they give/agree to a refund then that will solidify cases with FEDEX customs that they were not adhering to your local governments tax laws and will allow folks to have a stronger case for FEDEX customs. If a refund is not granted then the local VAT Authority would be agreeing that customs has been charging correctly.

-SideshowAlex

 

[Rorywan]

Someone is doing some BS. UK you are definitely supposed to pay PAID value, and only move on to something like retail value very far down the line if a value can't be established. Fortunately I live in the US and we don't deal with this BS for personal hobbies, but for tariff collecting it's actually illegal to use wholesale price, replacement costs, etc or anything other than the actual invoiced costs. Somebody is is spewing some BS

Also this is a pain in the ass for you guys, and I probably would just stop ordering from SS direct (or in general if it's so high) but as the importer but it's actually YOUR duty to make sure the value is correct. Now this is normally for undervalued items (cause they can't go after the exporter often, so they blame you ) however it goes both ways. It will require some effort (probably more than it's worth) but with a copy of your invoice you can argue and get refunded.

That pretty much sums it up I'm afraid. And yes I think it's the final straw in regards to ordering from SS. Perhaps they should consider using a different company for international shipping. FedEx are the ONLY company I've ever had these issue with. They are completely untrustworthy in my experience. Every single invoice has some discrepancy on it. Wrong value, discounts, double shipping charged, wrong curancy, I've even had invoices for the wrong person sent to me.
Thanks for answering Alex, I must admit it does feel a little like pass the buck to me, which is strange since you cold potentially lose a lot of international business over this? Respectfully FedEx are your shipping company of choice. This keeps getting knocked back to your customers as if it is a local customs issue particular to each country. It's not at all.

 

[CAhobbit]

That pretty much sums it up I'm afraid. And yes I think it's the final straw in regards to ordering from SS. Perhaps they should consider using a different company for international shipping. FedEx are the ONLY company I've ever had these issue with. They are completely untrustworthy in my experience. Every single invoice has some discrepancy on it. Wrong value, discounts, double shipping charged, wrong curancy, I've even had invoices for the wrong person sent to me.
Thanks for answering Alex, I must admit it does feel a little like pass the buck to me, which is strange since you cold potentially lose a lot of international business over this? Respectfully FedEx are your shipping company of choice. This keeps getting knocked back to your customers as if it is a local customs issue particular to each country. It's not at all.

This issue is local customs based issue as FEDEX is the acting customs agent. We have confirmed that what we pass along is 100% correct and FEDEX custom agents are applying taxes/VAT/Fees etc as they have been trained to do. Any intervention on our part would not matter, as I said, we have no influence over how trained custom brokers/agents apply fees on packages received from us or local tax laws sorry to say. FEDEX is the shipping company we will use primarily for international shipments as they are able to pass along some really good shipping discounts to our international customers. International folks can choose to use UPS as their shipper (depending on the country) but fair warning it is much, much more expensive to ship using UPS than FEDEX through us. But the option is there for certain countries.

-SideshowAlex

 

[MR Regan]

Well just got 2 invoices in from FedEx and they are both the wrong amount of VAT, one was figure that was in the sale and I have been charged the full VAT instead of the price I actually paid. I questioned FedEx about this and said they should have charged me the price I paid, but received an email saying this is all they have got to work with blah blah blah and it is correct.

I even sent them a quote of the official customs website where is states you only pay VAT on what you actually spend, but the just ignored this part.
Anyone been successful on getting them to change it in the UK. Over a year this all adds up to hundreds of pounds extra.

Think I will close my SS account down and look elsewhere as this is just daft and I'm sick of getting ripped off.

 

[Asta]

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[Rorywan]

Well just got 2 invoices in from FedEx and they are both the wrong amount of VAT, one was figure that was in the sale and I have been charged the full VAT instead of the price I actually paid. I questioned FedEx about this and said they should have charged me the price I paid, but received an email saying this is all they have got to work with blah blah blah and it is correct.

I even sent them a quote of the official customs website where is states you only pay VAT on what you actually spend, but the just ignored this part.
Anyone been successful on getting them to change it in the UK. Over a year this all adds up to hundreds of pounds extra.

Think I will close my SS account down and look elsewhere as this is just daft and I'm sick of getting ripped off.

I got FedEx to change it the first time then they point blank refused after that. They said it's SS's responsibility, SS said it's not their responsibility.
Easy answer: order from someone else. These things are already too expensive without getting ripped off by bad service on top of the original price.

 

[Rorywan]

I've been overcharged quite a few times. On each occasion FedEx has apologised for not using the discounted price and refunded me.

Looking at my credit card statement this morning I see that I've been overcharged for the Batman Armoury with Bruce and Alfred, which was bought with a 30% off code.

Yeah, it's just a joke now. And everyone just says it's the buyers problem. I call ******** on that.

 

[Asta]

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[MR Regan]

I even got charged the £12 fee even though my accounts are linked with my credit card, they said sometimes fees are added for administration. Getting ridiculous now.

 

[Collectorcol]

This sucks! Buying locally is as expensive as buying direct recently.
Added Fed-ex stress isn't good.

 

[Asta]

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[Rorywan]

You are wasting your time mate, unfortunately.
It's a circle of ineptitude.

I just won't order from SSC again.
I do feel that SSC have an obligation to warn THEIR european customers that their trade discounts will not be acknowledged by FEDEX.

I contacted my TAX office here in Ireland and they told me that FedEx were WRONG to charge full retail on goods like these. FedEx still refused to change their invoice. They are seriously the most obnoxious company i've ever dealt with and I deal with a lot of companies in my line of business.

Never again!!

And SSC? You should be ashamed of yourselves for passing the buck.

 

[Collectorcol]

So this is the stance taken by Fed-Ex now?

I'm expecting a Machiko PF soon with half of the cost covered with RPs.
Getting hit with V.A.T on the full value will piss me off.

 

[Asta]

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[Rorywan]

Been through it all. Eventually I just gave up, it wasn't worth the time investment after a couple of weeks of angry emails. Fingers well and truely burnt.
And yes I do hold sideshow responsible.

 

[Asta]

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[Asta]

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[TonTon]

Sideshow supplying incorrect customs information to Fed Ex on sale items / di...

^^Nice work. I once called PayPal CS over a couple dollar overcharge. Definitely about principle in some of these cases, but 25 pounds isn't nothing. It's a shame SS even displays the original price in cases with discounts. Just display the price paid and these issues wouldn't occur.