0
FedEx

WARNING: Possible Hidden Fee's when buying a wing suit from outside of the US...

Recommended Posts

Okay, I'm sure I just happened to be the one that go screwed. So I'm posting this just as an FYI. With that said, check out the wonderful notice I received after receiving my wing suit:

Quote


Hello,

My name is Sarah and I am contacting you from FedEx Trade Networks in regards to a recent shipment that cleared US Customs on AWB# 000000000. This email is to advise you that the duty/taxes on this shipment is $ 213.60 USD. This amount will be billed to your FedEx account shortly.

If you have any questions or disagree with this amount, please contact me as soon as possible, by either email or by phone. If I do not hear from you by 1:00pm EST on 06/28/09, I will consider this amount correct and make entry as is.

When responding to this email, please reply to all included parties. Thank you!

THIS IS NOT A BILL

Respectfully,

Agent Name (Removed to protect the guilty…)
FedEx Trade Networks
Sr. ECO Import Agent
Audit Dept. - DV Group



Again, just an FYI...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
This is not a new thing, and works the same the other way.
Buying a suit from the US, you also get screwed when it gets sent to Europe.

Buying a suit through a local US dealer (in case of PF products, Morpheus) means suits are shipped to them first, and then getting sent from there to the costumer. This illiminates extra taxes.

But outside of that, any piece of gear/product you buy new and have shipped cross-continent is subject to having taxes added by costums..
JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Am I missing something here...?
Paying taxes on any items bought elsewhere has been the norm for ages?
I pay a shitload of cash to costums for anything I order from UPT Vector, PD, TonySuits, Amazon.com or WHATEVER company based in USA when shipper to EU.
Works the same the other way around. Ordering through a dealer sometimes illiminates this. But its standard taxes? Somtimes costums 'miss' packages, and you dont have to pay. But again...its pretty standard :)
JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

You're not very bright are you mccordia?

This is simply an FYI for those that DO NOT KNOW this iformation (i.e. ME). You happen to know this information, so don't read the F'n post...



no, you are the idiot. Heck, you felt it was necessary to hid your identity by making another dz.com and basejumper.com account. Are we 4? And for some reason you thought it was only relevant for wingsuits, not just any merchandise oversees.
Many WS websites mention potential customs fees. Heck I know some vendors have a shipping option where they take care of the fees. You never thought about researching shipping internationally?

I worry what else you don't research and think everyone else should know about. Did you know they have sales tax too in the US? Look at a receipt.Toll roads make you pay for them.. Who ever knew that!?! They never told me when I took that turn! I mean wtf! .. ya know what go ahead and continue to skydive and (potentially) base jump. Just pls dont fly a wingsuit. we already have enough people that try to kill me. :D;)I believe in darwinism. More power to you.

QED.

Hey DSE can you let us know who's IPs match up to this account and their other account? :P

Where is my fizzy-lifting drink?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

I thought he was a scrawny, nerdy IT systems manager that can sound ferocious on here when he isn't busy playing world of warcraft?



well.. in the IT world wombat also stands for "waste of money, brains and time"... maybe that's hat Ed meant?

zach - just kidding, buddy, I actually liked your post :P

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

I thought he was a scrawny, nerdy IT systems manager that can sound ferocious on here when he isn't busy playing world of warcraft?


:P

The funny thing is that i'm not a IT systems manager nor am I one who ever really plays video games.:P


I'm just not a fan of stupid:ph34r:

Where is my fizzy-lifting drink?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

You're not very bright are you mccordia?

This is simply an FYI for those that DO NOT KNOW this iformation (i.e. ME). You happen to know this information, so don't read the F'n post...



Ya, and he's giving you an FYI as well. Didn't think the post was worthy of an attack. :|

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Quote

You're not very bright are you mccordia?

This is simply an FYI for those that DO NOT KNOW this iformation (i.e. ME). You happen to know this information, so don't read the F'n post...



no, you are the idiot. Heck, you felt it was necessary to hid your identity by making another dz.com and basejumper.com account. Are we 4? And for some reason you thought it was only relevant for wingsuits, not just any merchandise oversees.
Many WS websites mention potential customs fees. Heck I know some vendors have a shipping option where they take care of the fees. You never thought about researching shipping internationally?

I worry what else you don't research and think everyone else should know about. Did you know they have sales tax too in the US? Look at a receipt.Toll roads make you pay for them.. Who ever knew that!?! They never told me when I took that turn! I mean wtf! .. ya know what go ahead and continue to skydive and (potentially) base jump. Just pls dont fly a wingsuit. we already have enough people that try to kill me. :D;)I believe in darwinism. More power to you.

QED.

Hey DSE can you let us know who's IPs match up to this account and their other account? :P


You'll have fun when I show up to the CSC wingsuit weekend then. :D

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Whether you like it or not tough guy (Buried), there are plenty of people that do not know this information. Like me, these people probably simply do not have the time to look up every detail around international shipping. Also in my case, I made a bad assumption that the vendor would help me out with this kind of information or that it would be part of the shipping process. And given the fact that this letter is coming from the audit dept in FedEx, this probably should have been included in the shipping process.

So again, I made this post because I made the mistake of NOT DOING THE RESEARCH. So yes, that is the exact purpose of my post, I DID NOT DO THE RESEARCH and wanted others to benefit from my mistake. So you are not calling me out and revealing some fact that I am trying to hid, as your post implies. It is very obvious I did not do my research. And I am more than willing to admit it. Hmmn, hence the post...

Also, the only reason I posted under an alias was because I did not want Uncle SAM to come up with some bullshit law that I was breaking by making my post. And as you can see, people have already made posts that could be construed as illegal suggestions. My intention was not to suggest people engage in illegal activity to work around these taxes. The sole purpose of my post was to inform, thus, saving people from having to DO THE RESEARCH, for those that don’t feel like it or do not have the time to.

So again, if you do not need or like this information, DO NOT READ IT!!! If you do and don’t like it and you feel the need to express your dislike, type away and have your little rage session with your keyboard. If that is what you need to feel manly, go for it. At the end of the day, my FYI is still making it to those that appreciate information that they may affect them, for whatever reason.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

Whether you like it or not tough guy



Man...whats your problem?
Quit the power language...its not helping you say what you actually wanted to say/ask.

YOU didnt know about sales tax on products imported from EU into the USA or the other way around. Its standard.

Quote

Also, the only reason I posted under an alias was because I did not want Uncle SAM to come up with some bullshit law that I was breaking by making my post.



The only law you are breaking, is not being allowed to have multiple profiles. All other stuff is pretty standard, and even mentioned on the websites of all manufacturers (and products in general) when ordering from overseas.

Quote

So again, if you do not need or like this information, DO NOT READ IT!!!



No...If you do not need or like this information, read the info thats there when you clicked 'order';)
JC
FlyLikeBrick
I'm an Athlete?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

so then I see how it was necessary to say Jarno isn't very bright in your other post for no reason when he was just stating facts and showing you it was nothing surprising... I see how this was only related to wingsuits (and /or base gear from your basejumper post), not just gear or anything. ..makes sense to me!

I'm sure fedex looks at this site all the time and would link your real user name on here to that specific package:S. I still stand by my original post.

oh and besides we all already know jarno isn't a bright chap. I didn't bust your balls on that topic so be happy.:ph34r:


Where is my fizzy-lifting drink?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

YOU didnt know about sales tax on products imported from EU into the USA or the other way around. Its standard.



You think so huh! I'm glad you said it a third time, because I definitely did not understand you the first two times that you stated this.

Your recent post reinforces why I made the comment that you are not so bright. You repeat yourself and you make the assumption that we all should know this information.

Quote

No...If you do not need or like this information, read the info thats there when you clicked 'order'



To be clear, I did not buy my suit online. I interfaced directly with the company. This is why I made the assumptions that I did. But there is such a thing called customer service. And in most cases, customer service includes ensuring that your customer is informed.


Go ahead; state your comment a fourth time. It will probably make you feel better. It obviously worked for you the three other times you needed to make your comment.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

so then I see how it was necessary to say Jarno isn't very bright in your other post for no reason when he was just stating facts and showing you it was nothing surprising...



No reason at all?! You are kidding right!

Let's do the math... I am 1 person who did not know this information. I have had one person PM me stating that they did not know this information. So statically, there is likely to be 1 or more individuals in addition to us that do not know this information.

So again, who gives a shit if this is obvious information. I have counted two people that did not know this information. And given the fact that at least one other person has benefitted from this information, this post was worth making.

So same to you… Be thankful that I did not bust your balls for saying the idiotic statements you made, like inferring that because people do not know this kind of information makes them idiots or not sky worthy.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
:ph34r::ph34r::ph34r: And this thread once again confirms my opinion that a lot of not most Americans have NO CLUE about the rest of the world :D:D:D

I still think it is really funny when an American ask me to find out for them how much THEY're going to have to pay in USD, offer me 1:1 USD/EUR and think that's a good offer, freak out when I ask for their bank account number, be totally amazed if someone has no credit card, and cannot fathom why we over the Pond generally prefer a bought item be shipped labeled with a much lesser value.

Well now the shoe is on the other foot. Which you apparently insist on inserting further into your mouth with every post you make, funny thread this.

ciel bleu,
Saskia

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
It's threads like this that make my ADD-lawyerishness kick in.

So, the issue with importing stuff into the US is that some stuff is subject to tariffs. The US International Trade Commission publishes the US tariff rates here: http://www.usitc.gov/tata/hts/bychapter/index.htm

Oddly, there isn't a separate entry for "wingsuits" (I know, you're shocked), so you kind of have to figure out under what category they would be classified.

The rates range from 'free' to 'very high', depending on what you (legitimately) classify a wingsuit as.

Example: Classify it as "Articles of apparel and clothing accessories, not knitted or crocheted", and it's priced by the pound. (Maybe the European wingsuit manufacturers should start knitting wingsuits for the US market, you know, for tax reasons...)

Put it under the classification of a "sporting good" and it ends up determined by the sales price.

Some categories get exceptions if the item is less than $500, others $1,000...

Point is since wingsuits don't neatly fit a category, you could kind of arbitrarily end up with a “bad” (high) rate because someone at Customs (or one of the carriers, like FedEx - the company, not the guy posting in this thread) classified it wrong.

I haven't (and won't) read through it to see if there's a category that you could legitimately describe a wingsuit as that would result in the tax being free or "low". But I could see how describing it as the wrong thing could end up generating a big bill.

I'm sure the EU have got similar arbitrary rules that depend on people's judgment. No suprise people get hit by weird fees.

To Saskia's comment: I don't think it's so much "Americans have no clue about the rest of the world", as much as "Americans don't usually purchase products from overseas directly."

/Not defending FedEx (the guy, not the company). Just figured I'd 'splain this bit to avoid more of the "U R retarded!!", "No, U R!!!" that this thread has turned into. We all know who the REAL retard is in this thread.

//Why is everyone looking at me like that?

///Personal attacks are permitted if they are against yourself, right?
Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography

Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

I don't think it's so much "Americans have no clue about the rest of the world", as much as "Americans don't usually purchase products from overseas directly."



hmm, I think it's actually both. You surround yourself with like people and work in a pretty global industry. Have you talked with your average person in the US? Those not generally around a big city?[:/]


Quote

offer me 1:1 USD/EUR and think that's a good offer,


hey, at one point it would have been a good offer!

Where is my fizzy-lifting drink?

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

hmm, I think it's actually both.



Mayhap.

But as long as I can someday see the kangaroos in Austria, I'll be happy.
Skwrl Productions - Wingsuit Photography

Northeast Bird School - Chief Logistics Guy and Video Dork

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Quote

:ph34r::ph34r::ph34r: And this thread once again confirms my opinion that a lot of not most Americans have NO CLUE about the rest of the world :D:D:D



sorry, this side of the discussion kinda belongs more in the speaker's corner... but seriously, girl, your statement makes you just as big of an ignorant as those "clueless" americans you're criticizing. Try living in the states for a few years and you'll realize that it's a big mistake to make such generalizations about a country that is quite big and - most importantly - extremely diverse. Take this from someone who's just about as European as you are.

And FedEx - I think you have a secret crush on Jarno and don't know how to come out of the closet. It's okay. You can admit it :)

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

0