Yet another Epic Pine Store fail
(01-28-2021, 03:11 AM)lot378 Wrote: No, the total value of the merchandise is $65.
Shipping is part of the total value of the merchandise unless the import was a service.
Import duty/taxes apply to goods AND services - the shipping was a service.
A = goods value, B = shipping value. A + B = Sub total 1.
If sub total 1 > allowance ($50) then continue, otherwise can stop now as no duty/tax is applicable.
Sub total 2 = sub total 1 with duty added (think it's 0%?)
Sub total 3 = sub total 2 with tax applied (16%)
Total amount due = (sub total 3 - sub total 1) + handling fees
The mistake being made was imagining shipping doesn't form part of the total value of merchandise - the exception is when the goods are actually services then the transportation cost component is not due duty or tax. Yes, I've read the whole thread although what you thought didn't help to make any sense of the situation. The CN22 isn't obvious as it's not on the package for DHL shipments but internally somewhere value of goods and shipping would've been itemised for the total. Plus there is often no rhyme or reason to duty/tax being applied -- when you think it ought to be applied, it isn't and vice versa. Stuff can be waived through for whatever reason without duty/tax being applied. In any case it's always better to settle first then disagree later and reclaim fees if they were really incorrect.
When I'm expecting something via DHL I never really know until practically the delivery day if duty/tax is going to be applied or not. As it happens, I've got something due today from Pine64 via DHL and so far no duty/tax seems due but still I don't know (especially with the circumstance the UK is in right now) until actually delivered.
And may be you might be on to something and the invisible CN22 wasn't itemised? I don't know 100% what's occurred here.
Itemising aside, it doesn't really change anything. The total is the total.
Are you not reading? I posted a link to a law which CLEARLY states VALUE OF THE ITEM which is over $50USD, not the total paid. I have been doing international imports into Mexico for the past five years from various companies. Had there been no declaration, I could of showed them a receipt paying $30 for the screen and $35 for shipping, and no tax, nor collection fees would have been been due. This has happened on many occasions.
(01-28-2021, 02:58 AM)kqlnut Wrote: Most countries, including Mexico, calculate import duty/tax upon CIF value which includes shipping. But many countries have a threshold on imported goods under which no fees are applied. That threshold varies a lot from country to country and from fee to fee and is often based on FOB value (shipping exclueded) as is the case in Mexico. In Mexico apparently you don't have to pay VAT if the FOB value doesn't exceed US$50.
So yeah, Pine64 should have probably declared product value und shipping costs separately (I don't know how that actually works), but this whole thing is a bureaucratic jungle and I strongly believe there is no intended harm done here. I'm sure Pine64 can be convinced by the facts that this was an honest mistake which should be sorted out for the benefit of this case and themselves for the future shipping process. I generally believe a company that ships internationally should have this kind of thing sorted out, but as has been pointed out before, Pine64 really makes the impression of trying to make good things available to a community in a very affordable way where other companies probably wouldn't step in because it's not a viable business model. Having everything sorted out perfectly costs money, a lot probably, and for what Pine64 is doing I'm gladly willing to accept the rough edges (which I hope can be smoothened out by direct communication–this seems to be possible here at least to some degree, considering @tllim and others are taking part here). Of course this cannot be put in a contract or anything and it is your right as a customer to have delivered what you paid for, but being open to accepting some inconveniences and having some patience for a more humanitarian take and some greater goals would make so many things so much better (generally speaking). So i'm very happy to see this community is trying to achieve more and willing to help out in so many ways!
Since they use DHL out of other carriers exclusively, one would think they would turn to them for help in making sure they get all these complicated deliveries done correctly. Instead, seem to be taking the "We are correct. End of it" standing.
