Dubai Customs and Import Charges frequency of being charged?

Dubai Customs and Import Charges frequency of being charged?

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Discussion

After_Shock

Original Poster:

8,751 posts

227 months

Monday 5th January 2015
quotequote all
Just wondering if anyone else has noticed certainly over the last 6 months the amount of stuff you get shipped in and being charged for it?

Id say the first 6 months of last year I never had a single package inspected nor got billed for it, the 3 months after that roughly 50% of everything I shipped in got targeted and since October every single package ive had come through has been hit by import charges.

Has anyone else noticed the same? Assuming they are either targeting it as a source of income or once you have a certain number of packages arrive your on a blacklist and get billed every time.

Randompunter74

642 posts

151 months

Monday 5th January 2015
quotequote all
I haven't been charged any duties on some ebay stuff I had in of late.

However, be sure to put "Personal Shipment" and your name and then perhaps office address. If you put a company name on the package they can be pretty hot on the 5% duty. If its a personal shipment, not so much.

Plus of course, it depends on what you bringing in and the description of goods.

When I ship car parts over I ask them to take the parts out of the box, grease them up a bit and put "Used car parts" on the description. And I make the value considerably less by asking them to invoice me for about £30 as a pose to £300

dxbtiger

4,441 posts

180 months

Monday 5th January 2015
quotequote all
Never been charged here either, everything (ebay, amazon and shop&ship) gets sent to the other halves office.

Asterix

24,438 posts

235 months

Monday 5th January 2015
quotequote all
I have been charged but it's very random (like most things here).

After_Shock

Original Poster:

8,751 posts

227 months

Monday 5th January 2015
quotequote all
The stuff I normally order are either DVD's/CD's off amazon and the occasional home ware item, light bulbs for example, order the rare car part or cleaning items, cloths or specific polishes I need.

But regardless if I send from Amazon direct or through shop and ship, all comes to a personal name but at my work address but literally every single package in the last 3 months ish has been hit with duty.

Last package yesterday a clothes retailer in the UK had a sale on so ordered a few bits off them arrived through shop and ship nice 186dhs customs charge, last time ordered off the same retailer shop and ship needed emirates id copies amongst other things to even release them from customs!

Convinced im on some hit list lol

shirt

23,483 posts

208 months

Monday 5th January 2015
quotequote all
funny you mention this as i had a package of car parts come this morning via UPS with no duty to pay. this very rarely happens to me.

i always get charged via shop & ship and 90& of the time by dhl [my preferred carrier]. that said 90% of the time i'm buying bulky car parts! i wouldn't expect small packages to be taxed.

i have never been stopped/charged at the airport though even when i have had a suitcase full of parts/tools and picked out to have the bag scanned.

After_Shock

Original Poster:

8,751 posts

227 months

Monday 5th January 2015
quotequote all
shirt said:
funny you mention this as i had a package of car parts come this morning via UPS with no duty to pay. this very rarely happens to me.

i always get charged via shop & ship and 90& of the time by dhl [my preferred carrier]. that said 90% of the time i'm buying bulky car parts! i wouldn't expect small packages to be taxed.

i have never been stopped/charged at the airport though even when i have had a suitcase full of parts/tools and picked out to have the bag scanned.
Glad its not just me then! Although saying that I don't order used parts as never really had the need to since moving here.

Think the only thing ive not been hit with customs on since September was a bag of sweets I ordered from the UK.

shirt

23,483 posts

208 months

Monday 5th January 2015
quotequote all
never shipped used either, too much hassle in case you need to return.

shop & ship is the worst tbh as you pay VAT, premium shipping and then import duties. only worth it on low value items imo.


After_Shock

Original Poster:

8,751 posts

227 months

Monday 5th January 2015
quotequote all
shirt said:
shop & ship is the worst tbh as you pay VAT, premium shipping and then import duties. only worth it on low value items imo.
Yeah agreed the lack of VAT saving is not much use, although Amazon if you take one of the offers as in 2 for 10quid or 3 for 17quid on blu rays for example even if you ship using them direct to UAE they don't knock the VAT off as its an offer item.

Do you have an account with DHL in a similar way that shop and ship works?

I only really use shop and ship for stuff I either need quick as it is cheaper than paying for quicker international delivery through amazon or for retailers that simply refuse to ship abroad, the clothes retailer or the sweet shop I use for example.

shirt

23,483 posts

208 months

Monday 5th January 2015
quotequote all
same here, i use shop & ship for ebay and small items that get delivered through royal mail. its also the only thing i trust if coming from the US as americans don't seem to like shipping internationally.

i don't have an account with DHL but the company i work for does. this means i can send for free and i know 100% that items will be received and our receptionist will keep it with her until i get back from travelling. i usually leave a couple hundred dhs with her for customs fees just in case i get bored and buy stuff when on site.

i find DHL to be the cheapest generally. for instance the parcel i received this morning weighs 2kg and cost 30quid to ship from the UK via UPS express. i've had far larger/heavier via DHL for less.

also, i shouldn't ask but thst sweetshop sounds interesting.....

After_Shock

Original Poster:

8,751 posts

227 months

Monday 5th January 2015
quotequote all
shirt said:
also, i shouldn't ask but thst sweetshop sounds interesting.....
Yeah its becoming a habbit, actually im out and need to order some more.

Kind of, well actually quite a lot miss traditional sweets from the UK, likes of the Haribo's that you get here don't scratch my itch so need some proper old school sweets every now and then!!

shirt

23,483 posts

208 months

Monday 5th January 2015
quotequote all
if they delive tangfastics and refreshers i am in

dxbtiger

4,441 posts

180 months

Monday 5th January 2015
quotequote all
shirt said:
tangfastics
WANT!

After_Shock

Original Poster:

8,751 posts

227 months

dxbtiger

4,441 posts

180 months

Monday 5th January 2015
quotequote all
Shirt you can get tangfastics here you know, park and shop best bet.

I was thinking of something else now I've seen that pic but can't remember the name.

dxbtiger

4,441 posts

180 months

Sunday 11th January 2015
quotequote all
What is the charge out of interest?

My missus has a shipment from the States stuck at customs so I think she'll be getting a bill, is it a % fee of the total order value?

After_Shock

Original Poster:

8,751 posts

227 months

Sunday 11th January 2015
quotequote all
Its supposed to be 5% of the invoice amount, however my last one was invoiced at 275 GBP and the charge I got was 186dhs, cant quite get that to 5% in my head for some reason.

dxbtiger

4,441 posts

180 months

Sunday 11th January 2015
quotequote all
After_Shock said:
Its supposed to be 5% of the invoice amount, however my last one was invoiced at 275 GBP and the charge I got was 186dhs, cant quite get that to 5% in my head for some reason.
Indeed.

$300 invoice, charge is 180 AED.

dxbtiger

4,441 posts

180 months

Sunday 11th January 2015
quotequote all
Of which the breakdown is apparently...

5% of invoice
40 AED 'Aramex fee'
60 AED 'Formalities

Which still doesn't add up hehe

After_Shock

Original Poster:

8,751 posts

227 months

Sunday 11th January 2015
quotequote all
dxbtiger said:
Indeed.

$300 invoice, charge is 180 AED.
Maybes the calculator at the customs office is on the blink.