...and Customs 'inspection' fee (or some such thing). Ican't remember the eact details but I got stung on what appeared to be a cheap import.

According to the cutoms/tax guy at the time, the threshold is $1000 AUD (on the total cost, including shipping costs) if it's 'ordinary post', but if it comes by Fedex (or other carriers) the threshold is $300 AUD. After that, customs want to know what's in the box, and they charge a fee for loooking/asking - I think it was something like $150 - so my $400 import ended up costing about $600.

The moral of the story is: if it is less than $300 (or $1000 if you can wait for 6 weeks seafreight) you probably won't pay anything at this end, but if it's over, add on GST, duty and customs (leaving aside any 'fraudulent' shipping documents)

Let me get it straight for you.


Anything under $1000AUD (including the cost of freight and insurance) wil be duty and GST free.

Anything over $1000AUD will be taxed at 10%.

Kites are not classified as non powered aircraft. This is a mistake made by the Customs Officer spoken to.

Plus you will find that the recent US Free trade agreement has made the correct classification of power kites duty free, providing they are manufactured in the US and not China.

On top of the 10% GST you will pay around $40 for a Customs processing fee. All other charges (except for any 'real' expenses in transport) are generally made up by the freight company. There is no such thing as a Customs Inspection / Looking / asking fee. This is a great example of the BS charges freight companies come up with.

Hi Guys,
Justy thought I'd share my expieriance in buying a kite from overseas.
About 4 months ago I puchased a kite from kitehigh.com. I won't mention the brand so I don't insult anyone.
I placed my order with kitehigh after negotiating a price with one of their online consultants, a price which was well below the price they had advirtised and almost half of what I would have paid for the kite over here.
I thought the guys there did a great job. They promptly placed my order and shipped it out to me, and kept me informed of what was happening every step of the way. I received 3 emails from them and 2 phone calls during the time of placing my order and receiving it.
They were totally up front about the shipping charge and gave me a guarenteed conversion price before i decided to buy it.
Kitehigh also sent me a confirmation email making sure i wanted the kite still before processing my order.
I ordered the kite on a sunday night then had it at my door 8 days later!!! This i have to say is awsome sevice in my opinion.
I had no hassles, no regret and was NEVER charged any sort of fee for customs nor did i have to pay any taxes on the kite which was over 1000.00!!!
I have purchased items from overseas on the net before both above and below 1000aud and have never had to pay any tax.
All in all i was rapt with kitehighs service and would buy from them again. Unfortunatly i wont because they no longer stock the brand of kite i use but have since found a site which is as good, if not better than kitehigh in terms of price. Lets see how their service goes!!! will keeps you posted on that one.
I saved around 650.00 all up and the saving included the 100.00 shipping as well!!! I have no qualms about spending 100-200 dollars more to keep the busines in australia and with the distributors but when im saving that sort of money thay can forget about getting my business.
Just recently i did a bit of a costing on a new quiver of 06 kites and worked out i could save around 3000.00 by purchasing from overseas!! Thats 600.00 per kite and the saving includes shipping the kites. No where have i found anyone to give me as good a price in aus even when they know i could be spending 6-8 thousand dollars on kites in one hit. The arrogance astounds me!!
I know kite are cheap to make but do have a lot of R abd D spent on them. The australian importers of the kites and distributors of them as well as kite retailers need to wake up because my next 8 grand on new 06 kite are about to make its way to the US of A!!! And i'm happy to give it to them as long as the price is right. Same goes for australian retailers and distributors, if the price was right then my money would be coming your way but its not so dont stress on it!! My dollars will continue going overseas until people over here wake up and get a grip!!!
Just my 2 cents worth

Jordy

jordy
You are just lucky. Most people have to pay tax when the goods hit Australia. I think if you put as much effort shopping around in aus as you do in the usa the price difference wouldnt be that great - remember that without retailers the sport of kiteboarding would have never existed as it does today.