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Price increase at Eastman Leather
- Thread starter Lorenzo_l
- Start date
Officer Dibley
Well-Known Member
Therefore, should one assume you did not have the full value declared ? Or, if it is all legal, please share with us on how you did this.
I've even paid import tax on WW2 items from the US that are British and were obviously made in England but i am bringing them back.
Skyhawk
Well-Known Member
Some couriers like DHL allow you to choose who pays the customs fees. It could be that GW is paying the fees. In that case the customer just gets it delivered with no mention of any customs charges.
There is (was) a loophole for importing original items. It's been a long time since I've used it but it used to work every time.. Basically it is an exemption under artifacts of historical significance. Using this exemption is correct in my view because it is designed for collectors to get "Artifacts of Historical Significance" into the country without paying 5 to 10 x times more than the material worth of the item. In essence charging fees on provenience above the actual value. They just waive all customs fees so the real value can be listed for insurance purposes. My guess is they want to help & encourage people to collect these items as a way of preserving history. It may be more designed for museums but I have not done too much research into to that aspect. All I know is that is seems right and it has worked every time for me.
Regards,
Jay
There is (was) a loophole for importing original items. It's been a long time since I've used it but it used to work every time.. Basically it is an exemption under artifacts of historical significance. Using this exemption is correct in my view because it is designed for collectors to get "Artifacts of Historical Significance" into the country without paying 5 to 10 x times more than the material worth of the item. In essence charging fees on provenience above the actual value. They just waive all customs fees so the real value can be listed for insurance purposes. My guess is they want to help & encourage people to collect these items as a way of preserving history. It may be more designed for museums but I have not done too much research into to that aspect. All I know is that is seems right and it has worked every time for me.
Regards,
Jay
John Lever
Moderator
Read an article today in The Financial Times stating that Sterling is very undervalued so prices might go up even more if there is an adjustment in rates.
johnwayne
Well-Known Member
FYI, customs payment is not for the seller to decide/dictate be it a new or even used jacket! It's purely luck whether or not your jacket or whatever being imported gets selected by customs and excise although how it's described on the customs invoice and value no doubt play a part. The seller could say it's 'No commercial value' but that would affect prevent any insurance cover, not wise on an expensive A2 but when I bought mine from GW, John Chapman described it as 'Used military jacket' and I didn't pay any import fees. However, last year I bought a B10 via Couchy (a member here) who facilitated it from Japan but I got clobbered for import tax that added approx 25%, ouch!! When I questioned the guy at the Post Office collection he said it's like personally going through an airport and getting selected from all those around you, just bad luck but, they do/ can make mistakes particularly with currency conversion so you can appeal and state your case on a certain form though poss a bit long winded and debateably may not be worth the trouble!!! A bit like paying income tax, there are ways to avoid it but illegal to evade paying it if due.
John Lever
Moderator
I recently returned a faulty jacket to Japan clearly stating that it was a return on the customs form supplied by the courier. Japanese customs put a charge on it that I had to pay before it could be delivered.
Greg Gale
Well-Known Member
Why can't the world be a big free trade org...all these duties and taxes feel like parking tickets. They're asking for money, because they can.
Currency exchange rates also play a big role for non UK customers at such prices. Let's assume a jacket costs 1000 GBP:
Pre-brexit, 1GBP was 450 HUF, so it would have costed me 450,000 HUF. I could never have afforded one.
Last November, when I bought my A-2, 1 GBP was 345 HUF, so that's 345,000 HUF. 25% cheaper!
Now our currency is plummeting, 1GBP=365 HUF, so 365,000 HUF per jacket, 6% more expensive.
The higher the prices, the more it fluctuates.
Currency exchange rates also play a big role for non UK customers at such prices. Let's assume a jacket costs 1000 GBP:
Pre-brexit, 1GBP was 450 HUF, so it would have costed me 450,000 HUF. I could never have afforded one.
Last November, when I bought my A-2, 1 GBP was 345 HUF, so that's 345,000 HUF. 25% cheaper!
Now our currency is plummeting, 1GBP=365 HUF, so 365,000 HUF per jacket, 6% more expensive.
The higher the prices, the more it fluctuates.
B-Man2
Well-Known Member
I’ll share an experience I had a few years ago. I sold an ELC .50 cal A2 to a fellow in the U.K. through EBay ( no one on this forum). When he received the jacket he was upset, because my description stated that the jacket had only been worn 2 or 3 times however he received a “worn and beat up “ A2. Obliviously the gent didn’t look at the photos real hard or didn’t realize what a .50 cal ELC was. He demanded his money back through EBay. So I had to pay him his money plus his shipping , plus return shipping and to add to the mix he stated “New Leather Jacket” on the US. Customs form so I had to pay fees on my own jacket when it arrived back home. Talk about a losing proposition;
Shipping fees to U.K. about $78.00
Return shipping fees to US. $ 84.00
US Customs import fees........$ 112.00
Lessons learned from this fiasco ....PRICLESS!
Shipping fees to U.K. about $78.00
Return shipping fees to US. $ 84.00
US Customs import fees........$ 112.00
Lessons learned from this fiasco ....PRICLESS!
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Flightengineer
Well-Known Member
Parking tickets ...ha ha ...It's big politics and economics
You would have seen what's going on with the ruble here the last few years. Foreign goods have risen in price here twice in local currency.
Brettafett
Well-Known Member
It just makes it all that more precarious with sizing and fit issues. Having to return or exchange an item, adds both costs and stress...
'Normal' people would have heart-attacks if they knew how much some of us have/ are spending on a jacket (inc postage, imports and duties etc...)
Dmitry, its almost worth renting a little 152 or 172 and flying to an EU airshow to do some jacket shopping!
'Normal' people would have heart-attacks if they knew how much some of us have/ are spending on a jacket (inc postage, imports and duties etc...)
Dmitry, its almost worth renting a little 152 or 172 and flying to an EU airshow to do some jacket shopping!
Flightengineer
Well-Known Member
Brett, agree about Cessna
One my friend recently joked: most of all I'm afraid if I die, my wife will sell my jackets at the prices that I told her how much they cost
Pilot
Well-Known Member
That is the “nicest” comment since long...A
Brett, agree about Cessna
One my friend recently joked: most of all I'm afraid if I die, my wife will sell my jackets at the prices that I told her how much they cost
Greg Gale
Well-Known Member
One my friend recently joked: most of all I'm afraid if I die, my wife will sell my jackets at the prices that I told her how much they cost
Hahaha, that's hilarious!
If that is so, make sure you let her know your VLJ login credentials so she can post them here
Flightengineer
Well-Known Member
Hahaha, that's hilarious!
You're right, I'l must have to do it
Thank God with my wife there are no jackets problems, I have everything legalized
Smithy
Well-Known Member
That's the big thing which is hitting now more and more and that's custom's duties or import duties or whatever you want to call them. With the opening up of the world as a global marketplace for any individual with a computer and an internet connection, governments have cottoned on to how they can make mucho dineros by taxing the private importing of goods.
Here it's quite strange, if I order books from overseas (which I do often) I never get hit with import duties which makes me think the Norwegian government has exempted reading/learning material from being taxed (I don't know if they actually have or if I've just been lucky but I can't be arsed trawling through the customs website to find out). I've ordered a few things from Charles Tyrwhitt, TM Lewin and everytime I've been hit with import duties. But when I got a pair of strides from Aero, two B-10s from ATF and an A-2 from AVI LTHR, not a sausage. All of those sailed through without Mr Customs and Excise batting an eyelid which makes me wonder whether here at least they're more adept at picking out shipments from certain companies for taxable products.
The problem is governments are always looking for ways to raise revenue and they've discovering that taxing their citizens to import stuff from other countries is a great new way of doing it.
Officer Dibley
Well-Known Member
Well, someone is either breaking the law or talking bollox if they think importing from the US has little duty cost.....
And this is for a jacket half the cost of a Goodwear. Tough on a Civil Engineers salary but perhaps a drop in the ocean for a primary school headmaster and so we have the difference in what constitutes a lot of money.....
And this is for a jacket half the cost of a Goodwear. Tough on a Civil Engineers salary but perhaps a drop in the ocean for a primary school headmaster and so we have the difference in what constitutes a lot of money.....
Brettafett
Well-Known Member
Yup, this looks a lot like what I received when I collected my Headwind... Things that make a grown man cry ;(
