Wow that does really suck! Good enough to know though. Is there a certain weight or what?
BTW nice adds!
Not weight. Customs is based on the price you paid for the items + shipping cost.
If someone would import the diecast here as part of their business, and sell them, they´d pay taxes just as well, so basically there is no way around it.
I´m not sure if you´d have to pay import taxes on products shipped from Europe to the US though. Never tried that.
The taxes are 19% of the value of a product for most items imported to Europe. Some countries charge an additional sum of around 6% when the value exceeds a certain limit, and I know Germany has a tax-free amount of $33.
@
jolof96, you´ll get used to paying taxes. If not, best consider moving to the US.
On the bright side, I received 2 shipments of diecast without having to pay taxes. The value exceeded $33 both times, but apparently someone was asleep at German customs. I thank him/her for that.
My total amount spent on Diecast bought through eBay in the past 12 months is $2005 (rounded down)
$580 of that amount went in shipping cost alone
$275 of that amount went in taxes
That leaves $1150 spent on actual diecast
I also spent some money on deals with people on this site so the years total comes closer to $3000, which is for taxes, shipping and the toys.
Now what did that get me? I´m on my way to 40 diecast, which averages on $75/diecast all included. They are all 1:24´s. I bet 1:64´s are quite a bit cheaper, helping you to keep numbers down a bit.
The alternative is looking at what´s available in Europe. You don´t pay taxes on it because the seller already did. You can actually get a small number of 2011 diecast and quite a few older diecast from sellers in Europe. The prices in the 1:64´s average around $15 a piece.
Personally I prefer the wider range of available diecast through US sellers, and unfortunately that means living with the additional cost of shipping and taxes.