Alan,

The import duties are legitimate.

I import beer kegerator parts and import duties are a normal course of
business. Because what I import is listed as parts and they are mostly brass
the duties are pretty reasonable, less than 10% & I have to pay the broker
before they release the parts to me.

Complete assembles can cost quite a bit more depending on what
classification they belong in. A long time ago my Brother had a pair of
custom snakeskin boots made for me in Korea. I shipped a sneaker over their
so they would get the shoe size right. The boots cost me $140 but the import
duties were an additional $45.00!!!

If you had the parts shipped in Priority Mail they might have come in
un-noticed, but never through a broker. They have their import license to
protect.

And BTW, customs charges are never built into an international order. The
customer is responsible for import duties, not the vendor. I also ship
international and several customers have asked me if I could cover their
import duties. I were able to pay their duties up front I still don't have a
clue what the cost would be.

Tom
www.towercooler.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM] On Behalf Of
Alan Felder
Sent: Thursday, August 19, 2010 10:11 PM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Import duties

I recently ordered some parts from Great Britain.  I have ordered parts from
Great Britain and other European countries before, but not from this
particular vendor.  There were some heavier items than I normally would have
shipped so far such as a pair of front shocks.  This vendor uses a worldwide
shipper similar to (but not) FedEx.  The day these parts arrived, I received
a phone call and later a letter from an IBC Customs Brokerage Co. stating
that I owed them $28plus for customs duties.

This has never happened before, and I will be amazed if customs allowed a
package through without requiring payment FIRST.  Any other shipment from
wherever (Asia, Australia, Europe, etc.) customs charges were built in to
the shipping cost (thats one reason they are so darn expensive).  Has anyone
had this happen to them?

The amount is not that big of a deal but I feel like I am being scammed for
something I have already paid for.

--
Alan Felder
Austin TX
82 Diesel Westy