Duty on imported kilts

**Bugbear** · 18th October 08, 08:09 PM

I just can't see how I would deal with a sudden hundred plus dollar charge on something that seems to be at the whim of an inspector when I have had to budget buying the item so closely in the first place. Are they just pulling the amount charged out of the air?

It's not that paying the duty bothers me, but how do you know what the charge is going to be before you buy something... Hard to do business that way.

**Howard Clark** · 18th October 08, 08:18 PM

No Ted, I am sure there are rules/policies governing the percentage charged on such things. It more amounts to whether or not your package was inspected. The volume is such that there are not enough personnel to check everything. There cannot be.

I am unsure what the actual law is regarding this in the USA. I think Matt or Barb, or Wally could answer in regards to tartan fabric, but I think there is a duty fee to import it, I just don't know how much.

I went on, but it turned into tax policy rant, so I deleted it.

**bowser** · 19th October 08, 06:29 AM

I dont know about the US but here it normaly depends on the carrier.
Courier companies are required to collect the duty on behalf of the customs, so if somthing arrives DHL etc, they will always collect the duty and if they dont then they have to pay it.
However the post office and I believe the USPS have whats called common carrier status which means that they are not actualy responsible for what they carry and you often dont get charged the duty, you are supposed to pay it yourself it they dont charge you though ???
However even they are charging more than they used to.
In UK you pay duty on the cost of the item and the shipping and then VAT on cost of item + shipping + import duty.
However rates of duty vary a lot between diferent items. Some things are 0 rated and some highly rated.
If dealing with an individual I normrmaly get them to put a low value on the customs form and or somthing like "warenty replacement" or "parts" or trade sample, with a value of 0 and that normaly works but its wont if buying from a large supplier.

**Howard Clark** · 18th October 08, 09:03 PM

Wow, customs inspector. The breadth of experience amongst kilties is amazing.

**Bugbear** · 18th October 08, 09:42 PM

I just want to make clear that I would have no problem at all figuring in a duty charge into the price of something when I am budgeting for it. If I am not charged the duty because of something on the duty inspectors end fine. I just feel like I need to know before I buy something and have it shipped what that charg is likely to be.

If it's my part to figure that out, then fine. It still leaves me feeling that I should look in country first.

**Highlander31** · 18th October 08, 11:32 PM

I feel thankful that I haven't experienced any of the problems outlined in this thread. I always try to go through a U.S. based business before going overseas. When I have had to go offshore, the duties were reasonable.

**ChattanCat** · 19th October 08, 05:32 AM

Fabric is a lot less on import duties, if at all. So I would recommend finding a kilt maker in North America.

**RockyR** · 19th October 08, 07:23 AM

Since Gary gave us the "US Customs" side of the discussion (which was very insightful), I thought I'd give you the "Company" view.

As someone who gets shipments from Scotland and the UK every other day, you REALLY don't want to know what we pay in customs duties. Imagine bringing in a few hundred pairs of hose, 20 sporrans and other tid bits...

We've found customs to be sporratic, especially in the last 8 months to year. When the item is shipped Royal Mail or Parcel force, the package has a better chance of not getting stopped at ALL. HOWEVER, if it IS stopped, it could be held for 2 weeks until they find out what a 'sporran' is and 'process' the order and release it. That REALLY hurts when we're waiting for an item for a wedding. The fees can get a bit high as well. Hiring your own "Customs Broker" (an independant company who contacts customs to give them info to release your package) will set you back about $125 PER SHIPMENT, PLUS the customs fees, which are usually 15% to 25% of the items being imported. If I paid $2000 for the items, my bill will be about ($2000 X 15% = $300 + $125) $425. If I paid $500 for the item, my bill will be about ($500 X 15% = $75 + $125) $200.

When we are shipped items via DHL or FedEx or UPS, they use their own customs broker ($25 for broker + customs fees), but it gets hit with fees every package. The UPSIDE is that it gets released much quicker.

People often ask why things "cost so much". Having to get everything imoported from the UK, pay shipping charges, low US Dollar, company size (health benefits for workers?), etc all play a roll.

This is just food for thought and something that end customers here in the US usually DON'T know we do "behind the scenes". We cover all these costs and deal with the "situations" ourselves so our customers don't have to.

**macneighill** · 19th October 08, 08:10 AM

hmmm . . my import duties were only $43.44 + $5 duty advance fee for a grand total of $48.44. I ordered my kilt and sporran from scottishkilts.net. From all of the "horror stories" I've heard about ordering from overseas, I was a little nervous. But, after talking with John Paul (McDougall) and James McNeill from TartanWeb/ScottishKilts, I felt allot better about the shipping and import duties. Once I received my kilt, that was it. Then about a week later, I received a "Customer Duty Invoice" from DHL Express. I have to admit, I didn't want to open it at first. Well, I opened it and, saw the total due was $48. So, I was shocked that it wasn't $100+. But I agree, it does create a good argument that, buying from American vendors (for those living in America) might be the better route.

**Phil** · 19th October 08, 08:40 AM

Customs duties seem to be a real nightmare. From what Wompet says they are applied in a particularly arbitrary way and there is no form of guidance you can try to price things beforehand. There is also possibly an element of protectionism to discourage imports but when there doesn't seem to be any significant indigenous manufacture of tartan to protect it is hard to justify. The fact remains, however, that it is bound to discriminate against Scottish goods and it makes perfect sense for people to buy local as a result. Whether it is right or not is another matter altogether.