The Feedback Thread

[Lanthanotus]

Positive for acro-man, very fast shipment (3 or 4 days from China to Germany) and super securely packed.

[postsaurischian]

Positive for acro-man, very fast shipment (3 or 4 days from China to Germany) and super securely packed.

Unfortunately I cannot confirm this. I also live in Germany (Karlsruhe) and my package only did it to Frankfurt (Germany's main airport) where it is now held back by the GDSK - as I know now - a contractual partner of Chinese EMS, who will only pass it on to me if I commission them to declare it at the customs there. They take EUR 25 for this "service" (I'm not talking about the import sales tax, which I also have to pay for.). I thought this was strange and asked my local customs service, but believe it or not - it is legal .
This spoils the fun. I had to pay USD 50 for the EMS shipping and thought this was it. In the end I would have paid much less if I had ordered the Mamenchisaurus through eBay (which I will probably do with the next PNSO release). In the beginning I thought it would be the other way round. Foolish me, now I know better and think I have to enlighten other German DTF members.
So here's my warning: Do not choose Chinese EMS as a shipping option! In the end you'd have to pay more than three times as much as the model itself cost.
I have decades of experiences with getting packages from all countries all over the world, but this is outrageous!

To avoid any possibility of confusion: This is not against forum member acro-man! He certainly is not aware of this!

[BrontoScorpio]

postsaurischian, I am amazed :
As an experianced DTF person I can not believe you had not allready known that "YOU DON'T MESS WITH EMS"! If this Service is from the east ( China, HK, Japan, etc. ).
It is not acro-man's fault.
I learned the same leason like yourself, in the hard way ( buying from Rakuten Japan).
so, When I asked acro-man's help few weeks ago I emphasized the following:
"Shipping can NOT be with EMS .
and I much prefer a "Standard international shipping" or China post ( e-packet .. ) or SAL -
over even any other special mail services like Fedex, DHL ( they get stuck in customs and bare treatment fees ).".
In conclussion, my advise is "always stick to STANDARD mail".

[BlueKrono]

I'm sorry you had that experience. So is the only way to avoid that situation to specifically request "no EMS"? I had not heard of this before either.

[postsaurischian]

postsaurischian, I am amazed :
As an experianced DTF person I can not believe you had not allready known that "YOU DON'T MESS WITH EMS"! If this Service is from the east ( China, HK, Japan, etc. ).

I haven't been making similar experiences with Japanese EMS. The GDSK is only a contractual partner of Chinese EMS.

It is not acro-man's fault.

I think I've made it clear that it's not acro-man's fault. Please read posts carefully before you answer! I even highlighted that.

I much prefer a "Standard international shipping" or China post ( e-packet .. ) or SAL -
over even any other special mail services like Fedex, DHL ( they get stuck in customs and bare treatment fees ).".
In conclussion, my advise is "always stick to STANDARD mail".

Unfortunately there is no SAL in China. For "Standard international shipping" the parcel was too heavy and we would have had to leave the outer packaging off, which I did not want. That was maybe my only fault, but I was concerned about the Mamenchisaurus' original box .... which is very beautiful .... and everyone knows I'm a sucker for beauty .

[Lanthanotus]

Sorry to hear about that costly issue, postsaurischian. I certainly wasn't aware of the different means of shipping/transpost companies and I just checked the parcel's label and it says "China Post" and "e Packet", but I also went ordering the figure without the big and heavy box.

[BrontoScorpio]

postsaurischian,
I didn't claim you accused  acro-man with anything. just said it's not his fault - as a matter of repeating the obvious.
and yes - I do read carefully.
As for shipping methods - my TAOBAO agent  gives me "CNSAL" shipping method, along other options -  I assume it stands for China-SAL ...
Eventually, I took HongKong-Post for a 9kg parcel.

[acro-man]

Sorry about your loss, postsaurischian

I am mad, totally, to hear about the 'custom declarance commission'.
Unacceptable shipping cost, unreasonable commission fee, not so fast delivery, what the heck???
I have decided to get rid of EMS forever.
All these nuisanse doesn't make any stupid sense.

I can't run away from this.
As a contributor of this fault, it's definitely my mistake not looking for more reasonable shipping options.
My deepest apologies.

Thanks everybody for your advices and experiences of shipping.
I am seriously considering SAL now.

As for Lanthanotus, I shipped his parcel with 'e Packet' because his Mamenchi without box is less than 2kg.
2kg is the divider between heaven and hell.
But God..... who knows EMS is so bxtchy!!

[postsaurischian]

postsaurischian,
I didn't claim you accused  acro-man with anything. just said it's not his fault - as a matter of repeating the obvious.

Sorry! I got that wrong .

Sorry about your loss, postsaurischian

I can't run away from this.
As a contributor of this fault, it's definitely my mistake not looking for more reasonable shipping options.
My deepest apologies.

Please do not feel responsible for all this! I wanted the box and gladly paid the higher quote.
But neither you nor me could suspect that a third gang of criminals (called the GDSK) would appear on the scene and start an extortion.

I am mad, totally, to hear about the 'custom declarance commission'.
Unacceptable shipping cost, unreasonable commission fee, not so fast delivery, what the heck???
I have decided to get rid of EMS forever.

If I were you I'd do the same.

[BrontoScorpio]

Just today got my 9kg  Parcel of Chinese stuff.
Avoided all the customs etc. with HK-Airmail Post.
Took less than 2 weeks.

[sauroid]

WOW! including customs duties? you are so lucky. congrats on that big haul Brontoscorpio.

[BrontoScorpio]

Yes, Sauroid,
As I said, since it is not a special mail service ( i.e. EMS, FeDex, HDL, etc. ) - it is not being stalled on customs.
will let you see the contents at the appropriate thread ( Recent Acq. )

[RobinGoodfellow]

The method is to tell your gent to write a low value on the parcel.

...probably it's faster and cheaper but it's also illegal and you should not talk about it in a public forum... (just my opinion)

[BrontoScorpio]

It's illegal what they're doing with your tax money, Robin !
( Most agents understand that and you need not tell them anything, they do it by default without you even noticing it ... )

[postsaurischian]

  positive for acro-man!

Despite the GDSK terror (I haven't opened their envelope yet - but I did open the Mamenchisaurus' box) I'm very happy with what I got. Great figure, wonderfully designed box, oh! And I like the stamps. Everything is in great condition .

[stargatedalek]

The method is to tell your gent to write a low value on the parcel.

...probably it's faster and cheaper but it's also illegal and you should not talk about it in a public forum... (just my opinion)

It's illegal what they're doing with your tax money, Robin !
( Most agents understand that and you need not tell them anything, they do it by default without you even noticing it ... )

It's actually standard in many countries to mark the item at (original) retail value, rather than what the buyer paid. It isn't illegal at all. And if the seller doesn't know or remember the original retail value they aren't going to be charged for estimating.

It's criminal when someone lists a $2000 cellphone as a $20 MP3 player, not when someone lists a $60 plastic dinosaur as a $30 plastic dinosaur.

[RobinGoodfellow]

The method is to tell your gent to write a low value on the parcel.

...probably it's faster and cheaper but it's also illegal and you should not talk about it in a public forum... (just my opinion)

It's illegal what they're doing with your tax money, Robin !
( Most agents understand that and you need not tell them anything, they do it by default without you even noticing it ... )

It's actually standard in many countries to mark the item at (original) retail value, rather than what the buyer paid. It isn't illegal at all. And if the seller doesn't know or remember the original retail value they aren't going to be charged for estimating.

It's criminal when someone lists a $2000 cellphone as a $20 MP3 player, not when someone lists a $60 plastic dinosaur as a $30 plastic dinosaur.

I don't know your Country's law about Customs (and I don't know what your Country is).
I'm in Europe and for every item you bought outside EU, Customs need a (true) declaration about the transaction with all the prices involved.
Even the shipping cost.
Customs doesn't care about retail price but the price you really paid.
I know that very well because I did a lot of Customs declarations every time a chinese or japanese website sent me an item without english documentation.
That's the law (in Europe).
You can also find these rules on Ebay.com, at the end of many chinese or japanese auctions.
Just a random advice from an Ebay seller (Japan):

"·Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. ·Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying. ·These charges are normally collected by the delivering freight (shipping) company or when you pick the item up - do not confuse them for additional shipping charges. ·We do not mark merchandise values below value or mark items as "gifts" - US and International government regulations prohibit such behavior. "

( here:  http://www.ebay.com/itm/Kaiyodo-Capsule-Q-Museum-Japanese-dinosaur-excavation-all-five-complete-sets-/222561273094?epid=1861426709&hash=item33d1af8506:g:PW8AAOSw0j9ZUnZE )

You can agree or not with Customs politics; it's your choice. But laws are laws...

[stargatedalek]

You can agree or not with Customs politics; it's your choice. But laws are laws...

In my conversations with employees of Canada Post I've been told that even if I'm shipping something that someone bought from me they're labeling it as whatever the equivalent declaration is to a gift because I'm shipping it as a private citizen and not as a business. An eBay store is a business, it's very different from a private citizen selling something. Someone selling something they decided not to keep is different from someone buying something whole sale or bulk and selling them, even if they aren't registered as a business.

It clearly works differently in Europe because when I walk into the post office unaware of what to declare as a value they tell me to declare the items original retail price. I've even been told specifically not to declare an item at the value I was paid and instead use the price I would have paid originally because the only benefit to declare a high value on something is in case it gets lost or I request a refund in some way, and that some countries that use privatized postage might ransom the package for more than it's likely worth.

[RobinGoodfellow]

You can agree or not with Customs politics; it's your choice. But laws are laws...

In my conversations with employees of Canada Post I've been told that even if I'm shipping something that someone bought from me they're labeling it as whatever the equivalent declaration is to a gift because I'm shipping it as a private citizen and not as a business. An eBay store is a business, it's very different from a private citizen selling something. Someone selling something they decided not to keep is different from someone buying something whole sale or bulk and selling them, even if they aren't registered as a business.

It clearly works differently in Europe because when I walk into the post office unaware of what to declare as a value they tell me to declare the items original retail price. I've even been told specifically not to declare an item at the value I was paid and instead use the price I would have paid originally because the only benefit to declare a high value on something is in case it gets lost or I request a refund in some way, and that some countries that use privatized postage might ransom the package for more than it's likely worth.

We're talking about two completely different things: you're talking about private while I was talking about professional sellers (web stores, Ebay, Taobao agents etc..).
As a private, you can send a gift to a friend living in Europe for free.
And you can freely declare an item's value you prefer.
But if you're sending to a "friend" a brand new item with its package, the "friend" sent you back a payment for the item and you're writing a lower value to avoid Customs fee, then the foreign Customs can accuse you of fraud about illegal import of a commercial item eluding local taxes.
In my Country an item priced less than 22 euro can freely be received without Customs fee.
A professional seller must include the required documentation about the transaction and can't declare a lesser value for the item because it's illegal.

Customs taxes are quite high in my Country so I don't like them very much; but that's how it works....

[dinosaurdungeon]

I just got to give a huge positive the acro man! My pnso dinosaurs came from China all the way to Canada and 5 days! I'll definitely be dealing with him again!