International buyers: how long you've waited your uke in Foreign Customs?

fabioponta

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I live in Brazil, and always buy ukes of Hawaii with MGM.
All my 3 ukes koaloha took 50 days to arrive at my house. It cost more than $ 500, these ukes pay 85% federal tax, including shipping costs.

I already bought ukes of $ 250.00. They take 20 days to arrive at my house, and still pay 60% of federal tax.

What is the experience of you in other countries?
 
I'm in Venezuela, i use a PO-BOX in Miami for the shipping and then a cargo companie from Miami to Caracas, it takes around 20 days to get here, sometimes the customs thinks is a toy and sometimes they think is a musical instrument, but is allways around 40 % tax, mine problem is that in a semi-comunist country i have to get the dolars in the black market at 10 times the cost and pray nobody ask where i get the money.
I dream with a Martin D-15 guitar but imagine pay 10.000 $ for it
 
hey , i'm in belgium an bought one in usa, after it arrived in belgium ( after 2 days ) it was stuck in customs for 3 weeks.
when it did arrive they had me paying a nice clearance of a roughly 100$ >.>

anyway, im happily strumming on it now ^^
 
I have them shipped to my parents in California, then import them by hand as carry-on luggage. Customs = 0.
 
Canada here. Customs doesn't hold thewm too long - a day or two is usual. But they they apply federal and provincial taxes - 13%. Plus the post office adds a "processing" fee, usually around $10.

And if it's shipped via UPS, then UPS adds its own "brokerage" fee of around $100, sometimes more. It all adds up... but UPS makes it cost a LOT more than postal service.
 
reading all this I think we've got it pretty good here in Australia. Usually things are cleared through customs within 2-3 days.

My biggest delays, I have found, are when the goods are held in US customs for a week and more before they even leave the country.

In Australia you can import goods of up to $1000 value without incurring any customs tax. Once you top $1000 though, you can be up for some hefty charges. For example, I had a Black Bear sent over valued at $1500, and was up for $330 tax.

Delivery though is generally very quick to Australia from US...vast majority of ukes I have imported arrive within 2 weeks through USPS priority international shipping
 
I'm still not sure what a "brokerage fee" is or why UPS should have charged me a hundred bucks extra for shipping a used instrument (yes, I was taxed on it). When I find something good for sale in Canada, I weep tears of joy. Mainland, I love you, but buying a banjolele from you would ultimately cost me something like two hundred dollars more than it would cost an American taking it straight out of the store. It isn't your fault; it's the diabolical offspring of Canada Customs and UPS. *Shakes fist of rage*
 
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