Clarification on shipping and prices

[andre0407]

Hi everyone. I don't really know if this is the correct place to post this; if it isn't please move it.. thanks.

So I've been wondering how the heck tools are so expensive where I live. :/
Would anyone share how much MTs, especially the LM Wave and Charge Tti, cost where you live(apart from Singapore, haha)? And if you were to add shipping charges, what would be the final price look like when the MT touch down in Singapore?

Many thanks in advance..

[valvestem125]

I know that it is quite expensive to ship say a wrist watch from Singapore to the eastern United States area, using a reliable, trackable shipping method.  If customs in either country gets involved, watch out for duty fees, and delays.  This is all based on being able to find a retailer who will ship to outside the U.S.

[Spoonrobot]

Locally (Academy Sports in Alabama, USA) the Leatherman Wave sells for $74.98 + 8% sales tax.

Online I could get a Wave delivered to my house for $60.98 with no shipping charge from Amazon.com. Even cheaper I could get one from eBay.com for $49.99 delivered to my house.

USPS International Priority Flat Rate Small Box to Singapore costs $12.78 online. Of course, this is the cheapest option and offers no tracking and has a inconsistent track record for some people. I've sent a little over a dozen packages overseas with this method and have had no losses and only one problem. A package was returned to me after three months with some items missing. Others have not had such good luck.
 
So, it appears that in some cases you (a Singapore resident) could get a Wave delivered to your house for less than the local Alabama brick & mortar price.

[andre0407]

Locally (Academy Sports in Alabama, USA) the Leatherman Wave sells for $74.98 + 8% sales tax.

Online I could get a Wave delivered to my house for $60.98 with no shipping charge from Amazon.com. Even cheaper I could get one from eBay.com for $49.99 delivered to my house.

USPS International Priority Flat Rate Small Box to Singapore costs $12.78 online. Of course, this is the cheapest option and offers no tracking and has a inconsistent track record for some people. I've sent a little over a dozen packages overseas with this method and have had no losses and only one problem. A package was returned to me after three months with some items missing. Others have not had such good luck.
 
So, it appears that in some cases you (a Singapore resident) could get a Wave delivered to your house for less than the local Alabama brick & mortar price.

WOW. In that event... would you be as kind as to actually ship me one..? 

[silentio]

Hey andre, didn't have time to respond to your PM. But there are a few merchants that advertise here on MTO, you can see the banner ads up there. They ship internationally. Once in a while, felinevet (sometimes Tim, sometimes Cat man we call him different things here) will have MTs for sale too. He ships internationally at cost, so buying from him is great. Will give you more details of my past purchases when I get off work later, look out for my PM.

[andre0407]

Thank you so much. silentio. 

[Magnus]

Hey andre, didn't have time to respond to your PM. But there are a few merchants that advertise here on MTO, you can see the banner ads up there. They ship internationally. Once in a while, felinevet (sometimes Tim, sometimes Cat man we call him different things here) will have MTs for sale too. He ships internationally at cost, so buying from him is great. Will give you more details of my past purchases when I get off work later, look out for my PM.

how do they declare the customs value though? 

[Gareth]

Hey andre, didn't have time to respond to your PM. But there are a few merchants that advertise here on MTO, you can see the banner ads up there. They ship internationally. Once in a while, felinevet (sometimes Tim, sometimes Cat man we call him different things here) will have MTs for sale too. He ships internationally at cost, so buying from him is great. Will give you more details of my past purchases when I get off work later, look out for my PM.

how do they declare the customs value though? 

Tim (Felinevet) is 'discrete' I believe.  

[Benner]

Be careful what we are implying chaps...

Magnus, I have never been hit with a charge on anything from Tim.

[silentio]

Regarding tax for Singapore, personal artifacts not exceeding S$400 are exempt. So I never face the moral dilemma of asking a merchant to under-declare the value. At least not till I start buying them like Chako does

[Magnus]

Be careful what we are implying chaps...

Magnus, I have never been hit with a charge on anything from Tim.

do you honestly think customs trawl forums to find fee evaders?  they are incompetent enough at just inspecting packages.

Hey andre, didn't have time to respond to your PM. But there are a few merchants that advertise here on MTO, you can see the banner ads up there. They ship internationally. Once in a while, felinevet (sometimes Tim, sometimes Cat man we call him different things here) will have MTs for sale too. He ships internationally at cost, so buying from him is great. Will give you more details of my past purchases when I get off work later, look out for my PM.

how do they declare the customs value though? 

Tim (Felinevet) is 'discrete' I believe. (Image removed from quote.) 

good to know, he was one of the merchants I was specifically wondering about.

It isn't the tax that really bothers me, it's the £12 "handling" charge people like parcelfarce slam on you.

[Vladimir]

In Serbia, only items below 20 euros are tax exempt, so I have problems ordering, but there are few sellers who are willing to declare everything below that price-PM me, and I will gave you their names

[andrea.from.roma]

Would anyone share how much MTs, especially the LM Wave and Charge Tti, cost where you live(apart from Singapore, haha)? And if you were to add shipping charges, what would be the final price look like when the MT touch down in Singapore?

Leatherman Charge TTi > €185 (USD 254 / SGD 361)
Leatherman Wave > €125 (USD 172 / SGD 243)
Victorinox Swisstool Spirit €99 (USD 136 / SGD 193)

...this is what a very well known store (and online store) in Italy charges you for these MT's.
I can't tell about shipping prices to Singapore, but I guess it cannot be a bargain...

A.

[Grant Lamontagne]

Hey andre, didn't have time to respond to your PM. But there are a few merchants that advertise here on MTO, you can see the banner ads up there. They ship internationally. Once in a while, felinevet (sometimes Tim, sometimes Cat man we call him different things here) will have MTs for sale too. He ships internationally at cost, so buying from him is great. Will give you more details of my past purchases when I get off work later, look out for my PM.

As a dirty foreigner myself (and coincidentally owner of this forum!  ) I insist that anyone wanting to advertise here be willing to ship internationally.  It does me no good to have any CONUS only dealers here, since I am not in the CONUS myself.

Def

[Vladimir]

I recently ordered Wave from EDCDepot, shipping was around $10, and Marc is very nice guy

[AHB]

I recently ordered Wave from EDCDepot, shipping was around $10, and Marc is very nice guy

+1 

And Tim (Felinevet) is a great guy to do business with.. 

[DaveK]

do you honestly think customs trawl forums to find fee evaders?  they are incompetent enough at just inspecting packages.

You think they don't? This is HM Customs and Excise we're talking about - more powers than the police and a stated policy of catching and exposing anyone who tries to "defraud" them. You bet they'll read forums like this one, even if they don't specifically monitor them. How hard is it to Google people discussing tax evasion?

It isn't the tax that really bothers me, it's the £12 "handling" charge people like parcelfarce slam on you.

Statutory fee is £8 at the moment - they can't charge you £12. If they do, I would be pursuing the £4 no matter how many letters and calls it took! It's the principle.

[Benner]

Magnus, implying anything which bottom line is illegal is not a good idea to be posting on the internet.  We just need to be sensible.

[andre0407]

Leatherman Charge TTi > €185 (USD 254 / SGD 361)
Leatherman Wave > €125 (USD 172 / SGD 243)
Victorinox Swisstool Spirit €99 (USD 136 / SGD 193)

...this is what a very well known store (and online store) in Italy charges you for these MT's.
I can't tell about shipping prices to Singapore, but I guess it cannot be a bargain...

A.

Yes, andrea.. in fact it would seem that the MTs for sale in your area costs a lot more, even when compared to Singapore! 

[DaveK]

Leatherman Charge TTi > €185 (USD 254 / SGD 361)
Leatherman Wave > €125 (USD 172 / SGD 243)
Victorinox Swisstool Spirit €99 (USD 136 / SGD 193)

...this is what a very well known store (and online store) in Italy charges you for these MT's.
I can't tell about shipping prices to Singapore, but I guess it cannot be a bargain...

A.

Yes, andrea.. in fact it would seem that the MTs for sale in your area costs a lot more, even when compared to Singapore! 

I think that with very few exceptions, it's always cheaper to source them from the US. The trick is to control the postage though.

I've learned that even the US online businesses that do export tend to insist on using couriers like FedEx, UPS and DHL. This gives you reliable and quick delivery, but sometimes costs as much as the tool! So, it makes sense to:

1) Buy more than one tool at a time to maximise the postage;
2) Use smaller, approachable retailers like www.eleatherman.com who if asked will often remove a tool from the blister packaging and half your postage for you;
3) Get as much help from our US members here as you can!

[Magnus]

do you honestly think customs trawl forums to find fee evaders?  they are incompetent enough at just inspecting packages.

You think they don't? This is HM Customs and Excise we're talking about - more powers than the police and a stated policy of catching and exposing anyone who tries to "defraud" them. You bet they'll read forums like this one, even if they don't specifically monitor them. How hard is it to Google people discussing tax evasion?

I guess so, although I don't know how useful it is, given that the seller is outside their jurisdiction; and people here don't tend to post their name and address out in the open.  Better safe than sorry though.   

It isn't the tax that really bothers me, it's the £12 "handling" charge people like parcelfarce slam on you.

Statutory fee is £8 at the moment - they can't charge you £12. If they do, I would be pursuing the £4 no matter how many letters and calls it took! It's the principle.

They charge more for parcels sent by EMS for some bloody reason.  What was worse is that it was on a £20 item...

[andre0407]

I think that with very few exceptions, it's always cheaper to source them from the US. The trick is to control the postage though.

I've learned that even the US online businesses that do export tend to insist on using couriers like FedEx, UPS and DHL. This gives you reliable and quick delivery, but sometimes costs as much as the tool! So, it makes sense to:

1) Buy more than one tool at a time to maximise the postage;
2) Use smaller, approachable retailers like www.eleatherman.com who if asked will often remove a tool from the blister packaging and half your postage for you;
3) Get as much help from our US members here as you can!

Ah. Thank you very much for the tips, Dave..  Indeed, I've realized that most of the members of this forum are very friendly and helpful people.    and thus point #3 that you made was very relevant. Hehe. In fact.. Am in the process of 'getting help' with getting a Charge TTI!  but I've just got to wait for Paypal to verify my account(never used it before.. bother.  )...

[zepla]

Get stuff like that in the US indeed. Over here I'm looking at prices about Andrea posted   

[Neil]

do you honestly think customs trawl forums to find fee evaders?  they are incompetent enough at just inspecting packages.

You think they don't? This is HM Customs and Excise we're talking about - more powers than the police and a stated policy of catching and exposing anyone who tries to "defraud" them. You bet they'll read forums like this one, even if they don't specifically monitor them. How hard is it to Google people discussing tax evasion?

I guess so, although I don't know how useful it is, given that the seller is outside their jurisdiction; and people here don't tend to post their name and address out in the open.  Better safe than sorry though.   

It isn't the tax that really bothers me, it's the £12 "handling" charge people like parcelfarce slam on you.

Statutory fee is £8 at the moment - they can't charge you £12. If they do, I would be pursuing the £4 no matter how many letters and calls it took! It's the principle.

They charge more for parcels sent by EMS for some bloody reason.  What was worse is that it was on a £20 item...

I feel your pain   $31USD package arrived today. VAT charge three quid (fair enough), RM handling fee £8!  That's the bit that gets me 

[DaveK]

Yup - that £8 sure is a killer on low value items    I suppose it's justified by the fact that it's fixed regardless of the customs value, i.e. £1,000 item still costs you £8.

Personally, I can't see why they don't make it a percentage like the VAT charge - that would seem a bit more fair.

[Magnus]

I would rather just have the option of doing the paper work myself