eBay and taxes

We now pay a 10% Goods & Services tax on everything we purchase from overseas, including postage, whether new or second hand.
Out here GST is automatically included in the purchase price of most new items we buy, whether from a store or on-line.  Second hand goods, up to a certain value, don't attract GST when purchased out here, but to buy from overseas, the same used item attracts tax.  This doesn't seem quite fair to me, but I guess the govenment could see that they were missing out on their slice of the pie with the increase of on-line imports.

Bernie, whether I buy from Canada or I buy from America, I still pay the same tax.  Just keep your postage costs low and you will keep me interested  

My big spend on such items was a few years ago when our dollar was higher than the USD.  Currently, I pay $1.45 for every $1 USD. Back then US postal charges were way less.  That means that I now generally need to pay $34 AUD for the most basic First Class postage from the US.  $2.50 engine, $34 postage.  I gotta get a real bargain nowadays to make the purchase worthwhile.
Currently watching a McCoy at 99c US.  ($1.43).  Add another $34 and it ain't a cheap engine.

balogh wrote:That is fully understood and appreciated here Bernie..on top of 27% VAT and some import duties I pay I also need to wait weeks before the goods worth in excess of 22 € (if bought from a company ) or 45€  ( if from a private person) clear customs here..COX hobby is not that cheap and simple everywhere around the world as for you guys in North America..

Just found a NIB Lil Roughneck balsa airplane kit on ebay that was bought at 79.99 USD but ended up way above USD150 shipped and customs cleared on my end..ebay added all customs markups automatically.

As we only declare CA$15 (10 Euros) per package and the postage cost is hidden, customs seldom gets involved

Oldenginerod wrote:We now pay a 10% Goods & Services tax on everything we purchase from overseas, including postage, whether new or second hand.
Out here GST is automatically included in the purchase price of most new items we buy, whether from a store or on-line.  Second hand goods, up to a certain value, don't attract GST when purchased out here, but to buy from overseas, the same used item attracts tax.  This doesn't seem quite fair to me, but I guess the govenment could see that they were missing out on their slice of the pie with the increase of on-line imports.

Bernie, whether I buy from Canada or I buy from America, I still pay the same tax.  Just keep your postage costs low and you will keep me interested  

My big spend on such items was a few years ago when our dollar was higher than the USD.  Currently, I pay $1.45 for every $1 USD. Back then US postal charges were way less.  That means that I now generally need to pay $34 AUD for the most basic First Class postage from the US.  $2.50 engine, $34 postage.  I gotta get a real bargain nowadays to make the purchase worthwhile.
Currently watching a McCoy at 99c US.  ($1.43).  Add another $34 and it ain't a cheap engine.

To our knowledge, AU has a "de minimis" of AU$ 100 for personal imports (after which VAT is charged). As we only declare CA$ 15 (AU$ 12) per package, AU customs rarely gets involved. And, to reiterate, we do not charge or collect any taxes (except for Canadian customers) if you purchase directly on our website.

We likely have the lowest shipping costs in the industry with a cap of US$ 2.95 for under 5mm (basically gaskets) and $9.95 for over 5mm. The $9.95 cap is regardless of order size; meaning could purchase 100 engines and parts and not pay more in shipping (4-5 exceptions for our largest / heaviest items).

We do not make a profit on shipping and only charge what Canada Post charges us but only up to $9.95. On heavier packages, we subsidize shipping.

Here is a link to world-wide de minimis thresholds and it looks like AU was raised to $1,000  http://go.borderlinx.com/tax-and-duty-de-minimis/

Most countries will have a separate de minimis for duty and tax. They can be identical but don't have to be.

For many years, we have always attempted to draw new eBay customers to our webstore and have been largely successful but others have stayed with the eBay platform. As of this year, we have been including notes with our shipments (to buyers that were charged tax) to make them aware of this and that we don't charge taxes. Well, even solid eBay hangouts have been switching over, as buying on eBay now affects their wallets  

Cox International wrote:

Oldenginerod wrote:We now pay a 10% Goods & Services tax on everything we purchase from overseas, including postage, whether new or second hand.
Out here GST is automatically included in the purchase price of most new items we buy, whether from a store or on-line.  Second hand goods, up to a certain value, don't attract GST when purchased out here, but to buy from overseas, the same used item attracts tax.  This doesn't seem quite fair to me, but I guess the govenment could see that they were missing out on their slice of the pie with the increase of on-line imports.

Bernie, whether I buy from Canada or I buy from America, I still pay the same tax.  Just keep your postage costs low and you will keep me interested  

My big spend on such items was a few years ago when our dollar was higher than the USD.  Currently, I pay $1.45 for every $1 USD. Back then US postal charges were way less.  That means that I now generally need to pay $34 AUD for the most basic First Class postage from the US.  $2.50 engine, $34 postage.  I gotta get a real bargain nowadays to make the purchase worthwhile.
Currently watching a McCoy at 99c US.  ($1.43).  Add another $34 and it ain't a cheap engine.

To our knowledge, AU has a "de minimis" of AU$ 100 for personal imports (after which VAT is charged). As we only declare CA$ 15 (AU$ 12) per package, AU customs rarely gets involved. And, to reiterate, we do not charge or collect any taxes (except for Canadian customers) if you purchase directly on our website.

We likely have the lowest shipping costs in the industry with a cap of US$ 2.95 for under 5mm (basically gaskets) and $9.95 for over 5mm. The $9.95 cap is regardless of order size; meaning could purchase 100 engines and parts and not pay more in shipping (4-5 exceptions for our largest / heaviest items).

We do not make a profit on shipping and only charge what Canada Post charges us but only up to $9.95. On heavier packages, we subsidize shipping.

And we Thank You !!