View Full Version : Customs card
waterfowler89
02-12-2009, 11:10
Hey, I am a new hanger. I ordered the JH and after a long wait for it to get here it arrived packaged differently then i thought it would. I thought it would arrive in a box or something to protect it in shipping but it was just wrapped in plastic with a string wrapped around it. The reason i am started this thread is because on the package it had a customs card. On that card it was written that the value of the hammock was $10. This sort of made me mad because I just paid $150 for something that is only "worth" $10. I know that this was probably written so that they had to pay less export tax or something like that, but it still made me feel like i was cheated. Did anyone else experience this? I know if i saw the "value" of anything else that was imported from another county and then i saw the price i paid, i would probably be mad. Buy american made products, give americans jobs and help our economy!!! I know that i will probably get alot of comment against me for that last comment but o well, i am kinda bitter right now cause i got laid off from my job.:)
headchange4u
02-12-2009, 11:13
It's probably just something to get around paying higher import/export taxes.
canoebie
02-12-2009, 11:21
Hey, I am a new hanger. I ordered the JH and after a long wait for it to get here it arrived packaged differently then i thought it would. I thought it would arrive in a box or something to protect it in shipping but it was just wrapped in plastic with a string wrapped around it. The reason i am started this thread is because on the package it had a customs card. On that card it was written that the value of the hammock was $10. This sort of made me mad because I just paid $150 for something that is only "worth" $10. I know that this was probably written so that they had to pay less export tax or something like that, but it still made me feel like i was cheated. Did anyone else experience this? I know if i saw the "value" of anything else that was imported from another county and then i saw the price i paid, i would probably be mad. Buy american made products, give americans jobs and help our economy!!! I know that i will probably get alot of comment against me for that last comment but o well, i am kinda bitter right now cause i got laid off from my job.:)
If the profit margin was truly that high, we all oughta start making hammocks!
angrysparrow
02-12-2009, 11:24
If the profit margin was truly that high, we all oughta start making hammocks!
We can all get rich selling each other hammocks! :rolleyes::)
WrongTurn
02-12-2009, 11:31
Probably the value of the material. You figure these guys buy in huge bulk. A Hammock literally costs them next to nothing to make, however Marketing, Production Overhead, Christmas Bonus, and wages for workers along with taxes is really the cost of doing business. Look at cell phones. A typical LG, Motorola, Samsung, what have you phone costs about 15 dollars to produce at most. The price comes from marketing, wages for employees, building rent, shipping cost. I use to work for a Pet Store. Those hamster cages that are made out of colorful plastic cost 8 dollars for us to buy, and the owner had them marked up to 79.99 with a free hamster which we bred in the back. Cost was maybe 1 dollar for a hamster. Buying one without the cage would cost you 10.99. Stuff is cheap, getting that stuff to a store, known about, and sold, costs a fortune.
sir White Wolf
02-12-2009, 11:34
We can all get rich selling each other hammocks! :rolleyes::)
Cool, Ill buy yours if you'll buy mine! :lol:
mmmm.... hamster sandwiches
animalcontrol
02-12-2009, 12:54
On that card it was written that the value of the hammock was $10. This sort of made me mad because I just paid $150 for something that is only "worth" $10. I know that this was probably written so that they had to pay less export tax or something like that, but it still made me feel like i was cheated.
Sorry about your job...
The value of anything you buy is based on what it is worth to YOU, not what a card for customs says.
If you thought that hammock was worth $150, a stupid card at customs shouldn't change that!
Hang that puppy up and enjoy it! You can't put a price tag on that!
animalcontrol
02-12-2009, 12:55
mmmm.... hamster sandwiches
with mayo on Wonder white bread....:lol:
Ramblinrev
02-12-2009, 12:58
oh man... I thought Interstate Bakeries was in liquidation... are they still making that stuff?
Cannibal
02-12-2009, 13:04
oh man... I thought Interstate Bakeries was in liquidation... are they still making that stuff?
Wonder Bread? Heck yeah they're still making it. How do you make a leftover meatloaf sandwich without it?:tongueup:
Greatest thing since sliced bread. Anybody wanna take a stab at who 'invented' commercially sliced bread? I wonder who.:lol:
waterfowler89
02-12-2009, 17:25
Sorry about your job...
The value of anything you buy is based on what it is worth to YOU, not what a card for customs says.
If you thought that hammock was worth $150, a stupid card at customs shouldn't change that!
Hang that puppy up and enjoy it! You can't put a price tag on that!
Well when i got it i felt like it was not worth what i paid for it so tom said i could return it. Of course minus his shipping cost that is. He says that it cost $48 dollars to ship so my refund would be $102 plus i have to pay to ship it back to him. When i emailed him about returning it i told him about the customs tag and this is what he said, "I am sorry we put the wrong value on the customs section. If you order from us again, we will be sure to put the correct value, so that you can pay the import duty on that amount." Well if i would have know that i had to import it from another country myself then i don't think i would have bought it. The bottom line is he needs to change something about his bussiness practices. If he reads this my suggestion to him would be to buy larger amounts of the hammock from him maker in thailand and have them shipped to the states all at once at a discounted price. Then he can distribute the hammocks in a more timely manor because if i paid $48 for the thing to take twenty days to get to me i got ripped off. I would be willing to pay the shipping from somewhere in the United States if he set it up differently. Oh well, most likely he won't have to deal with me again as a customer.
I don't believe he lives in the US.
TiredFeet
02-12-2009, 17:55
............................. If he reads this my suggestion to him would be to buy larger amounts of the hammock from him maker in thailand and have them shipped to the states all at once at a discounted price..................
Inventory costs money.
Money to buy - that's "idle" money that's not earning you anything.
Money to store - that's money being drained away.
Just ask the Jack's how much inventory they started with and how much they have now.
Cannibal
02-12-2009, 18:06
Inventory costs money.
Fixed assets
Money to buy - that's "idle" money that's not earning you anything.
Capital
Money to store - that's money being drained away.
Non-preforming assets
You are absolutely correct, but this is where the phrase "the cost of doing business" comes from. It's obvious from the last few weeks that Tom has a problem. Better that a business makes less money than no money. I had a very positive experience with Claytor and I'd very much like it if everybody that ordered from him did too. Don't know the answer, but he does need to find a solution.
Sorry for the 'banker' response. I'm crunching spreadsheets between posts and day-dreams. Don't worry they get triple-checked.:D
Ramblinrev
02-12-2009, 18:16
The inordinate shipping times I understand as a problem. That does need to be solved if at all possible. Whether or not something is worth the value you pay for it is a subjective decision and I find it odd that should reflect on the vendor of the product. As far as shipping is concerned, shipping costs are almost never reimbursed since they are aiready paid to a third party and thus not part of the vendor's part of the transaction. The same with shipping back a return. This is particularly true in the case of Claytor because there is no separate shipping cost charged to the purchaser.
One has every right to refuse to do business with any particular company for any particular reason. Or for that matter to buy from any particular company for any particular reason. But subjective issues are exactly that.
freakflyer9999
03-01-2009, 20:59
I guess that I should feel cheated. My package with 2 Claytor Expeditions and 2 Rain Flies stated the value for customs at $5.
I ordered my Claytor's about a year ago, so maybe inflation has affected the declarations value.
BTW, I was very pleased with the shipping time (9 days IIRC) and the hammocks worked very well for myself and my son-in-law.
warbonnetguy
03-02-2009, 00:06
i think if the declared value is above a certain amount, the person recieving the item has to pay an import tax upon delivery, by keeping the value low he is assureing that the carrier won't charge you a fee to release the item to you.
Bugzee Malone
03-02-2009, 01:06
Warbonnetguy is absolutely correct.
The sender has SAVED YOU MONEY by undervaluing the hammock for Customs
purposes.
If they had put $150 value on it you would have been charged US Customs Import Duty Tax on that amount.
By only declaring a value of $10 there is no import duty to be paid.
The sender is taking a risk to do this as it is it is an illegal declaration.
Be happy that they saved you some $$
:)
I agree with Warbonnetguy.
I ordered a JH just prior to the occupation of Bangkok airport in 08. The sticker on it had a $10.00 value as well. It managed to be dispatched and arrived in 8 days. I don't know if this is because I live in the depths of the South Pacific which may be less distance to travel by comparison to the US.
I remember once purchasing some glassware in Italy back in the 70s and it was freighted Unsolicited Free Gift just to get passed customs and not pay import duty.
Peter_pan
03-02-2009, 18:20
Honesty is a trait to be admired....Especially in business.
Falsely stating a value is not a break for the customer.... It is in fact cheating on the legitimate charges of business by represtative governments.... Ultimately tax cheats will be found out and the charges will come their way.....
Such cheating is also an attempt to make ones product appear more competitive.
We have received many requests from customers in other countries to mark down the value.... Every request has been denied....If their country charges an import fee, that is the price of their citizenship ... imposed by their representative governments....
Pan
photomankc
03-10-2009, 20:40
Honestly. Sometimes what people post on the internet amazes me.