International Amazon

[Hallavast]

I live in USA.

How easy is it to buy things on amazon.cn (China) and ship them to my address here in the US? My concerns:

-Tariffs/taxes/government fees: Does anyone here have experience in buying directly from international markets? What would it cost me in fees to buy say, $600 worth of clothing from amazon.cn per month?

-Legality: According to amazon.com, this is completely legal, but I'm wondering if there's something I'm missing: can I expect to be taken down in a hail of gunfire by federal agents?

-Shipping costs: If anyone has done this, how much has it typically cost you to ship? Does purchasing in bulk help?

-Other: I feel like I'm missing something. Please tell me what it is if you know.

Thanks :smallsmile:

[SarahV]

-Tariffs/taxes/government fees: Does anyone here have experience in buying directly from international markets? What would it cost me in fees to buy say, $600 worth of clothing from amazon.cn per month?

Tariffs are actually amazingly complicated. It would depend on what you were importing. There are different tariffs for different types of clothing, different types of fabric, etc. I found this list of fees that the U.S. charges for different types of clothing. You will be amazed at the insanity of it.

http://hts.usitc.gov/Table%2062.xml

There are, in addition to this, separate chapters for clothing that has been knitted or crocheted, headwear, and footwear :smalleek:

[Don Julio Anejo]

Probably easier to buy fake stuff on eBay and have it shipped as presents...

But seriously: perfectly legal and no problems. Usually no issues if it's for personal use, and the courier (UPS/USPS/etc) will take care of customs duties for you, you'll just get them slapped on afterwards, as long as you're prepared for a processing delay. Anywhere from 0 (may get lucky) to (a lot of) months.

But given the amount of stuff you're buying (unless, of course, you're rich and you're buying high-end designer stuff cheaper), I'm guessing you're importing for a resale? Then, sorry, I can't help you :smallfrown: I simply have no knowledge of US laws on the matter and Canadian ones are simple enough to be summarized on government websites (and different enough from US to not be applicable).

[wadledo]

If you are going to be buying that amount of product, have you considered just buying it direct rather than through amazon?

[Roland St. Jude]

Sheriff of Moddingham: Asking for and giving legal advice isn't permitted by the Forum Rules.