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Dutch import - Customs how long?

Started by daantjie, 20 March 2018, 10:17 AM

daantjie

Hi guys

Any folks here with experience sending goods into the Netherlands?  I sent some parts to a guy in the Netherlands and it has been in Customs for 3 weeks, WTF!?  I know the Dutch are probably the stingiest folks on the planet, but bloody hell man, release the package and take your cut and get on with it!?!?!?

Ugh...
Daniel
1977 450 SEL 6.9 - Astralsilber

rumb

Kind of a hijack, but is anyone located in Sweden that can call a company there that I have been trying for 3 months to get them to send me an invoice?
'68 250S
'77 6.9 Euro
'91 300SE,
'98 SL500
'14 CLS550,
'16 AMG GTS
'21 E450 Cabrio

marku

Depends on the value and whether any duty is payable. If so it will be held pending receipt of payment after notifying your buyer. So delay could be down to him. If they don't receive it within in a specified time it will be returned.
1974 450SE silver green/bamboo velour/green vinyl roof

daantjie

Quote from: marku on 20 March 2018, 12:39 PM
Depends on the value and whether any duty is payable. If so it will be held pending receipt of payment after notifying your buyer. So delay could be down to him. If they don't receive it within in a specified time it will be returned.

Thanks. I am guessing the guy does not want to pay the duties then.  Oh well, I think this is the last time I send stuff to Europe.  I find customs procedures very archaic and protectionist there.  But if Trumpty - Dumpty gets his way then NAFTA will go ***poof*** and then we here in NA will be in the dark ages here too when it comes to customs.  Yay.
Daniel
1977 450 SEL 6.9 - Astralsilber

ptashek

Quote from: daantjie on 20 March 2018, 12:54 PM
I find customs procedures very archaic and protectionist there.

I'd say marku nailed it. Your buyer may have bulked after seeing the charges.

In general EU member state customs aren't that bad, and delays are often down to accompanying documentation. The procedures, classification and tariffs are standardised to a very large extent. Some items do carry protective import rates, especially on products from Asia that have domestic market equivalents, but that's no different than anywhere else - especially in the US.

I've never had issues or delays with Irish customs (one import from Vancouver was cleared within 3h of it hitting the shore, for example), but I've had a US shipment to my restorer held by Polish customs for two weeks. All the paperwork needed a sworn translation from English - so there's that potential snag in a non-English speaking country too. And then they had no idea how to classify it...

If you want the gory details on EU customs, this is the best place to start: https://ec.europa.eu/taxation_customs/home_en
1993 "Pearl Blue" W124 280TE
1988 "Arctic White" W124 200T
1979 "Icon Gold" W116 450SE

daantjie

Problem is I can already see the future here for this one.  The guy is going to not claim it, then open a case against me as the seller, and then Paypal/ebay will side with the buyer as usual.  Then up to me to hopefully get my goods back, pay for return shipment, re - import, and then of course the full refund, and the case against me on my Paypal record.  Nope, I am done with selling outside of US/Canada. 2nd time I got burnt now.  First time was a douche bag in Germany who "forgot" to claim his goods from customs.  Same story, opened case, refund etc...
Daniel
1977 450 SEL 6.9 - Astralsilber

marku

What also makes it more expensive is that the value of the item is added to the postage and the duty and then VAT is charged on top. Fell foul of this a little while ago  on already expensive items it makes them almost unaffordable. On the other hand with small inexpensive items they just seem to waive through. Leaving NAFTA will be as nothing to our leaving the EU. Its going to be an absolute catastrophe and we actually voted for it.
1974 450SE silver green/bamboo velour/green vinyl roof

floyd111

The only place in Europe where imports and exports are strict beyond reason is Germany. The rest of them should not pose any problem.
Your case is not hampered by customs rules, unless you count import taxes as rules you don't want or like. In that case, do not export outside your own country. Your neighbor countries, Anglophone or not, do also have rules.

Your case  has little or nothing to do with "other countries", but everything to do with "selling to a dick" For eBay, this should be a clear case. You have proof you shipped it to the right destination, not? You have shipped it via the agreed shipping method?
That's where the buck stops.
No matter what pops up during the procedure, you have done your duty, and will not receive a bad mark from eBay.
Buyer has paid you in full for the goods, and for shipping. Sorted. When the goods come back for free, you can accept the parcel.
When there's return shipping charges, look at the rules you set in your ebay listing. Did you offer to pay for return shipping? NO? Then don't. The buyer has no protection if he does not fully follow through with the procedure of import/purchase.

There is no "Europe" or "EU", in the sense that Americanos understand. It's 26 independent countries with 300 million suckers in them in all sorts and sizes, just like the Americas, be it that those 26 countries EACH need to be treated as actual countries with actual languages and actual legal systems. They have sometimes existed for thousands of years. The Americans/Canadians seem to favor being heaped together without respect for one's legal location or actual ancestry. Still, Canada is not the USA, would you not agree? I would find it rather insulting if anyone were to claim such a falsehood. Same goes for the word Europe. It's a lie by definition, and an ignorant insult to many, every time anyone uses the word Euro-something outside the scope of regular geography. It simply does not exist in the way that the USA and Canada seem to perceive it. Europe is NOT the entity the name seems to suggest. It is merely the name of a continent, not a nation, not a culture, not a system. It's like the word "African, or Oceanic" It almost means nothing at all, and it will not simply become a word of importance, simply because one is used to live in the United States, where everything is united and the same. (to a point)

ptashek

Small correction Stan - it's 28 countries that make up the European Union. Yes it is quite different than the federal system of the US these days, but there's a reason - the original idea was aiming for something closer to a confederation. It's been moving, at a glacial pace (lucky us!), towards a federated system since day one though.

But yes, neither the EU or Europe are a country :)
1993 "Pearl Blue" W124 280TE
1988 "Arctic White" W124 200T
1979 "Icon Gold" W116 450SE

daantjie

#9
Guys not to belabour this issue too much as I realize it might seem I am moaning for nothing.
But...
Compare for example the "de mininis" rule in the US.  It is in place to enable private individuals to import duty free up to $800 USD per import, from 1 entity, could be individual or business entity.  Can you imagine how much less bogged down their Customs dept is because of this?  And they say Germans are efficient...
I wish we in Canada had this "de minimis" rule but sadly not.  But we have duty free entry of all cars and spare for vehicles over 25 years old, so this is a big plus.
All I am saying is there is a smarter way to do things, and "Europe" seems to be stuck in the dark ages.  Why do you think the EU is failing.? Too many individual interests.  It will never work.
If you compare how NAFTA works, it is light years ahead of anything going on in "Europe".  Again, the EU idea is a joke , a pipe dream and it will fail eventually.  The Germans for one are sick of carrying the rest and I do not blame them.
Rant over 8)
Daniel
1977 450 SEL 6.9 - Astralsilber

floyd111

#10
True, most of that. But, what is so easily forgotten is that this EU-idea was never a grassroots idea. It was a handful of bankers and a flock of corrupt politicians that forced that scam down the people's throats. The majority of countries involved never had a referendum. The were simply annexed without asking their own people. The few that insisted on a referendum organized that vote only after pumping billions into a pro-Europe advertising brainwash. The countries that still did not vote the right way simply were given more referenda until the correct vote was cast. I left Europe some 15 years ago, but all the way up till today, in 45 countries where I spent my time, I have never come upon anyone who identified as a European, -the way Americans identify with the United States.  The very idea to expect such is ludicrous. Many of those countries do not even resemble eachother in their ways. The Teflon coated-Teutonic Germans, the Franco-era mid-eval Spanish gov, the corrupt "original nazi" gov in Poland, the hypocrite-progressives in the netherlands, the no-gov Belgium, the crypto-fascists in Austria, the Republican pretend-socialists in France, the Scottish Right-neo-con-monarchs in the UK. It's a long list, with only few common dividers.. White politicians under corporate flags draining their citizens, pushing their territories to the brink of bankruptcy whilst instigating hate and intolerance on the grassroots level as a permanent distraction from the actual problems at hand. Wanna leave the EU? There's 1 way out, everywhere. Just follow the nazis. They will save us all from those evil bankers. You can trust them. They never did anyone any harm, apparently.

w116john


i have to reply, not to support the dutch postal system, its only a postal system as good or bad as any other, but the EU. its a great place to live i wouldn't live any where else.

i don't think it does this forum any good to describe nations as they have been on this thread.

i am on another forum, Mercedes owners club and the racism there is shocking on the brexit thread.

vive le w116


floyd111

Yeah, it's a slippery slope.. but I could not really imagine racism on this forum, not with the members at hand. Seems most of us here share an obsession for cars instead, even to the point of near-conflict, haha! I, for one, am surely not trying to insinuate any racism of any sort. With just 25% of my genes being Dutch, and the rest of me divided over 3 races and 8 nation-origins, I find it hard to throw stones in a specific direction. ;)
Europe was never paradise, but in my memory, it has gone from a fascinating place, to a haven of intolerance in the last 20 years. My most beloved country, France, I think has gone down further then any of the others, with apparently no patience left for pacifist, contradictory views. Left Holland back in the day, because it had become impossible to even take a cab, without the driver sharing his racist rants with me, thinking I was white, and thus in agreement. Have not been back in Ireland for over 15 years, and I secretly hope it's still as incredible as it was before, having escaped the terrible decline I have seen everywhere else. Top 3 countries ever visited, in my mind. Simply amazing, both people and country.

ptashek

Ireland is as good as ever, but the  younger locals often tend to disagree and leave for the UK or Australia. It's always a greener pasture somewhere you're currently not, isn't it? ;)
1993 "Pearl Blue" W124 280TE
1988 "Arctic White" W124 200T
1979 "Icon Gold" W116 450SE

marku

Say what you like but the ideal of the EU is something to be admired. It is the future and it will happen. I look forward to a federal United States of Europe the only  thing wrong with that is that the UK will not be part of it. The behaviour of this country within the EU has been nothing short of embarrassing I could never understand why they didn't throw us out long ago. Yes the process is painful and slow but that is no bad thing as it relies on consensus. The various necessary political institutions are evolving. Having survived several crises the process moves on. I am confidant that it will get there. Far from being cooked up by corrupt politicians and the money people it is those here that are taking us out. We get nothing but negative comments about the EU which is based simply on racism. They convinced those here who don't want to think very hard about anything that we were being over run by foreigners and that foreigners again, namely the undemocratic EU unelected politicians, were taking control of our laws. They ignore the fact that we are not a democracy we are a monarchy. We may have an election every five years but it is to a parliament that is controlled by the monarch and who chooses the prime minister. We are not even citizens of our country but legally subjects of the monarch. We don't have any rights that cannot be withdrawn. We don't even have a constitution. Our government using the devolved powers of the monarch, which can be withdrawn, has more power over its people than any other developed country. The EU gave us rights and citizenship and now the fools here have thrown it all away.

This must be a first for the forum any way I have had my rant.

 
1974 450SE silver green/bamboo velour/green vinyl roof