Anyone in Japan who can help proxy for me?

[photekq]

Hi! Long shot, but is there anyone in Japan who can help me get two keyboards?

I can't use Tenso for some silly reasons, and I'm struggling to find another service that :

-Will allow me to set a low value on the customs form (important!)
-Doesn't charge some ridiculous fee for the service (10-20% is what some places are asking)

I will happily pay $10-20 or so for your time and effort! I will be eternally grateful! Also, you get to try some keyboards if you haven't already (HHKB Type-S and a Realforce 108UH-S).

Only requirement is that I trust you, which shouldn't be hard on this forum

I need this fast, as there is a special offer ending on the 24th!

[XMIT]

I can't help, but I wouldn't mind owning a Nissho KB106DE. So, whoever helps photekq, please let me know too.

[Muirium]

Intrigued!

I might be able to help you out. Tenso worked a treat when I used them to ship my HHKB from Japan to California. Going direct to Britain with them is problematic because Her Majesty's Thieving Customs will pounce on your parcel just for the EMS shipping value alone. So I prefer to fly stuff in, personally. My airport doesn't even have a customs area so as far as I can tell it's actually legit!

When I say "might", it's because I need to trial pack my luggage. Already got a lot of stuff coming back. PM me if you like.

I'm visiting XMIT and Cindy while I'm over here. So we could bundle something together! US Customs doesn't strike until something like $1000 declared value, as I understand. They were cool with my fully declared HHKB.

[photekq]

From what I've heard Tenso does allow you to set your own customs value, since it's only a forwarding address and they have no knowledge of the value of the items. However, I can't use them since I have to prove my identity to them. That isn't the issue actually, it's that for the first package from them it must be sent to the address on my proof of identity. I can't accept mail easily at my "home" address, only my parents business address, so that's problematic.

I think I've found someone to proxy directly in Japan, so I'll see how that goes for the time being. Thanks for the offer though!

[Muirium]

Put aside a hundred quid or so for when customs gets you. And good luck!

[photekq]

Put aside a hundred quid or so for when customs gets you. And good luck!

He'll be marking it as £25-50 value, so I'm not too worried..

I've never been charged by customs for stuff coming from Japan/Korea/China through EMS in the past so long as the value has been below £75.

[Muirium]

My understanding is that UK customs adds the EMS shipping cost to the declaration, and that if this total ≥£15, you're in for trouble. I decided against it with my HHKB, as I'd have to declare the board at mere pennies just to stay in that limit and I didn't want to trigger their bullshit alarm. Especially as I had family in California to bring it back for me, safe and sound.

Got any interesting Topre links for the rest of us?

[photekq]

My understanding is that UK customs adds the EMS shipping cost to the declaration, and that if this total ≥£15, you're in for trouble. I decided against it with my HHKB, as I'd have to declare the board at mere pennies just to stay in that limit and I didn't want to trigger their bullshit alarm. Especially as I had family in California to bring it back for me, safe and sound.

Got any interesting Topre links for the rest of us?

I think that's what it's supposed to be, but I've never experienced being charged customs on any package marked under £75 (and that's the package contents alone, not including the shipping). One of the very few times I can recall being charged is when I got 2 beamsprings belonging to Andy and me from Cindy.

These are the two Topre boards I'm getting :

http://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/B00L ... 8E672LPES7
Free enebrick until the 24th! ^

http://item.rakuten.co.jp/akibamac/4560 ... =342036441
Silenced 45g with Japanese keycaps! ^

$245 for a HHKB Type-S + Enebrick (usually sells for $115 on its own), compared to $304 for a Type-S alone from EK.

$155 for a silenced Realforce, compared to $220 for a regular Realforce from EK. If they did sell silenced ones I'm sure they'd be at least $250! Plus, I get a nice Japanese keyset.

Besides, shipping from Japan will probably be cheaper than it is from America anyway.

[Muirium]

I wish I was that lucky…

http://deskthority.net/vendors-f52/hone ... ch#p186348

Ouch! Getting hit for £12 on about £20 of caps was a horror story.

[photekq]

Ouch indeed.. That's nasty.

[photekq]

This is my first time being charged by customs for a package from Asia!



It was marked as 7000yen value total, which is about £42! I'm paying over 2/3 of the "value"..

Oh well. I can't complain. Still a hell of a lot cheaper than if I'd ordered these keyboards any other way.

[Muirium]

Thanks for playing!

[kbdfr]

This is my first time being charged by customs for a package from Asia!



It was marked as 7000yen value total, which is about £42! I'm paying over 2/3 of the "value"..

Oh well. I can't complain. Still a hell of a lot cheaper than if I'd ordered these keyboards any other way.

Note that your pic says you weren't charged any customs duties. According to official information, in the UK there is "no charge" related to customs duties for "anything under £135" sent from outside of the EU.
You just paid

• VAT, which you would have also paid in case of a domestic purchase at a rate of 20% (£8.40), but which in case of an import also applies to shipping and handling costs,
• handling fees, which you have to pay because here customs activity has been triggered by your purchase and is not at the cost of the general public.

I know it hurts all the same

[photekq]

Note that your pic says you weren't charged any customs duties. According to official information, in the UK there is "no charge" related to customs duties for "anything under £135" sent from outside of the EU.
You just paid

• VAT, which you would have also paid in case of a domestic purchase at a rate of 20% (£8.40), but which in case of an import also applies to shipping and handling costs,
• handling fees, which you have to pay because here customs activity has been triggered by your purchase and is not at the cost of the general public.

I know it hurts all the same

You're right!

It's funny though.. I've had many packages from Asia and elsewhere with a higher marked value and similar shipping fees, but I've never been charged VAT on any of it until now, despite it going over the threshold.

[DanielT]

I guess you are a lucky welsh

[Muirium]

Counter example: I have never once been spared a single package by customs. Their fees range from £8 to £90 in my experience (Kishsavers!) and the value they choose to charge 20% VAT on is very often way in excess of the declaration. There is no appeals process.

HOWEVER: if a parcel / envelope is declared for less than £15, they do not strike. That's the key. Anything at £15.00 and above and you are bent over the table while they pay roulette with you. But under it, then you're invisible.

Every random thing from China declares as "Free sample" or "Gift" and a nominal value of $5. They know what they're doing! $20 is quite enough to get screwed for $100 of customs fun over here. The value is entirely theirs to play, and yours to pay.

[7bit]

Thanks for playing!

Woohoo! I win!

[flabbergast]

Well for me it's about half-and-half for the packages declared over £15. Always VATted on the declared value. More often for keycaps than for other things. On the other hand, I've not received anything heavy that could be considered an antique I guess it's about who's on shift at Heathrow...

BTW, I've heard that it's a similar kind of roulette with speeding tickets in Prague when you're caught on camera: they've got hundreds of violations each day; but each sent ticket has to be okayed/checked by a live person. The people doing this have a daily quota on at least how many tickets they've got to send, and they don't want to do more work than reeeally necessary, so ...