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Online shopping and GST downunder

cleanshaved

I’m stumped
There are upcoming changes in both Australia and New Zealand. GST will be added to lower value online imported purchases where we have not had to pay it before.

Correct me if I'm wrong but Australia make the change on 1st July 2018.
New Zealand is looking to follow suit later next year in October.

There may be a few things you are sitting on the fence about but there's no better time to buy than now before the changes take place.

dont-panic-we-got-this-covered.jpg
 

ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
I had forgotten all about this. Thanks for the reminder. I might have to have a splurge before the financial year finishes. Now what to buy?
 
I’d totally forgotten about this too. Thankfully there’s not much on my OS wishlist.


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cleanshaved

I’m stumped
I’m definitely getting close to purchasing a Feather Artist Club SE Razor.

That's been on my to buy list for some time now.

Not shaving gear but I just bought some Belden speaker wire from Blue Jeans and a interconnect.
Not cheap but a still lot cheaper than if I bought here in NZ.
 
That's been on my to buy list for some time now.

Not shaving gear but I just bought some Belden speaker wire from Blue Jeans and a interconnect.
Not cheap but a still lot cheaper than if I bought here in NZ.
Have now ordered one along with 3 packs of ProGuard blades. That should be enough to get used to it before moving up to the sharper blades.

The big non-shaving item for me is a Micro-Focuser for my telescope which will be about $300US. If I add a few extras the gst bill will be painful to say the least.
 

cleanshaved

I’m stumped
Have now ordered one along with 3 packs of ProGuard blades. That should be enough to get used to it before moving up to the sharper blades.

The big non-shaving item for me is a Micro-Focuser for my telescope which will be about $300US. If I add a few extras the gst bill will be painful to say the least.

Sweet!! I may have to get my A into G and get one as well.

My speaker wire and interconnect when convert was $338 NZD. Currently the tipping point is $400 NZD at the boarder and they include the shipping in that total. I was going to get some locking banana plugs but that was pushing it way to close to the $400 mark for my liking. I would rather pay another shipping fee than going over the $400 dollar mark.
I found that out the hard way when I imported a JNAT a few years ago. I was only about $20 over and that cost me another $110 NZD. :( Which was a Customs fee and another import fee which I can't recall what it was (duty most likely). Those two extra fees were about $75 alone. The rest was GST and DHL charged $10 more to deliver it. The second postage fee was a low blow but you have to pay to get the goods.

I'm not sure how they will be doing it in Aussie.
The talk for NZ is overseas venders (eg Amazon) who send $60,000 or more product into NZ will have to collect the GST at point of sale. I'm ok with that as it is just the GST but I can't see any shaving place hitting that level.
If they don't collect it or are below the collection point GST has to be paid when it reaches Customs. That will then attract a customs fee of around $38 plus the GST.
The GST is ok with me but the OTT boarder collection fee will hurt.
So for example if you bring in a single soap in under the proposed change, it could be $25 soap including shipping. Add GST %15 = $3.75 and Customs fee of $38 to that, the same soap would now be $66.75. :yikes:

My shaving software has reduced over the past few years. I need to stock up again.
 

Legion

Staff member
We by SO much stuff grey from overseas, I don't see how they can possibly have the resources to implement this effectively.
 
We by SO much stuff grey from overseas, I don't see how they can possibly have the resources to implement this effectively.

Collection of taxes and duties is an entrepreneurial activity.

Once the new regulations come into force, they will generate a large bump in revenue. That, in itself, is enough reason for the government to allocate more resources towards policing and collection.
 

cleanshaved

I’m stumped
The forecast is for a raise of $81 million a year in GST.
It's be sold as leveling the playing field between online and local shopping yet the gap in price is larger than GST alone. I can't see it helping local retailers.
 
We have the same situation here, Chris. Local retailers are required to collect VAT from each and every sale whereas many foreign companies shipping into the country do so tax-free up until a certain value threshold- after which point, the delivery agent (Post Office or Courier) will collect the applicable taxes and normally a handling fee as well. This is all scheduled to change at year end as it obviously tilts the playing field to the detriment of local business.

If, by the government collecting tax on imports in this fashion, the consumer pauses to think and considers ordering from a local supplier it is a win. I don't believe that it is necessary to close the price gap entirely but by bringing them closer together, shoppers will need to make another decision based upon convenience as well as price.
 
Sweet!! I may have to get my A into G and get one as well.

My speaker wire and interconnect when convert was $338 NZD. Currently the tipping point is $400 NZD at the boarder and they include the shipping in that total. I was going to get some locking banana plugs but that was pushing it way to close to the $400 mark for my liking. I would rather pay another shipping fee than going over the $400 dollar mark.
I found that out the hard way when I imported a JNAT a few years ago. I was only about $20 over and that cost me another $110 NZD. :( Which was a Customs fee and another import fee which I can't recall what it was (duty most likely). Those two extra fees were about $75 alone. The rest was GST and DHL charged $10 more to deliver it. The second postage fee was a low blow but you have to pay to get the goods.

I'm not sure how they will be doing it in Aussie.
The talk for NZ is overseas venders (eg Amazon) who send $60,000 or more product into NZ will have to collect the GST at point of sale. I'm ok with that as it is just the GST but I can't see any shaving place hitting that level.
If they don't collect it or are below the collection point GST has to be paid when it reaches Customs. That will then attract a customs fee of around $38 plus the GST.
The GST is ok with me but the OTT boarder collection fee will hurt.
So for example if you bring in a single soap in under the proposed change, it could be $25 soap including shipping. Add GST %15 = $3.75 and Customs fee of $38 to that, the same soap would now be $66.75. :yikes:

My shaving software has reduced over the past few years. I need to stock up again.
I’m not sure w
Sweet!! I may have to get my A into G and get one as well.

My speaker wire and interconnect when convert was $338 NZD. Currently the tipping point is $400 NZD at the boarder and they include the shipping in that total. I was going to get some locking banana plugs but that was pushing it way to close to the $400 mark for my liking. I would rather pay another shipping fee than going over the $400 dollar mark.
I found that out the hard way when I imported a JNAT a few years ago. I was only about $20 over and that cost me another $110 NZD. :( Which was a Customs fee and another import fee which I can't recall what it was (duty most likely). Those two extra fees were about $75 alone. The rest was GST and DHL charged $10 more to deliver it. The second postage fee was a low blow but you have to pay to get the goods.

I'm not sure how they will be doing it in Aussie.
The talk for NZ is overseas venders (eg Amazon) who send $60,000 or more product into NZ will have to collect the GST at point of sale. I'm ok with that as it is just the GST but I can't see any shaving place hitting that level.
If they don't collect it or are below the collection point GST has to be paid when it reaches Customs. That will then attract a customs fee of around $38 plus the GST.
The GST is ok with me but the OTT boarder collection fee will hurt.
So for example if you bring in a single soap in under the proposed change, it could be $25 soap including shipping. Add GST %15 = $3.75 and Customs fee of $38 to that, the same soap would now be $66.75. :yikes:

My shaving software has reduced over the past few years. I need to stock up again.

I’m not sure how they plan to collect the GST in Oz. I just want to avoid a rude shock.
 

cleanshaved

I’m stumped
We have the same situation here, Chris. Local retailers are required to collect VAT from each and every sale whereas many foreign companies shipping into the country do so tax-free up until a certain value threshold- after which point, the delivery agent (Post Office or Courier) will collect the applicable taxes and normally a handling fee as well. This is all scheduled to change at year end as it obviously tilts the playing field to the detriment of local business.

If, by the government collecting tax on imports in this fashion, the consumer pauses to think and considers ordering from a local supplier it is a win. I don't believe that it is necessary to close the price gap entirely but by bringing them closer together, shoppers will need to make another decision based upon convenience as well as price.

I think it will become the norm world wide eventually.
The good thing is we now have a couple of NZ online shaving suppliers. One who IMO offers a good range of product and a reasonable price. I'm sure he will receive more business when the new rule are implemented.

Until recently Netflix was supplying their product in New Zealanders tax free, as they where supplying their services from overseas. They now have to charge GST and it has had no drop in their customer base.
That is just another modern way of supplying a product that has fallen through the cracks in the GST system. Like all loop holes, they will eventually be closed.

I’m not sure how they plan to collect the GST in Oz. I just want to avoid a rude shock.

Nothing worse than a rude shock to the wallet.

I intend to sit back and watch for a while after the new system is introduced, to see how it pans out.
 
I'm curious cleanshaved, which online shaving supplier are you referring to? The only one I know of is quite expensive and doesn't stock anything I'm interested in (artisans and the like).
 

cleanshaved

I’m stumped
I'm curious cleanshaved, which online shaving supplier are you referring to? The only one I know of is quite expensive and doesn't stock anything I'm interested in (artisans and the like).

Fine Shave While comparing to overseas vendors may find him lacking, I don't think his prices are in any way grossly marked up for a NZ site. When compared to another NZ online site he leaves them behind on all fronts.
 
I wish someone would start selling all the US artisan soaps over here. It's so expensive to buy them with the added shipping :001_unsur
I've used Fineshave a few times, and also SABA who make a decent kiwi shave soap.
 
I'm not sure why this is freaking people out, the only change is that big retailers are going to collect the GST themselves, which means prices will be higher but you won't have to deal with customs or customs fees at all. I don't believe customs are changing the $400 threshold for stuff you import from small outfits as it's not worth their time in man-hours to chase people for GST on a $25 soap. The vast majority of stuff that people import is from the big companies, Amazon, ASOS, Alibaba etc, so it'll raise plenty of money of course.
 
I'm not sure why this is freaking people out, the only change is that big retailers are going to collect the GST themselves, which means prices will be higher but you won't have to deal with customs or customs fees at all. I don't believe customs are changing the $400 threshold for stuff you import from small outfits as it's not worth their time in man-hours to chase people for GST on a $25 soap. The vast majority of stuff that people import is from the big companies, Amazon, ASOS, Alibaba etc, so it'll raise plenty of money of course.
i don’t how it works with the importing costs but I know the costs have risen dramatically for shipping from tge US vendors such as Stirlings who i’ve made orders from in the past. I likely wont be able to buy from them anymore due to the increased costs :c17:
 
It’s simple. Because we are on the other side of the planet from the rest of humanity, it’s justified for us to pay out of our gluteus maximus for every and anything.


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ajkel64

Check Out Chick
Staff member
I just made my first purchases on ebay from the states that was over $50 and ebay slugged me GST. Now what I bought was 2 second hand razors that were in 2 different auctions but I paid for them together. I always thought (maybe incorrectly) that you didn't pay GST on second hand goods. Has anyone else had any experience with the new GST regulations?
 
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