Restrictions on online purchases (Opinions)

I'm not usually fond of ranting this kind of stuff in forums, much less in this one, but since I regard you guys as people worth listening (or reading), I'm gonna have a go at this.

The thing starts with me looking for parts for a new PC I'll hopefully build. I wanted a certain CPU (an i5 4690k but that's not the case) and went to different retailers downtown. It costed around USD330. Fine, then I look it up on Amazon. It's USD220. Yeah, it's obvious that a huge economy like USA will have it cheaper that my puny country . So you say, just buy it from Amazon and have it shipped! Nope and here is the drill: As per local regulations, any purchase you make online from USA or anywhere in the world that exceeds USD200 in cost+shipping has to pay 60% tax plus additional costs for importing. The 220 dollar CPU would end up costing me around the same as it'd do here. This is done after retailers (mostly shopping mall owners) claimed that online shopping was hurting their business. There are further restrictions in order to discourage online shopping, such as having to declare every package that arrives and paying for that document (even if a relative sends you a present, they estimate a cost and proceed to charge you based on it), being forced to only pay with a credit/debit card and declare its last four digits, and other stuff.

However, it was proven that online purchases represented a very small portion of the money spent by the population. Plus, most stuff that arrives from Amazon or eBay or others is stuff that isn't sold here, such as spare parts for certain vehicles or electronic stuff, which is a lot more expensive here.

So my question is, what is your stand on this? I just want to see if I'm not crazy for being angry with this. Would you be OK to implement this on your country for the sake of "local retailers"? This is not a study or anything, I'm just being curious.

Thanks for your answers!



Stats: 139 Starts / 7 Wins / 9 Poles / 5 Fastest laps

Interesting post. This TAX on online purchases is to be introduced in Australia for all online purchases over $10.00. Currently it stands at $1000.00 although I did once by a Nikon from HK which exceeded $2000 and it was passed through customs without a problem.
How the Aus government intends to collect this duty on goods I cannot say, and current opinions on it are that the cost involved in collecting it would probably exceed the duty collected. The tax would be set at 10% which is the current rate of the GST (Goods and services Tax).

This tax has not yet passed the senate, which is currently hostile, so the bill may be deferred untill after the next election.
Your only other option is to find someone from your country that is travelling to the US to purchase the chip and bring it in for you in hand luggage. Or bite the bullet and pay the tax.

It is protectionism at its finest, in this country (Aus) brought about by intense lobbying from millionaire store chain owners. In particular the Harvey Norman chain.
I suspect that you reside in Brazil, as I have heard of similar complaints from amatuer astronomers there looking to buy telescopes and accessories forced to look outside Brazil due to suspected price gouging or because of the limited range available there.

My most recent purchase was a mobile phone from HK in US dollars, the declared value on the customs declaration was $57 although the purchase price was US$113. The phone was heavily discounted as it was a new model, currently being sold now for US$200+. Cleared customs and delivered no problem at all.

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[www.mediafire.com] Some say you should click it, you know you want to. [www.gp4central.com] <----GP4 Central

60% is quite a lot
In Germany you have to pay additional 19% as soon as the value exceeds something like 20 €. Obviously the good thing is that you only have to pay if things are shipped to you from a country that is not part of the EU.
I actually ran into a problem with this once when I tried to ship a diamond (for scientific purposes) as a gift to the US. You really have to pay attention when filling out the customs form to avoid the shipment getting stuck at the border for ages.

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used to be GPGSL's Nick Heidfeld

Mal, I'm from Uruguay, yeah beneath Brazil, Luis Suarez's place, yes. Some people try and do what you did with the phone but customs do their research and asign a value if they cannot find something similar to what they have. Needless to say, it's completely arbitrary and sometimes unfair. Fortunately, it hasn't happened to me yet, mainly because I have stuff shipped by a private company that goes through all the paperwork for me, all included in their fee.

I now see that I left out a bit of information. That rule applies only for 5 purchases per person per year. Starting from the sixth purchase, no matter what the value is, you pay that 60% tax and additional administration costs. This leads to situations where many items worth USD50 or so end up doubling their value.

I cannot complain about limitations on things to ship, they are quite sensible. Toys and cellphones are heavily regulated, although they usually pass (sadly, diecasts are counted as toys and thus they have huge delays). Alcohol, medications and prescription glasses are forbidden. You can still ship sunglasses with no problem.

Paying the tax for the CPU would end up with me paying about 30 bucks more than what it's worth here, which is what the government is aiming for, I guess. I understand the excuse to protect local retailers but I hate that the ones that basically put the tax there are mall owners, and while it's true that Amazon stuff doesn't pay local taxes, I don't believe it's fair to basically forbid online shopping by making it as difficult as possible. I would like, for example, what Germany does, as Christopher says, a fair tax and no more excessive "protectionism"

At least I know I'm not crazy for thinking like this



Stats: 139 Starts / 7 Wins / 9 Poles / 5 Fastest laps