Buying and shipping from Germany to US
October 10, 2022 4:33 PM Subscribe
With the strength of the US dollar right now, I want to order some products* directly from a German manufacturer. The company has US distribution, but the US stores are about 2.5x more expensive than what the manufacturer lists on their site. Anyway to beat the system?
Randomly enough I have a relative in Germany now. Does it make sense to buy the product from the German company, send it to the relative and have them ship to me? Or is VAT and shipping going to make this not worth it? Is there another solution?
I don’t see how to get around the VAT if I ship it to my relative. This is in the ball park of $200-$300 savings if shipping and VAT don’t consume that.
Relative is nowhere near the company, so there will be some intra-country shipping already.
*It’s Olympic-style fencing equipment so basically clothing.
Randomly enough I have a relative in Germany now. Does it make sense to buy the product from the German company, send it to the relative and have them ship to me? Or is VAT and shipping going to make this not worth it? Is there another solution?
I don’t see how to get around the VAT if I ship it to my relative. This is in the ball park of $200-$300 savings if shipping and VAT don’t consume that.
Relative is nowhere near the company, so there will be some intra-country shipping already.
*It’s Olympic-style fencing equipment so basically clothing.
Don't forget that you might also have to pay import tax if you have your relative ship the clothing to the US. I've only ever done it the other way around (from the US to Germany), but that cost quite a bit and might in fact be (one of) the reason(s) for the higher cost in the US. I would find out how much you would have to pay for that before going ahead with the order.
posted by amf at 11:34 PM on October 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by amf at 11:34 PM on October 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
Calculate the costs:
- Option A) Product in German web shop, VAT, shipping to relative in Germany, shipping from Germany to US, import taxes, customs fees.
- Option B) Product in US web shop, shipping to you.
All of these things can be calculated. None of us can give you the final answer without the calculation. You'll have to look up all the above info to be able to make the calculation.
Eg. How much is the company charging for intra-Germany shipping and how much for international shipping to US? How much would DHL or Deutsche Post charge for shipping from Germany to your location, based on weight and dimensions of the product(s) you want to order? Based on US customs policies, what is the applicable tax rate for this specific product? How much would the import process cost you (in EU, the "handling" fees for this part can be separate from the shipping and taxes; I don't know about the US)?
posted by gakiko at 11:48 PM on October 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
- Option A) Product in German web shop, VAT, shipping to relative in Germany, shipping from Germany to US, import taxes, customs fees.
- Option B) Product in US web shop, shipping to you.
All of these things can be calculated. None of us can give you the final answer without the calculation. You'll have to look up all the above info to be able to make the calculation.
Eg. How much is the company charging for intra-Germany shipping and how much for international shipping to US? How much would DHL or Deutsche Post charge for shipping from Germany to your location, based on weight and dimensions of the product(s) you want to order? Based on US customs policies, what is the applicable tax rate for this specific product? How much would the import process cost you (in EU, the "handling" fees for this part can be separate from the shipping and taxes; I don't know about the US)?
posted by gakiko at 11:48 PM on October 10, 2022 [1 favorite]
And btw, EU has really clamped down on people getting expensive things marked as gifts to try to get around the import tax. We have to pay VAT on the gifts coming from outside EU and everything marked as a "gift" gets checked by the customs. It's possible that the US has a similar policy.
posted by gakiko at 11:51 PM on October 10, 2022
posted by gakiko at 11:51 PM on October 10, 2022
In my experience, these price differentials often simply reflect the underlying cost. If the company is not bearing the export and shipping costs you are. After taking that into consideration the differential is much smaller and not normally worth the hassle. Exceptions exist but are just that, exceptions. I’ve never found it to work consistently for clothing. YMMV.
posted by koahiatamadl at 12:37 AM on October 11, 2022
posted by koahiatamadl at 12:37 AM on October 11, 2022
If the exchange rate difference is great enough to be significantly cheaper even with shipping +VAT then before long someone will start doing it in bulk and selling them on Ebay.
Shipping is often cheaper in bulk, so you may be able to make the numbers work by doing this yourself and selling the spares.
Just be aware that grey imports are often frowned upon by companies and they may refuse to honour any warranty claim unless the item is returned to the original country.
posted by Lanark at 2:23 AM on October 11, 2022
Shipping is often cheaper in bulk, so you may be able to make the numbers work by doing this yourself and selling the spares.
Just be aware that grey imports are often frowned upon by companies and they may refuse to honour any warranty claim unless the item is returned to the original country.
posted by Lanark at 2:23 AM on October 11, 2022
Usually VAT is already included on the price listed on the website… I’ve found postage to the US has been very expensive lately. I think I paid over 30 euros for a 1 or 2 kilo package to the states recently, although that might not be too bad… but it wasn’t tracked. If VAT is somehow not already included in the price and your relative is not willing to mark it as a gift and fudge the value it may not be worth it (although on this end I’ve heard of people being asked to provide invoices with the value of the item)
posted by pairofshades at 4:32 AM on October 11, 2022
posted by pairofshades at 4:32 AM on October 11, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
I have found some great workarounds that way.
posted by nothing.especially.clever at 8:03 PM on October 10, 2022