Ebay

[Spin]

I ordered a laptop from the US a few months ago and only got stung by Thailand for approx 600 Baht import duty.

computers and parts attract 2% import duty and 7% vat IIRC

My motocross clothing and bits and bobs often attract 40-50% of the box value in duties.

[FailSafe]

Make a purchase, and then tell the seller you want your item shipped to an unregistered address and see what happens

What happens is that they send the stuff to me in Thailand.

Never had anyone say they wouldn't.

So your Thai address isn't registered on eBay? That has absolutely no advantage to you, and it's simple to do.

You're saying you make an order, your UK address is listed on your PayPal transaction page, and then you give them an unregistered address via an eBay message or email? I call BS on that unless you're ordering something that costs 500 baht or so, in which case they might take the chance if you have a lot of positive feedback.

If you order a high-end item and then ask the seller to ship to an unregistered address that wasn't on your PayPal transaction page, they won't do it- they'd be complete fools to do so as if it goes south or someone has stolen your details, they're completely screwed as they've given up their chance to make a claim.

[Spin]

They had a large book filled with categories and subcategories and three of them were trying to find the correct code for a motorcycle suit

Harmonisation codes, if you learn a little about these, and your vendor is flexible, you can play customs quite easily.

Chinese vendors are the best, get them to create invoices for low-dollar amounts and supply them with the harmonisation codes for the product group that you are ordering.

Many times I have paid pennies when it should have been thousands.

This is a good resource here

Sadly only the chinese seem to do this, US companies throw a full dollar invoice on the box and you get spanked hard by customs.

three of them were trying to find the correct code for a motorcycle suit

They would have used the word "coat or jacket" and eventually come up with 30% import duty + 7% VAT

HS commodity codes, import duty & tax rates and import restrictions for Coat

[FailSafe]

^

Again, on a high-end item, vendors tend not to be flexible for a very simple reason- shipping insurance is based on declared value- if you buy a $500 item and declare it as $50, if it gets lost, stolen, or damaged, $50 is the most you can claim- this is why US vendors won't play games with the customs form unless you have a long-standing relationship with them.

I paid 3K on over 80K worth of motorcycle accessories a couple months ago- I'm aware of how to work the system, but you need the seller to play ball.

I also ended up paying about 10% for that suit.

[Spin]

So your Thai address isn't registered on eBay?

Yes the Thai address is in ebay.

You're saying you make an order, your UK address is listed on your PayPal transaction page, and then you give them an unregistered address via an eBay message or email?

They must get the Thai address from ebay, the address on the paypal is in uk.

I call BS on that unless you're ordering something that costs 500 baht or so,

Over 6000 $ spent in China and 1000$ in US during the last few months says different.

If you order a high-end item and then ask the seller to ship to an unregistered address that wasn't on your PayPal transaction page, they won't do it

An example would be BTO sports in California (maybe you know them) they send me stuff to Khon Kaen when the address they get from my payal says England.

I had to jump through hoops to get my paypal account linked to my bank account in the uk so set it up as the primary means of paypal taking money from me, the secondary method is a card. To prove the account was mine paypal sent me a random small amount of money to my account and then they asked me to confirm how much they sent. Has everybody had to do this?

Maybe having the bank account linked to the paypal account has some kind of benefit?

[FailSafe]

Your Thai address is registered in eBay (PayPal is owned by eBay- they're the same thing, basically)- that's exactly my point- you can have a secondary address as long as you have a primary address linked to where your credit card is billed.

This is a silly argument.

Also, yes, PayPal always does a small transaction that is either refunded or deducted from your first payment as a test case.

Having a bank account linked to your PayPal account is advantageous if you're a seller as you can easily move funds out of your account- it's not a big deal for a buyer.

[Pragmatic]

To prove the account was mine paypal sent me a random small amount of money to my account and then they asked me to confirm how much they sent. Has everybody had to do this?

I've had an Ebay/Paypal account many years now and this has never happened. I've changed address once in all that time due to moving here.

The first thing that buyers need to know is that Paypal *requires* sellers to ship to the listed address on the Paypal transaction in order to be protected by Paypal's Seller Protection Policy .

Sending to an Alternate Address for Buyers and Sellers | eBay

[FailSafe]

^

Thanks- that's exactly what I've been saying.

As far as an initial Paypal charge goes- I remember the deal now- when you first register with them, they ask permission to charge a small amount to your card (I think it was $2)- it appears on your bill as Paypal XXXXXX (unique numerical code)- this code has to be entered on their website before your account is activated (you can get it immediately if you have online banking or by calling your credit card company), and it gives an extra measure of security (they know you didn't find someone's wallet in the street if you can access the bill)- this charge is later either refunded or deducted from your first payment- at least this was my experience setting up an account in Thailand.

[Rigger]

50% import charges is way over the odds even for LOS.

not really just paid 23,000 baht in tax on 20" apes and forward controls.

I can't remember in all my years of ordering stuff via ebay and paying with paypal, an instance of a seller not shipping items to me in Thailand

I had some ameroician seller tell me he wouldnt ship to Thailand as it was a harbor for stolen bikes from the USA

I know they and you probably think no "you stupid falang wrong in the head"? but anyway what ever makes you happy.

No more wrong in the head than the rest of you freaks on here

[FailSafe]

^

You paid over 37% in taxes/etc for bike accessories? The actual amount you paid for import charges tells me nothing without knowing the declared value of what you bought.

[poorfalang]

how do i open a pay pal account with a bangkok bank debit card?

can i ?

and then how do i get ebay open or shall i do ebay first?

[Pragmatic]

^ How to register with PayPal | eBay