HER MAJESTYS CUSTOMS ....... great .....! We get a steal of a deal overseas , waiting patiently for it as it has been sent GLOBAL PRIORITY ( 2-4 day delivery ) .....and after 2 weeks you get a letter from the old HM CUSTOMS telling you to pay $200 extra for DUTY , GST and CUSTOMS CLEARANCE FEES . NOT NICE !

OK , customs WAS payable on items over $249.99au when bringing it into Australia up to the middle of 2007 ...BUT IT HAS CHANGED !!!!!!!!

As long as the goods are under $1000aud there are NO customs to pay on the item/s.

Its places like ebay and the internet that has opent the world up and made it a smaller place .... therefore Australia needed to raise the customs limit as the customs were snowed under with small internet purchases ...1000's every day :)

All parcels coming into the country are worked out using the INVOICE or CUSTOMS DECLARATION which is attached to the package .

If the item is over $1000au .... thats another ball game . You will get a load of forms from the Customs Post Centre , this entails 3 hours work filling in forms and making phone calls . The Customs Rep will tell you to get an Import Broker to do it for you ... The price for that starts at $150+ THEN THE FEES ON TOP OF THAT  . DO IT YOURSELF , it takes a few hours the first time but its worth it to help understand the "SYSTEM".

SO , a few items to remember below ...

• Customs charges in Australia are only payable on item/s over $1000aud , thats is the item price only , postage and insurance are NOT included .
• You will still "GET DONE" no matter if it is marked PRESENT/GIFT/GOODS/MERCHANDISE or whatever !
• Work out before you buy the item if it is really worth saving $200 by shipping the item internationally and getting slugged $150 customs when it arrives in Oz ! just remember you pay fees before you get to see the item . If it is damaged or not what you paid for .... The Customs still get their $$$$ ..... If you send the item back you SERIOUSLY have to jump through hoops to get you money back from the customs.

A TYPICAL CASE IS - You see a camera in Harvey Norman's or Myers , its $1400 , you can get it from the US for $950us ($1050aud) ... only thing is that you dont get the Warranty that you would get in MYER or HARVEY NORMAN .... but hey , your saving $350 so you take the chance that the camera will be good ..... THEN You get Slugged over $250 by CUSTOMS on entry to OZ ......... :(

VERY occasionally the goods do get through untouched BUT prepare yourself when getting items that their might be customs fees to pay .

JUST REMEMBER , if you tell the seller to mark the expensive goods down to get it customs free , you might lose a packet on the item if its undelivered as its un-insured !!!!!

Hopefully this helps you's who have never went through this hateful ordeal of contributing to the goverments buldging bank balance when were only trying to save a few $$$$ on an item !

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