I purchased a pair of the new Asiomo Duo 2 pedals which were shipped from Italy (to the US). Two weeks later I got a bill from FedEx for $160 importer fee. So, yeah, be careful buying directly from international vendors.
The pedals are awesome though.
Import taxes are nothing new
Increased tariffs or duties into the US should not be a shock at this point. All that changes is the amount, that is quite random depending on his mood.
And his mood chages by the minute
Fedex and UPS have always been the worst with their high importer fees. Before all the tariff nonsense, UPS held a $3000 frame hostage to extract $40 from me. Because there was a 1.3% tariff at the time? No. They just wanted to extract a fee from me.
Huh? Sneaky? It’s how international trade works. Tariffs are hidden if you order locally as that is something the distributor would have to cover and then pass along to the customer in the end.
Due to the Trump Administration’s erratic tariff policies, tariff rates could have changed several times while an item is in transit (by ship). So declaring amounts including tariffs and duties is no longer possible.
UPS and Fedex are sneaky because the fees never seem to be consistent and are never disclosed ahead of time. Assiomas are $500 pedals. Even with a 20% tariff, Fedex clearly packed on a hefty fee.
I will only order from abroad if the final delivery is done by the USPS which means the shipper sending the item with EMS or Royal Mail or their post office system.
Ah, ok. What is the fee for precisely? Handling customs?
Basically, yes. A brokerage fee and sometimes others - such as a fee for essentially paying on your behalf before receiving payment.
Can you explain what happens if you don’t pay it? Seems strange that they send it to you so late afterwards, and after they already give you the package.
It just appears as an invoice from the shipping company generally, so the same as if you didn’t pay them for any of their services - interest charges would accrue, reminders, and then eventually a collections company would get involved to chase you.
I see, the part that is strange though is typically for most things you know the fee amount ahead of time. Like what if they decided the fee is 10x the shipment cost? You just owe it to them, and don’t even have an option to decline?
FedEx in my opinion charges excessive fees for clearing packages. I believe that this is a mechanism they use to generate profits. I had a package from TRX that cost about $200 and they charged me $167 to clear it. I am in Canada btw I advised them that I would self clear the package and requested the documents. I then cleared the package for $14. FedEx then hounded me for the original amount and in spite of providing all the required documentation 3 times they persisted….so did I. On the fourth occasion they tried to collect I finally got the issue cleared up. Check the documentation to see what they are charging you for.