Rickresource Rickenbacker Forum

Wow thats gold.
How do you go with customs/GST?

Anything under $1,000 is exempt and will ship straight to you. Items of greater expense will be held by customs, who will mail you a notification. You can then fax the requisite forms to them and pay 10% GST (calculated on item and shipping) plus handling fees ($50 from memory) via credit card over the phone (or you can mail them a cheque).

So, an item costing JPY 160,000 plus shipping of JPY 16,000 will attract JPY 17,600 of GST for a total cost of JPY 193,600, or ~ AUD 1,996 at an exchange rate of 97 JPY/AUD. Plus $50 processing fee and you get a grand total of AUD 2,046. It's important to remember that the exchange rate you get from the bank is not the same as the rate published in the news - the banks take a hefty cut.

The paper work is reasonably simple - a form for you, a form for the seller, a form for the item and a copy of some ID (passport, driving licence etc). The item description has some detail you may need help on, but customs runs a help line as well as having on-line information, and I've always found them to be helpful.

I hope this proves useful!

Just hope the item doesnt get quarantined, you then have to wait longer and pay quaratine costs. Those quaratine people better be nice to my poor bass or there will be trouble!

antipodean wrote:Anything under $1,000 is exempt and will ship straight to you. Items of greater expense will be held by customs, who will mail you a notification. You can then fax the requisite forms to them and pay 10% GST (calculated on item and shipping) plus handling fees ($50 from memory) via credit card over the phone (or you can mail them a cheque).

So, an item costing JPY 160,000 plus shipping of JPY 16,000 will attract JPY 17,600 of GST for a total cost of JPY 193,600, or ~ AUD 1,996 at an exchange rate of 97 JPY/AUD. Plus $50 processing fee and you get a grand total of AUD 2,046. It's important to remember that the exchange rate you get from the bank is not the same as the rate published in the news - the banks take a hefty cut.

The paper work is reasonably simple - a form for you, a form for the seller, a form for the item and a copy of some ID (passport, driving licence etc). The item description has some detail you may need help on, but customs runs a help line as well as having on-line information, and I've always found them to be helpful.

I hope this proves useful!

Thanks. I've actually imported quite a bit from the US myself.
most of my shipments are valued at about.... $999Au
Buying from stores afford fewer .... er.... opportunities.

vin*tone wrote: Thanks. I've actually imported quite a bit from the US myself.
most of my shipments are valued at about.... $999Au
Buying from stores afford fewer .... er.... opportunities.

Sorry for the superfluous info - I misunderstood the context of your question.

As to Brett's concerns with quarantine - I believe that would pertain more to giant clams than guitars!

the Quest for the Perfect Clam continues...

antipodean wrote:

vin*tone wrote: Thanks. I've actually imported quite a bit from the US myself.
most of my shipments are valued at about.... $999Au
Buying from stores afford fewer .... er.... opportunities.

Sorry for the superfluous info - I misunderstood the context of your question.

Not at all- its useful info for anyone reading.
There's also the 5% duty- but that only applies to the cost of the item itself where the GST applies to the total cost including freight AND duty.

antipodean wrote:Anything under $1,000 is exempt and will ship straight to you. Items of greater expense will be held by customs, who will mail you a notification. You can then fax the requisite forms to them and pay 10% GST (calculated on item and shipping) plus handling fees ($50 from memory) via credit card over the phone (or you can mail them a cheque).

So, an item costing JPY 160,000 plus shipping of JPY 16,000 will attract JPY 17,600 of GST for a total cost of JPY 193,600, or ~ AUD 1,996 at an exchange rate of 97 JPY/AUD. Plus $50 processing fee and you get a grand total of AUD 2,046. It's important to remember that the exchange rate you get from the bank is not the same as the rate published in the news - the banks take a hefty cut.

The paper work is reasonably simple - a form for you, a form for the seller, a form for the item and a copy of some ID (passport, driving licence etc). The item description has some detail you may need help on, but customs runs a help line as well as having on-line information, and I've always found them to be helpful.

I hope this proves useful!

Hang on....
Rickys are made in the USA.Due to the Aus-USA FTA they should be duty free!!
At least imported from the US they should be.
Not sure if that applies to purcheses from Japan- ie: if a MIA product comes from another country.

My understanding of the Free Trade Agreement between the US and Australia means that no duty is payable on US manufactured products when they accompany you travelling from the US to Australia. It doesn't apply when you ship an item through the post. This is another reason I like travelling to the US every year to collect my stash of accumulated guitars.

Not so actually- I emailed them to get confirmation.
Anything MIA shipped from the US attracts no duty. It does however still get slugged with 10% GST.
This applies to second-hand as well as new items.
Sounds like a good excuse for a trip anyway!

FINALLY!
I scored a '74 JG off the bay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0240331935
A bit on the beaten up side but hey...

Bass guitars from any country imported to Australia have no duty payable, just GST. "Solid body electric bass guitar" is a 0% duty category, whereas those skinny string guitars attract a 5% duty (other than US origin, per the free trade agreement).

vin*tone wrote:FINALLY!
I scored a '74 JG off the bay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0240331935
A bit on the beaten up side but hey...

I watched that auction with interest, and was sorely tempted, but in that condition I was wary without having a play first. I hope it turns out ok, because mojo like that is certainly cool in my book. Congrats!

I've just sealed a deal with a forum member for his '04 Jetglo 4003. Fortunately he got a great discount on shipping through his work's corporate FedEx account. And let's praise the almighty Aussie dollar, sitting on 96 cents for the first time since 1974!

mdeayton wrote:Bass guitars from any country imported to Australia have no duty payable, just GST. "Solid body electric bass guitar" is a 0% duty category, whereas those skinny string guitars attract a 5% duty (other than US origin, per the free trade agreement).

A gov.t initiative to give this country more funk.
Right on!

mdeayton wrote:

vin*tone wrote:FINALLY!
I scored a '74 JG off the bay.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0240331935
A bit on the beaten up side but hey...

I watched that auction with interest, and was sorely tempted, but in that condition I was wary without having a play first. I hope it turns out ok, because mojo like that is certainly cool in my book. Congrats!

Thanks man. The high res pics of a neck and fretboard in good condition sold me.
I'll do a bit of a show and tell when she lands.

mdeayton wrote: I've just sealed a deal with a forum member for his '04 Jetglo 4003. Fortunately he got a great discount on shipping through his work's corporate FedEx account. And let's praise the almighty Aussie dollar, sitting on 96 cents for the first time since 1974!

That Fedex account discount is awesome. I brought an Ampeg B15N into Aus for $220!