# Question for international guitar shipping



## TheIllustratedLuthier (Apr 11, 2008)

So I need to ship a guitar to Norway, and my client says it'll cost like $1300 for tax and duty to get it in his possession, plus I can't imagine the shipping cost. Does anyone know a method around this? When I worked for ESP we shipped guitars all over the world.. dozens of them! It never cost that much, maybe if it ships to a business instead of a residence?


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## Napalm (Apr 11, 2008)

TheIllustratedLuthier said:


> So I need to ship a guitar to Norway, and my client says it'll cost like $1300 for tax and duty to get it in his possession, plus I can't imagine the shipping cost. Does anyone know a method around this? When I worked for ESP we shipped guitars all over the world.. dozens of them! It never cost that much, maybe if it ships to a business instead of a residence?




Fairly recently I sent a guitar to Finland and the fee's if I remember correctly were 150.00 tops...Norway might be a jump but I'm not sure it would constitute a 1500.00 jump. I'll look around and see if I can come up with something.


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## TheIllustratedLuthier (Apr 11, 2008)

Any help would be greatly appreciated... thanks dude


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## kruneh (Apr 11, 2008)

Shipping a guitar to Norway with USPS is 100-150$.
With UPS, Fedex etc more likely around 3-400.
Problem with USPS is size limit. I don´t know how big the case is, after all it´s a 30" scale so it might be to big. But I don´t know for sure.
What we have to do in Norway is pay 25% norwegian VAT on item and shipping. This VAT is calculated out from the stated value in the shipping documents. Only way to get around this VAT is setting a lower value on the package. This can be a clever move to save money, but if something happens it will only be insured for the stated value.
I discussed this briefly with Michael a couple weeks ago. With such an instrument I think it´s an risk, but it´s not up to me.


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## Crucified (Apr 11, 2008)

i've heard that you can mark the item being sent for "repair" or something along those lines and they don't get hit as bad. i've never tested this though.


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## TheIllustratedLuthier (Apr 11, 2008)

Interesting Kruneh. It seems kind of unfair how the stated value influences the tax you pay, not the size or weight of the actual item. "Oh it's worth $$$? That'll be $$$ please."


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## kruneh (Apr 11, 2008)

TheIllustratedLuthier said:


> Interesting Kruneh. It seems kind of unfair how the stated value influences the tax you pay, not the size or weight of the actual item. "Oh it's worth $$$? That'll be $$$ please."



You´d be surprised how they taxes EVERYTHING in Norway, it´s beyond imagination. Basically, I guess this import tax is to protect business in Norway.


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## metalfiend666 (Apr 11, 2008)

My Death Warrior was shipped via USPS. Fed Ex refused to insure it, and UPS wanted $400 to ship it. USPS did it for $140-ish, but had a $650 insurance limit. If the service you use has a maximum insurance amount, anything over than is at risk anyway, so you might as well save the guy a few pennies and state the value as the insurance limit. If their customs are anything like the UK's, they'll charge duty on the stated value of the item.


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## TheIllustratedLuthier (Apr 11, 2008)

kruneh said:


> You´d be surprised how they taxes EVERYTHING in Norway, it´s beyond imagination. Basically, I guess this import tax is to protect business in Norway.



If taxes are considerable lower in Finland (just a guess) would it be worth it to ship the guitar to Finland and take a train over there? Not worth the effort possibly?


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## kruneh (Apr 11, 2008)

TheIllustratedLuthier said:


> If taxes are considerable lower in Finland (just a guess) would it be worth it to ship the guitar to Finland and take a train over there? Not worth the effort possibly?



Finland is to far away. Sweden would be close, but as far as I know, the VAT is between 20-25% there. Not sure about how the taxes and stuff work there though.


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## Desecrated (Apr 11, 2008)

Taxes are even worse in sweden. But shipment is only 78 dollar. But if the guitar is worth 2000 us dollar the VAT would be something like 500 dollars.


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## TheIllustratedLuthier (Apr 11, 2008)

Bollocks



Desecrated said:


> Taxes are even worse in sweden. But shipment is only 78 dollar. But if the guitar is worth 2000 us dollar the VAT would be something like 500 dollars.



ahem it's worth more than that tyvm


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## Desecrated (Apr 11, 2008)

TheIllustratedLuthier said:


> Bollocks
> 
> 
> 
> ahem it's worth more than that tyvm



just giving an example that illustrates the complex matters in the simplest way I could think of


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## bostjan (Apr 11, 2008)

Ouch! That is some painful tax.

I've heard about taxes in Sweden. Can you move stuff across the border with other EU countries without paying duties?

I'm not sure there wuill be a cheap solution, though.

Doesn't DHL do a lot of shipping between USA and Scandinavia? They ship LEGOs through DHL from Denmark to Kentucky.


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## Desecrated (Apr 11, 2008)

bostjan said:


> Ouch! That is some painful tax.
> 
> I've heard about taxes in Sweden. Can you move stuff across the border with other EU countries without paying duties?
> 
> ...



Norway isen't a member of the eu  

It costs pretty much the same to send to a country in the eu or sending it to usa. I think it is cheaper sending it to china then to denmark


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## bostjan (Apr 11, 2008)

Hmm. Slovenia is, but Norway isn't. I guess I should have stayed out of this conversation. 

I cannot find any DHL estimates.


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## cataclysm_child (Apr 12, 2008)

Hello Jesse and Kai! 
It's me, Michael.



TheIllustratedLuthier said:


> Interesting Kruneh. It seems kind of unfair how the stated value influences the tax you pay, not the size or weight of the actual item. "Oh it's worth $$$? That'll be $$$ please."




The thing with Norway is that it's not allowed to be rich. Unless if it's because you've won the lottery...

The harder you work, and the more money you make, the more you're being "punished" with taxes.


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## MF_Kitten (Apr 12, 2008)

we have 25% VAT, and then import taxes on top of that 

but if you mark it as being a Gift or a Business sample, there won´t be import taxes, unless they find out, of course. so if you´re sending it as a gift, wrap it up with gift wrap and ribbons, and put a "happy birthday!" card on it, it´ll seem a whole lot more likely then...

OR you could just mark it a business sample...


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## TheIllustratedLuthier (Apr 12, 2008)

Business sample? Hmm, maybe I'll write that on there in hopes that Micheal won't get screwed too badly to get it in his hands. Thanks for your help everyone.


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