Capetonians combining orders to save on delivery costs from Germany?

[bob1978]

So I got confirmation from DHL tracking that my parcel was being dealt with at customs in Joberg, so I drove to cape mail in Epping with my international tracking number to explain my concerns. It had been captured on the system and was told it would more than likely arrive by the end of next week. I wont hold my breath but Deon the gentleman who I spoke to gave me this email address cptinternational@postoffice and told me to address the email to him if i didn't hear anything by friday next week.

[BogusOne]

6 minutes ago, bob1978 said:

So I got confirmation from DHL tracking that my parcel was being dealt with at customs in Joberg, so I drove to cape mail in Epping with my international tracking number to explain my concerns. It had been captured on the system and was told it would more than likely arrive by the end of next week. I wont hold my breath but Deon the gentleman who I spoke to gave me this email address cptinternational@postoffice and told me to address the email to him if i didn't hear anything by friday next week.

To give you some hope.... Ordered some stuff from Germany and it was actually not that bad. 24days total transit time delivered to my door this afternoon via SAPO/EMS. They even drove with me to the nearest atm as i didnt have cash on hand to pay the fees. In total 16 days from online shop to JHB then 8 days from Jhb to my door in Cpt. ????

[bob1978]

Well I hadn't heard anything by thursday last week so I sent an email to cape mail Friday 2am addressed to Deon and friday morning I was woken up by gate security for a delivery.  SAPO had come and we drove to the nearest atm and I handed over r420 customs tax ????. This story had a happy ending which with all the negative stories I didn't expect. I do feel rather jaded now to order again without door to door courier service though. When I explained the horror stories Deon at Cape Mail that I'd heard on this thread about lost or non received parcels. He looked through a book and told me there was roughly a 4 month backlog on large parcels. He said the biggest reason mail gets lost in the system is down to poorly or inaccurately labelled parcels with the fault being the sender.  He gave that Wish online company as an example, saying that only until recently did they use the correct tracking numbers. He said when it comes to registered or recorded mail and then he just shook his head and said no more, mmmmmm.  This topic should have been 'HELP NEEDED IMPORTING INTO SA". I did send an email to BIKE-COMPONENTS.de to ask what i had to do to get orders from them delivered to my door without SAPO involvement but they said they couldn't help????. Thank you for everyone for your help and advice, it's been emotional, as Vinnie Jones would say.

[MORNE]

26 minutes ago, bob1978 said:

Well I hadn't heard anything by thursday last week so I sent an email to cape mail Friday 2am addressed to Deon and friday morning I was woken up by gate security for a delivery.  SAPO had come and we drove to the nearest atm and I handed over r420 customs tax ????. This story had a happy ending which with all the negative stories I didn't expect. I do feel rather jaded now to order again without door to door courier service though. When I explained the horror stories Deon at Cape Mail that I'd heard on this thread about lost or non received parcels. He looked through a book and told me there was roughly a 4 month backlog on large parcels. He said the biggest reason mail gets lost in the system is down to poorly or inaccurately labelled parcels with the fault being the sender.  He gave that Wish online company as an example, saying that only until recently did they use the correct tracking numbers. He said when it comes to registered or recorded mail and then he just shook his head and said no more, mmmmmm.  This topic should have been 'HELP NEEDED IMPORTING INTO SA". I did send an email to BIKE-COMPONENTS.de to ask what i had to do to get orders from them delivered to my door without SAPO involvement but they said they couldn't help????. Thank you for everyone for your help and advice, it's been emotional, as Vinnie Jones would say.

so the best thing you could do aswell (if they don't already) is contact the seller and ask them to provide you with a commercial invoice of the package. aramex global shopper forces you to do this regardless. But customs need this...otherwise the package will just sit in limbo. If there is no description/value/sending adress etc....you are leaving it up to a random worker to decide what it is and how much it costs. And that also tends to make things get hung up. 

But open a aramex global shopper account. it's quite painless (well I havent had issues yet) and the relative peace of mind is worth the double vat you pay lol

Edited June 24, 2021 by MORNE

[MORNE]

ps, glad it worked out for you this time. It's risky business though(through SAPO) so don't let one or two good experiences create a false sense of security. Not worth it especially if you are talking about higher value items.

[Eddy Gordo]

Lack of details on the packaging is the biggest problem. NS Bikes sent me stuff a few years ago. When I asked the post office about the parcel, they had already sent it back. Apparently the as no details on on the box for the recipient. However all the paper work was in those plastic envelops stuck to the box. It would seem the staff at the post office are too lazy to take the papers out of the box and check. So everytime I order from overseas, I ask them to right my address details on the box in a large font. Never had a problem yet.

[Mountain Goat]

I have been looking into this and Amarex global shopper definitely seems to be the best route despite the double VAT. One nice thing with Aramex global shopper is that you can get around the geo-locking issue.

If purchasing from Bikecomponents or Bike24 it looks like sending the package to Switzerland and then to SA with Aramex Global shopper will be the cheapest as Switzerland has a VAT rate of 7.5%.

I am not 100% clued up on the Aramex process, is this possible?

[MORNE]

9 minutes ago, Mountain Goat said:

I have been looking into this and Amarex global shopper definitely seems to be the best route despite the double VAT. One nice thing with Aramex global shopper is that you can get around the geo-locking issue.

If purchasing from Bikecomponents or Bike24 it looks like sending the package to Switzerland and then to SA with Aramex Global shopper will be the cheapest as Switzerland has a VAT rate of 7.5%.

I am not 100% clued up on the Aramex process, is this possible?

Ive not experimented with it this way. I usually just send it to the closest aramex in that country, then to SA. You have to take in account that that also usually means almost 0 local shipping costs initially. It is usually something like 1 or 2 Euro to get it from the store to your forwarding adress. The moment I think you send it across a border you’ll trigger the customs process for that country and might end up paying double aramex fees. I might be wrong though.

[Wayne pudding Mol]

12 minutes ago, Mountain Goat said:

I have been looking into this and Amarex global shopper definitely seems to be the best route despite the double VAT. One nice thing with Aramex global shopper is that you can get around the geo-locking issue.

If purchasing from Bikecomponents or Bike24 it looks like sending the package to Switzerland and then to SA with Aramex Global shopper will be the cheapest as Switzerland has a VAT rate of 7.5%.

I am not 100% clued up on the Aramex process, is this possible?

You pay the vat at the country or origin and you pay vat at the destination with global shopper 

I find this service excessively expensive 

[MORNE]

Just now, Wayne pudding Mol said:

You pay the vat at the country or origin and you pay vat at the destination with global shopper 

I find this service excessively expensive 

It is in some instances. But if you dont have other choice it’s worth it. Also, geoblocking is not a thing when using it so theres that. If you want something and want it now….well, yes. Lol.

[quintonb]

So some good news for me after nearly 3 month, my local post office has my parcel.

I will collect over the weekend.

I know most of us knock and dislike the SAPO but the people at my local office have been super helpful. They have been in contact with me weekly and called earlier this week to say it has arrived. 

Would I buy again using DHL Paket, no, its just too stressful when spending rather large amounts of money not knowing if it will arrive or not. But I'm glad I have my parts.

[Mountain Goat]

@MORNE  it would be interesting to see if it works, shipping to Switzerland is about 5 euros more expensive and free in some instances. When checking out you won’t pay German VAT and it automatically includes Swiss VAT and duties. DHL will handle the first leg of the shipping on behalf of the seller and then Aramex the second. 

 

30 minutes ago, MORNE said:

Ive not experimented with it this way. I usually just send it to the closest aramex in that country, then to SA. You have to take in account that that also usually means almost 0 local shipping costs initially. It is usually something like 1 or 2 Euro to get it from the store to your forwarding adress. The moment I think you send it across a border you’ll trigger the customs process for that country and might end up paying double aramex fees. I might be wrong though.

[MORNE]

58 minutes ago, Mountain Goat said:

@MORNE  it would be interesting to see if it works, shipping to Switzerland is about 5 euros more expensive and free in some instances. When checking out you won’t pay German VAT and it automatically includes Swiss VAT and duties. DHL will handle the first leg of the shipping on behalf of the seller and then Aramex the second. 

 

maybe try it on a low value item to test it out. I actually have some bits on the way at the moment from Condor in the UK. Ive noticed though that sometimes these websites don't calculate currencies correctly or maybe they are outdated. That spicific site also removes uk vat and changes prices to Rand. the item i bought was 90 uk pounds...incl of 20% uk vat. When you change it to rand and they supposedly remove that vat...the price reads R2400 on the dot. Now my maths skills are average at best but that sum didnt ad up. So using the website it Uk moneys to send it to uk aramex with priority Royal mail fir an extra 2 pounds...the total amount came in at R1850 ish randelas. aramex uk to aramex Sa is R215 on this package. Then the vat here will be 15% etc. in total it will probably come close to 2400 landed...but if I paid them 2400 right off th bat it would have been closer to 3k+

Edited June 25, 2021 by MORNE

[Mountain Goat]

54 minutes ago, MORNE said:

maybe try it on a low value item to test it out. I actually have some bits on the way at the moment from Condor in the UK. Ive noticed though that sometimes these websites don't calculate currencies correctly or maybe they are outdated. That spicific site also removes uk vat and changes prices to Rand. the item i bought was 90 uk pounds...incl of 20% uk vat. When you change it to rand and they supposedly remove that vat...the price reads R2400 on the dot. Now my maths skills are average at best but that sum didnt ad up. So using the website it Uk moneys to send it to uk aramex with priority Royal mail fir an extra 2 pounds...the total amount came in at R1850 ish randelas. aramex uk to aramex Sa is R215 on this package. Then the vat here will be 15% etc. in total it will probably come close to 2400 landed...but if I paid them 2400 right off th bat it would have been closer to 3k+

That's interesting, I will test it out when I need something. The main advantage of AGS is that you have the ability to shop all of the niche brands and you can bypass the geo-blocking. When I eventually get around to doing this I will share my experience.  

[MORNE]

On 6/25/2021 at 8:24 AM, MORNE said:

maybe try it on a low value item to test it out. I actually have some bits on the way at the moment from Condor in the UK. Ive noticed though that sometimes these websites don't calculate currencies correctly or maybe they are outdated. That spicific site also removes uk vat and changes prices to Rand. the item i bought was 90 uk pounds...incl of 20% uk vat. When you change it to rand and they supposedly remove that vat...the price reads R2400 on the dot. Now my maths skills are average at best but that sum didnt ad up. So using the website it Uk moneys to send it to uk aramex with priority Royal mail fir an extra 2 pounds...the total amount came in at R1850 ish randelas. aramex uk to aramex Sa is R215 on this package. Then the vat here will be 15% etc. in total it will probably come close to 2400 landed...but if I paid them 2400 right off th bat it would have been closer to 3k+

so just for reference. my package has landed. 6 days. 

As mentioned...£93 incl shipping to aramex london. +\- R1850 inclusive of 20% uk tax. 

aramex UK to SA courier = R223

15% local VAT incl duties R340. So thats about R560 ish extra for a total of R2410. 

Thats almost exactly the amount the bike shop's website shows when you change currancy to Rand and it supposedly removes 20% uk vat. If I pays that way I would have paid about R3200 for the item instead. That store has no way of accurately predicting what SA duties, VAT will be so i cant believe that them initially saying R2400 all in was more than a thumbsuck based on outdated currency exchange info. 

Anyway. still got it cheaper than local even with paying 2 x VAT. the local distro's must think we are numpties. They get that stock at distribution prices from the manufacturers....not oversees retail prices. Then they pretend that they pay international retail prices and then load another 25 - 30 % on top of that in general and blame it on exchange rates or shipping costs. absolute BS. The fact that you can pay full retail in another country...pay duties, courier shipping, and even double vat in some cases, and even then still get it landed cheaper than what they flog it for here is just sickening sometimes. Imo their biggest problem is they dont bring in enough stuff to justify or offset shipping costs. Anyway. I'll keep supporting local when and where i can. But when i want something now and you don't have it....i'll find it myself lol. 

[HenryS]

I decided to try Aramex Global Shopper to see how well it works. I ordered a couple of things which I couldn't find locally from bike-discount.de. The total came to €144 - around R2500 including 19% VAT. Courier to SA from Germany was R414. Aramex received the package on 1 July and then spent the next 25 days getting it to me. On the plus side, there was absolutely nothing extra that I had to pay; no VAT, no duties.