FED IV and a word of warning about shipping/customs duties....

davidraphael · Sep 9, 2011

I got my Fed IV. Lovely hat. And, despite the 6 week warning about German customs, it got here in a matter of days.

As recommended, I'm a 58, but got a 59. With the foam it fits fine. I guess it'll shrink a bit over time so I should be 'future-proofed' a bit.

HOWEVER...

A BIG WORD of WARNING!

German customs sent me a letter saying that I had to pick the hat up (from an inconvenient ******n location), made me wait for over an hour (when I should have been earning freelance money at work), and then charged me import tax duty!

To their credit, the people at The Hattery had tried to make it look like it was a gift...but it didn't fool the customs officials, unfortunately (two giveaways: Germans don't know the English word 'gift' (in fact, the word 'Gift' in German actually means 'poison'); and there was an official invoice attached to the box, which they opened and deemed the hat to be a commercial product. They also made me open the box in front of them and again deemed it to be commercial product because of the professional packaging.

Nearly 20% of the total cost (including taxing me on the shipping cost!) plus VAT on top of the tax duty! This came out a little shy of $30 AUD, which I feel is a lot and annoyed me a bit.
I have to say, I was a little rude to the customs people - I mean, it's daylight robbery!

So, my FED IV cost me more than it does most people....

Brent Hutto · Sep 9, 2011

Well it cost you more than those who successfully cheat the government out of their duties and taxes anyway. At least you didnt forfeit the hat or have it returned to the sender.

davidraphael · Sep 9, 2011

I genuinely had no expectation of this for just something like a single hat.

Electronics I can understand, for example, because the same products can be bought at home and the economy must be sustained... but a hat that I can't even get in Germany?

Perhaps this kind of detail should be mentioned on sites who are selling products abroad...

Throw in the amount of my hourly rate that I lost to get the hat (you can only go to the customs place in office hours) and it ultimately became quite an expensive purchase.

Great hat, though.

Terry "The Hat" · Sep 9, 2011

It's too bad they don't tax the crap out of more imports in the USA. We would still have some jobs left here!

hubbit · Sep 9, 2011

Terry1955 said:
It's too bad they don't tax the crap out of more imports in the USA. We would still have some jobs left here!

It's never quite that simple. If someone wants to buy something that simply isn't made in the USA, taxing it more won't create jobs here if US manufacturers...well, at this point with mass-produced hats I guess it's US manufacturER...does not find it commercially feasible to manufacture a similar article.

So far as I know, there is nothing like the Akubra Federation manufactured in bulk in the United States. Stetson did have something similar, the Nostalgia, but didn't find it commercially feasible because it's a niche product whose sales didn't justify the expense of manufacture and the displacement of other, more profitable lines in the factory and on the shelves.

The nearest thing you can readily buy in America so far as factory-made open-crown shape-it-yourself fur felt hats is a line from Miller in Texas. Those are made by Biltmore. In Canada.

Brent Hutto · Sep 9, 2011

Yeah, but you can put a $500 duty on any hat originating outside the USA. It won't put any American companies into the hat business but it'll make sure nobody here can buy a hat from some pesky furriner.

Or maybe the government could just give Stetson $5 million dollars to start making hats. It works for solar power, right?

zetwal · Sep 9, 2011

A few months ago, I sold a sweet Resistol to a Lounger in England. The same thing happened. The hat was held in Customs and he had to pay a large tax when he picked it up. When he told me what happened, I used the same language at the time - robbery.

Flat Foot Floey · Sep 9, 2011

Well even for some vintage ties I had to come to their office and pay 13€ tax but no additional duty.

Single ties or collar bars always passed without.

Alle Sendungen von Waren, deren Gesamtwert einen Betrag von 22 Euro nicht übersteigt sind einfuhrabgabenfrei. Das bedeutet sie unterliegen keinem Zoll und keiner Einfuhrumsatzsteuer.
Liegt der Wert der Waren zwischen 22 Euro und 150 Euro sind die Sendungen zwar zollfrei, aber nicht frei von Einfuhrumsatzsteuer.

For the next time read:
http://www.zoll.de/DE/Privatpersone...t/Zoll-und-Steuern/zoll-und-steuern_node.html

irfan.wayang · Sep 9, 2011

Living in Indonesia, I'm just used to paying taxes of 50% on the value of any package over $50. A silly way to reckon it, because, say, if you buy two hats at $50 each and ship them separately, you won't pay any tax. Of course, then you have to factor in the extra postage costs. Back in the early days of the internet, I remember vendors were often prepared to mark items as "gifts" or undervalue them, but not any more. I wouldn't even ask these days, although if someone offered, I'd accept without a qualm of conscience.

On the other hand, sometimes the customs guy is feeling mean (or greedy) and unilaterally states that an item is "undervalued". When I broke my ankle, I had a walking stick sent from the US: the customs guy unilaterally valued it at around ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARS, instead of the real price of around 70. It was a nice stick, but not THAT nice. I seriously thought about refusing to claim it, but, man, I had a broken ankle! I needed a good stick!

Terry, if Americans make good products at a competitive price, I'll buy them and help create jobs for your economy - even if I have to pay taxes here to get them. If the Chinese make good cheap simple products, then Americans should make better, more complicated ones that sell for higher prices that allow the manufacturers to pay wages Americans are happy with. Okay, okay: I apologisie in advance for the politics: I'm Australian, so it's not High Treason for me to say something like that!

LoveMyHats2 · Sep 9, 2011

Terry1955 said:
It's too bad they don't tax the crap out of more imports in the USA. We would still have some jobs left here!

I vote for that one myself!

LoveMyHats2 · Sep 9, 2011

davidraphael said:
I got my Fed IV. Lovely hat. And, despite the 6 week warning about German customs, it got here in a matter of days.

As recommended, I'm a 58, but got a 59. With the foam it fits fine. I guess it'll shrink a bit over time so I should be 'future-proofed' a bit.

HOWEVER...

A BIG WORD of WARNING!

German customs sent me a letter saying that I had to pick the hat up (from an inconvenient ******n location), made me wait for over an hour (when I should have been earning freelance money at work), and then charged me import tax duty!

To their credit, the people at The Hattery had tried to make it look like it was a gift...but it didn't fool the customs officials, unfortunately (two giveaways: Germans don't know the English word 'gift' (in fact, the word 'Gift' in German actually means 'poison'); and there was an official invoice attached to the box, which they opened and deemed the hat to be a commercial product. They also made me open the box in front of them and again deemed it to be commercial product because of the professional packaging.

Nearly 20% of the total cost (including taxing me on the shipping cost!) plus VAT on top of the tax duty! This came out a little shy of $30 AUD, which I feel is a lot and annoyed me a bit.
I have to say, I was a little rude to the customs people - I mean, it's daylight robbery!

So, my FED IV cost me more than it does most people....

I have to say it is sad that you have to do that. But you have your hat!

Brent Hutto · Sep 9, 2011

So the prevailing opinion here is that there should be huge, punitive import duties on things made outside our own country...and that if we actually have to pay those import duties when we buy stuff it is robbery. Got it!

scottyrocks · Sep 9, 2011

Yeah, politics and economics don't go over well in most places, even here.

Wolfwood · Sep 9, 2011

davidraphael said:
So, my FED IV cost me more than it does most people....

Always happens when you buy stuff from outside EU. Only one hat I ordered from HatsDirect bypassed the Customs by mistake and arrived directly to my home, but all others I have had to fetch from the office (although they switched to electronic web customs form recently).

Saint-Just · Sep 9, 2011

zetwal said:
A few months ago, I sold a sweet Resistol to a Lounger in England. The same thing happened. The hat was held in Customs and he had to pay a large tax when he picked it up. When he told me what happened, I used the same language at the time - robbery.

And a sweet Resistol it is

2 words about customs: it's not nice when you have to pay whatever duties they decide to add, but when well used to the economy I believe they are a very useful tool.

Of course, when it hits you the above is not exactly what springs to mind. :eusa_doh:

avedwards · Sep 9, 2011

I didn't have to pay duty but had to pay VAT on a hat I purchased from a US lounger a few months ago. It was strange considering that mere weeks before I had a suit arrive from America without any import taxes being raised.

Personally I think import taxes are completely pointless and should be abolished altogether. They do not save jobs, they simply artificially raise the price of foreign goods rather than making domestic ones more competitive. Plus, US-UK trade is nearly equal at a combined value of $90bn a year, which means a lot of money is being lost by businesses whilst neither government gains from the taxes. It makes no sense to me why Mexico, Canada and the USA can trade freely with each other, as can EU countries, yet a tax must be applied when trading outside these trading blocs. I'm not trying to drive at politics here, simply the illogical economics of taxing goods to avoid having to make them more competitive.

So in short, I'm sorry to hear about davidraphael's misfortune and am with him in the opinion that it's nothing more than legitimate robbery.

zetwal · Sep 9, 2011

Saint-Just said:
And a sweet Resistol it is

Hey there! It's great to hear from you. And I'm very happy to hear that you are still enjoying your hat as much as you are. It is a nice one.

Saint-Just · Sep 9, 2011

Oh I am still around

I do not post as much as some, but I read regularly

Mike in Seattle · Sep 11, 2011

Brent Hutto said:
Yeah, but you can put a $500 duty on any hat originating outside the USA. It won't put any American companies into the hat business but it'll make sure nobody here can buy a hat from some pesky furriner.

Or maybe the government could just give Stetson $5 million dollars to start making hats. It works for solar power, right?

Not when, with or without the $5 million, they make crappy hats....

1961MJS · Sep 12, 2011

Mike in Seattle said:
Not when, with or without the $5 million, they make crappy hats....

Hi

I own a year old Stetson Temple in Brown. It did have some of the powder on it, which brushed out fine. It's a nicely made hat, since it's currently my only REAL fedora, I can't comment on how it compares to one of Art, Tony, Optimo, or Mike Moore's 100% beaver hats. It is soft and reasonably well shaped. It also comes in 5 colors, one brim size 2 5/8) one crown size (roughly 5 3/4), and one ribbon color. In my opinion, that's the problem, not their quality. $70 at the St. Joseph's outlet store, can't beat that too hard.

It's not wonderful, it's not a work of Art, but it's well worth the $150 I would have had to pay new.

In keeping with the customs / tax portion of this thread, I hate to see import / export taxes, but it's practically inevitable when the standard of living in some of the current manufacturing countries is so low.

Later

FED IV and a word of warning about shipping/customs duties....

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