Hi, I recently received my product, and although the shipping is supposed to be free, UPS charged me another 169NIS - about 42$ ( + 57NIS taxed which I'm supposed to pay). Having no other choice, I paid them, and they told me to speak with you about this issue. Could you please help? I didn't expect to pay 42$ shipping charges on a 90$ product. BTW, the product is really great, and I would love to order from you again if it weren't for those unexpected charges.
Hi ohana54, please send an email to service (at) shapeways.com and we will try and find a solution that you like for this. In general this is something we are currently sorting out with UPS, but it does take time. Sorry for the inconvenience regards, Peter
This is a common problem for people buying on the internet, it's outside the control of shapeways (and the other internet companies). The issue is controlled by your country's government in they way that they apply tax and import duty. UPS are obliged to apply the duty to the cost of your item (and in some places shipping too), they usually have a charge for the handling and collection of these moneys too. The costs of collection are generally clear on the carrier's website and government are usually clear on what you are likely to pay for bringing good into the country. Some times there's a minimum threshold before the charges are applied, other goods may be exempt. It's worth looking for the rules in your country, I'd expect to be charged about £5-20 for handling fees by the carrier once an item exceeds about £18 in value plus Value Added Tax of 15% and product related duty from 0 - 20%. I can see how your charges racked up! regards, Colin
I'm aware of all the taxes I'm suppoesed to pay when a product is going through taxes, it's not the first time I imported something. The problem is that UPS overcharged me for some made-up taxes of their own. This never happend to me with other products I ordered. This is probably UPS's fault but I think it should be stated here in the website that the shipping MAY NOT be free.
That's not so good. Buying Li-poly batteries from China last year I'd a similar problem with FedEx, they suggested they would have to charge some thing like £40 for them to reconsider the charge because it was a duty issue and it would take some time to resolve. I contacted Customs & Excise (the government department dealing with these issues) they said FedEx was unreasonable but they would refund directly at no cost. It was a simple form with copy of order detail... simple Best regards, colin