18 East

[malcb33]

I got hit with $185 for my Padmore's so it seems you got off somewhat lightly, lol. I have no problem paying the taxes and duties as legally required but the $80 UPS customs brokerage fee is F#*King brutal.

Not trying to turn this into a woe is me (us) situation as I know AKC has said that international shipping often costs them money. So at the end of the day, I'm just glad to have access to the brand.

UPS's international business practices are predatory though!

 

[danneskjold]

At those prices, we should start an 18 east proxying service lol.

 

[NickPollica]

Not trying to turn this into a woe is me (us) situation as I know AKC has said that international shipping often costs them money. So at the end of the day, I'm just glad to have access to the brand.

UPS's international business practices are predatory though!

We lose at least $20 on every international shipment. When we ship usps things take forever and often get lost, which is a customer service nightmare (with people expecting us to cover the cost of lost items). When we use ups/dhl things almost always get there (fast) but rates on the backend are higher, which is also a customer service issue (with unnamed people threatening us with chargebacks if we don’t pay the fees we have no control over). I wish there was a better solution here but unfortunately any way you slice it someone is unhappy and taking it out on our tiny team. We discussed this all on our team call today and very well may be discontinuing international shipping in 2022.

 

[malcb33]

We lose at least $20 on every international shipment. When we ship usps things take forever and often get lost, which is a customer service nightmare (with people expecting us to cover the cost of lost items). When we use ups/dhl things almost always get there (fast) but rates on the backend are higher, which is also a customer service issue (with unnamed people threatening us with chargebacks if we don’t pay the fees we have no control over). I wish there was a better solution here but unfortunately any way you slice it someone is unhappy and taking it out on our tiny team. We discussed this all on our team call today and very well may be discontinuing international shipping in 2022.

I don't want you to feel like I am complaining, because I like I said I am grateful to have access to the brand. I think the problem with UPS international is that at their basic level of international shipping it does not cover the brokerage fee, the next level up, however, does include this. The brokerage fee is my major gripe as it changes, seemingly depending on their mood, and can be extremely hefty compared to most other carriers. I'd be extremely bummed if international shipping was cut.

 

[gdl203]

We lose at least $20 on every international shipment. When we ship usps things take forever and often get lost, which is a customer service nightmare (with people expecting us to cover the cost of lost items). When we use ups/dhl things almost always get there (fast) but rates on the backend are higher, which is also a customer service issue (with unnamed people threatening us with chargebacks if we don’t pay the fees we have no control over). I wish there was a better solution here but unfortunately any way you slice it someone is unhappy and taking it out on our tiny team. We discussed this all on our team call today and very well may be discontinuing international shipping in 2022.

I could have written every single word of this

 

[AW84]

any international customers here? I'm from Canada and I just got hammered with customs. Ordered the padmores and nomad cardigan from the archive sale. One got shipped via UPS and the other got shipped via DHL. Got dinged $148 and $94 respectively. That's more than what my order is worth.

Yeah, I've brought it up on the thread before, so I wasn't going to mention it, but since you're asking... I just got hit on country double knees I bought from of the archive sale. The pants were $168 before the discount and $117 USD after. I'm going to end up paying $290 CAD in total.

Canadians are allowed $150 duty free under the current trade agreement. Unfortunately Shopify fulfillment sent the invoice to DHL at the pre-discount rate of $168 so I got hit with:

-$36 duty for being over $150. They charge duty on the full amount, not just the portion over $150.
-$30 GST/PST on the purchase.
-$17 in DHL processing fees.
*** $35 for shipping I paid on the order.

In the past, I've been able to get DHL/UPS/Fedex to waive their fees on small orders by calling them: basically I say the order is under the duty free limit so it's predatory to charge consumers for the simple collection of GST/PST. Unfortunately, I can't really make that case if the order is above the $150 CAD mark. I considered reaching out to the store to see if they could correct the Shopify invoice, which would save me at least $36, but I figured they're a small team so I'll just take the L. I know NMWA stopped international shipments over all the fuckery and I'd be bummed out if 18E did as well.

My plan at this point is to order the stuff I really want and consider the extra charges to be part of the cost. I live reasonably close to the border. In pre-COIVD times I used a PO box service in the US that charged $2/package and I would just drive across to pick things up. I'll go back to doing that as soon as it's feasible.

 

[maxbayuk]

Yeah, I've brought it up on the thread before, so I wasn't going to mention it, but since you're asking... I just got hit on country double knees I bought from of the archive sale. The pants were $168 before the discount and $117 USD after. I'm going to end up paying $290 CAD in total.

Canadians are allowed $150 duty free under the current trade agreement. Unfortunately Shopify fulfillment sent the invoice to DHL at the pre-discount rate of $168 so I got hit with:

-$36 duty for being over $150. They charge duty on the full amount, not just the portion over $150.
-$30 GST/PST on the purchase.
-$17 in DHL processing fees.
*** $35 for shipping I paid on the order.

In the past, I've been able to get DHL/UPS/Fedex to waive their fees on small orders by calling them: basically I say the order is under the duty free limit so it's predatory to charge consumers for the simple collection of GST/PST. Unfortunately, I can't really make that case if the order is above the $150 CAD mark. I considered reaching out to the store to see if they could correct the Shopify invoice, which would save me at least $36, but I figured they're a small team so I'll just take the L. I know NMWA stopped international shipments over all the fuckery and I'd be bummed out if 18E did as well.

My plan at this point is to order the stuff I really want and consider the extra charges to be part of the cost. I live reasonably close to the border. In pre-COIVD times I used a PO box service in the US that charged $2/package and I would just drive across to pick things up. I'll go back to doing that as soon as it's feasible.

Bummer :-/

Have you considered using a forwarding service like Vyking Ship?

 

[AW84]

Bummer :-/

Have you considered using a forwarding service like Vyking Ship?

I’ve used proxy shipping from Japan before but I couldn’t find a good one for the US last time I looked. Haven’t heard of these guys before so I’ll look into them. Thanks for the recommendation.

 

[maxbayuk]

I’ve used proxy shipping from Japan before but I couldn’t find a good one for the US last time I looked. Haven’t heard of these guys before so I’ll look into them. Thanks for the recommendation.

No personal experience but I've heard good things

 

[AW84]

No personal experience but I've heard good things

I’ll give them a try on something small and report back. Seems like there might be others here who could use them as well if they’re good.

 

[flashjack]

We lose at least $20 on every international shipment. When we ship usps things take forever and often get lost, which is a customer service nightmare (with people expecting us to cover the cost of lost items). When we use ups/dhl things almost always get there (fast) but rates on the backend are higher, which is also a customer service issue (with unnamed people threatening us with chargebacks if we don’t pay the fees we have no control over). I wish there was a better solution here but unfortunately any way you slice it someone is unhappy and taking it out on our tiny team. We discussed this all on our team call today and very well may be discontinuing international shipping in 2022.

NOOOOOOOOOO

 

[slimster]

Hope you keep it, ordered twice to Sweden and delivery was quick and the fees weren’t too bad, ordering from outside EU is always expensive so nothing unexpected for me.

 

[Racing Green]

Had a UPS guy arrive at my door in Ireland looking for €38 duty on a $26 dollar tee shirt. No text or email beforehand like every other carrier does. I laughed and told him I didn't want it. Hope it has made it's way back by now but it's probably sitting in the UPS depot in Dublin.

No blame whatsoever on 18 East as it was my jumping on free international shipping that was my undoing. I usually use a mail forwarding address in NJ that our version of USPS has and will do that again in future.

 

[JewishAmericana]

December.

Very excited for these!

 

[gdl203]

Had a UPS guy arrive at my door in Ireland looking for €38 duty on a $26 dollar tee shirt. No text or email beforehand like every other carrier does. I laughed and told him I didn't want it. Hope it has made it's way back by now but it's probably sitting in the UPS depot in Dublin.

No blame whatsoever on 18 East as it was my jumping on free international shipping that was my undoing. I usually use a mail forwarding address in NJ that our version of USPS has and will do that again in future.

I don’t want to sound like a dick but are you saying that 18 East shipped you a $26 order for free to Ireland via UPS (probably cost them more than the shirt) and to repay them for this, you returned to shipper so it costs them twice the shipping cost and they’re out $100 or something for nothing? ?

maybe I misunderstood the story but if I haven’t, this seems incredibly selfish to me. UPS lost nothing at all when you laughed them off - they made twice the rate.