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Hey guys. I am thinking of purchasing from Amazon as well and use Borderlinx to ship the items. The issue is, I need to determine the amount of customs to be paid. I called DHL, and even they are not sure about how to calculate it. Their online calculator does not calculate customs, so what good is it?

I want to purchase a PC RAM kit. if the kit costs 300$ (online price) and weighs 0.5KG, any idea what is the final total to be paid?

Also when purchasing from Amazon, is the price subject to taxes or not?

Are the following formulas correct?
Amount to be paid to Amazon = online cost of item + US shipping expenses (zero if free shipping) + 8% US Tax

Amount to be paid to DHL Borderlinx courier = Shipping Charge based on actual weight or volumetric weight + 18% fuel surcharge (18% out of the shipping charge) + 5$ (Insurance) + Clearance (check below) + Customs (???? % out of item cost)+ VAT (10% out of item cost)

Now regarding Clearance, default amount is 11,000LL if the item costs less than 800$. But if you shipped many items where each is less than 800$ but the total cost for all is above 800$, do I still need a formal clearance? Tasfieh is needed if the item cost ranges between 0$ and 1666$; Tasfieh costs 190000LL. Bayan is needed if the item cost is above 1666$; Bayan costs 405000L.L.

Do computer electronics need formal clearance or does the default clearance applies? (for example shipping computer RAM kits; which clearance applies?)

Regarding customs, the DHL support told me to refer back to customs.gov.lb, but the website is not clear. There is no clear place that mentions customs charges for computer parts. The support told me usually the % for customs is between 5% and 10%. Does the % apply to all kinds of merchandise? Some said that electronics have 0% customs, does it apply to computer parts as well?

If someone can help out, then perhaps we can end up the confusion. By the way, Borderlink might be more expensive, but heck still cheaper than asking a retailer to get it for you. I can't believe a RAM kit that costs 300$ becomes 500$ in lebanon. So F it, I want to ship it myself.
Mr class is right. we need a clarification once and for all.
Things I learned so far:

Using DHL, their US shipping address is in Ohio, therefore when purchasing from amazon there's no additional taxes/state taxes (other than shipping of course).
Most Amazon listed weights are inaccurate.
Borderlinx does indeed calculate taxes (should send them the invoices of every item you're shipping) anyway overall shipping cost is still "approximate" an not the real deal.

My package should arrive this Saturday or next week as I said I'll share my experience.
thanks bro, so now we know that items order from Amazon and shipped to Ohio are not taxable

we still need to know about:

clearance: are computer parts subject to regular clearance or require a formal one? with the 800$ limit, is it the total amount of items to be calculated or is it about the item cost limit (example: 10 items, each cost 100$ which is less than 800$, but total is 1000$ greater than 800$, are these 10 items subject to regular or formal clearance)

customs: are computer parts subject to customs or is it a zero charge? if there is customs to be paid, what % is it?

Thanks again
Liox5 wroteFor those who praise borderlinx, i found a deceiving article showing how does the company trick their customer and makes them pay a lot more than the estimated shipping fees!
http://hunboon.wordpress.com/2011/11/01/borderlinx-overcharges-its-customers-with-inaccurate-cost-calculator/

Nothing new here. Shop & Ship for Aramex was giving me their own internal paper estimating my items at double their value, therefore the customs was also double what it should be. They blamed the customs, while we know that the large containers with 10000000 items each are not going to counted and estimated 1 by 1 by customs... Needless to say I stopped dealing with them, and I stopped using any of those US address bozos.
rtwo2008 wroteNeedless to say I stopped dealing with them, and I stopped using any of those US address bozos.
So, how do you ship items then?
8 days later
Received my shipment today,

*DHL Service cost 37$ (5/27/5$ for Insurance/Freight/Fuel) Weight was 1.5KG
*While Taxes, I had to pay 25% of items value for customs, 8$ for clearance (Vat included) few dollars for stamps + customs overtime (4$) and an additional 10% VAT on [Value+Customs Duty]

Borderlinx estimate was a bit "misleading", I had to pay 1.6x more. Not so good.
Whatever, I needed those items and honestly I didn't care.

Edit: My Shipment Included a Computer Part, a Soundcard.
please can you tell us what was the price of the items you bought online and what amount did you pay in total (including shipping).
a month later
I have ordered the Lenovo Ideapad Y510p from Amazon (the Dual 750M SLI - Full HD version) for 959$ and I am shipping it with borderlinx even though I own a Shopandship account, I will let you know how it goes once I get it and how much I had to pay.
maulader wrote
rtwo2008 wroteNeedless to say I stopped dealing with them, and I stopped using any of those US address bozos.
So, how do you ship items then?
I don't, I am trying to get everything I need from Dubai when friends go, and sometimes USA when relatives come etc...
Unless it is an item I can't live without, I will not take allow them to rip me off this way.
What about shipping things from china
What is the lowest shipping method ?
natim wroteWhat about shipping things from china
What is the lowest shipping method ?
China Air Mail, it's for free but takes from 15 to 60 days.
19 days later
Guys, anyone shipping from the US before Christmas? so we share shipping fees?

Thanks
Guys, anyone shipping anything from outside? Amazon specifically.
Or maybe just happens to be coming from outside.
I want to orders some small items from Amazon,if anyone can help me with it.
AVOlio, i just posted before you if you want to order items, i am ordering too from amazon if you want, so we can share shipping fees, interested?
Oh i thought that was meant to be like just to share the bills and invoices and tell it here, not actually pay together.
Anyway, my order is small, it wont even reach 0,5Kg.
Ill PM you.
Hey guys, I want to ship an Xbox One from Amazon. I already have a Shop & Ship account and shipped before, but I want to know the customs on electronics and the estimate of how much extra I'll have to pay.

Thanks!
18 days later
guys i want to order an audio technica ath-m50 from amazon, i have signed up with borderlinx and i have my US address, the product costs 122$, any idea on what the final price would be (estimate). and what i should do next?, estimated time of arrival ?, oh and is borderlinx better than shop and ship? i'm sorry but i still didn't didn't quite grasp which is better

thank you
chassis wroteguys i want to order an audio technica ath-m50 from amazon, i have signed up with borderlinx and i have my US address, the product costs 122$, any idea on what the final price would be (estimate). and what i should do next?, estimated time of arrival ?, oh and is borderlinx better than shop and ship? i'm sorry but i still didn't didn't quite grasp which is better

thank you
How much does it weigh?
chassis wroteguys i want to order an audio technica ath-m50 from amazon, i have signed up with borderlinx and i have my US address, the product costs 122$, any idea on what the final price would be (estimate). and what i should do next?, estimated time of arrival ?, oh and is borderlinx better than shop and ship? i'm sorry but i still didn't didn't quite grasp which is better

thank you
I have both Shopandship and Borderlinx account, and by far borderlinx is better imo, first you have to use their calculator to get an estimation of the shipping and taxes fees, you need your item price, shipping weight and box dimension (not necessary since its one small item), you can get the shipping weight from Amazon under product details.
Borderlinx has 2 flights per week as far as they informed me, on Tuesdays and Fridays each week, once Amazon ships your item to your US address and it appears in your suite, make sure to release your shipment before 16:00 on those days in order to catch that flight.
If you release it on Tuesday you will get your item in Lebanon the next Tuesday and same goes for Friday.