I bought some ceramic plates from Turkey for my children for Christmas. They are truly beautiful, unique and hopefully will be given a cherished spot in their homes.
I’m having them shipped to me. If I’m charged a tariff, how does that work?
It’s being shipped FedEx, can I pay online and f I receive a notice? Do I need to go to FedEx to pick up my items? Do I need to be home so I can pay?
The people I bought them from are certain that the Turkish government is going to pay for any customs or tariffs. I’m not convinced.
When I ordered something abroad recently, I paid the tariff during checkout. There was the price of the items, the tariff amount (whatever percentage of the sale), and the shipping costs which gave the grand total I paid. I received the order with no problem.
But that’s the seller calling it out - but in theory, it’s one price.
But they’re doing what Amazon threatened to do and undid with pressure.
We’re all paying tariffs every day - but really, we’re just paying for an item. The seller is paying the tariff - but in this case, they noted it, but you’re not actually paying it. The item price is the price. It’s more a marketing thing in that case - to show, the price is high because of a tariff.
It depends on so many things- but it will most likely be a surprise that you will not find out about (one way or the other) until later
My dad ordered some motorcycle parts recently from India (he has a really cool motorcycle made in India).
About two weeks after delivery- he received a notice of payment due for tariffs from FedEx.
So in this situation- FedEx covered the tariff- and then charged the recipient (my dad) that price later.
It was not much- but a pain in the rear to pay. They kept telling him he had to pay through his online account- but he does not have one. Finally, was able to get it taken care of so no big deal. But now he knows what to expect.
If buying from an international personal seller or smaller business- I would expect to get a bill from FedEx at a later date. If buying through a larger business or major retailer- I would be surprised if you get one.
This isn’t correct unless the product is imported by a domestic seller. For direct purchase from international sellers, the buyer pays the tariff. I’ve seen some sellers collect that so they can pre-pay. But if it isn’t mentioned I’d assume there’ll be a tariff on top of the price, often collected by the shipping company.
Not 100%true. I am seeing an extra tariff tax on shipments from suppliers for my medical office. This is new. I am small potatoes mom and pop medical office but it affects what I will buy and who I will buy it from. I can’t pass it on. I get paid by the insurance companies. For retail items yes, the price will go up a bit.
A tariff is basically like a sales tax on imported items, whether it is shown as a separate line item (as is usual in the US for sales taxes) or embedded in the price (as is usual for sales taxes on retail gasoline and diesel in the US).
We bought something (about $80) from Korea and had to pay a $54 COD. It was noted at check-out that there would be an unknown amount due for shipping and tariff. Had to be home to pay and receive item. I chased the UPS man down the street with a check!
I ordered something to be made for a friend from an American company, but it was made in China. Their website had a big American flag on it, and they bragged about being based in the US, so I didn’t realize it was going to be made in China until long after I ordered it. It was in April, time sensitive, and I paid extra for a rush order. Then, no doubt due to the uncertainty of tariffs at the time (today they’re here, tomorrow they’re gone, today they’re bigger), they ended up delaying the shipping for around three weeks, long past the event we bought it for.
I believe we paid for the tariffs because they added large fees to the purchase, without specifying it was for the guess of what the tariff would be.
Maybe someone’s already said this, we’ve actually ALL been charged tariffs—they are built into the higher prices we pay for goods. That can of coffee I get at BJ’s warehouse club that used to be $14, that is now $19, increased due to tariff on coffee, for example.
Last fall we ordered two sweaters from Ireland. There was “tax” of 25 dollars–I’m assuming that’s another word for tariff, since we don’t pay sales tax on clothes in NJ.
