Split shipping cost NW on a pallet of Euro Parts? UPDATE 4!!

[franz]

dividing it evenly between 9 people doesn't seem like the route to go for those of us that bought things as small as grilles. That would be a $16 charge on a $30 item.

You're right. That was my hesitation to do something like that. It doesn't seem fair that you'd pay the same fee for getting a $30 part that James would for getting $1k+ in parts. I figure the guys with the grilles will owe a little less than ten bucks. I'll figure the whole thing out in a few days.

I know I am not in on this but I would take the total amount of the purchase and assign a percentage of that dollar amount to each person. Then all fees after that are divided by the same percentage. The only exception would be if customs specifically tags one item for duty and not another, then that item should pay 100% of its duty.

This is how it was done at my former employerswhen we imported stuff, they tagged every piece of merchandise with appropriate shipping and added that to it's cost in the system.

[KenC]

dividing it evenly between 9 people doesn't seem like the route to go for those of us that bought things as small as grilles. That would be a $16 charge on a $30 item.

You're right. That was my hesitation to do something like that. It doesn't seem fair that you'd pay the same fee for getting a $30 part that James would for getting $1k+ in parts. I figure the guys with the grilles will owe a little less than ten bucks. I'll figure the whole thing out in a few days.

I know I am not in on this but I would take the total amount of the purchase and assign a percentage of that dollar amount to each person. Then all fees after that are divided by the same percentage. The only exception would be if customs specifically tags one item for duty and not another, then that item should pay 100% of its duty.

This is how it was done at my former employerswhen we imported stuff, they tagged every piece of merchandise with appropriate shipping and added that to it's cost in the system.

Everyone has paid already, and I divided it up similarly to how you described above. I'll probably use your method for paying for the customs broker.

[nando]

Thank you everyone (except for Craig Cheadle - who I am unable to contact) for paying so quickly. I purchased the $150.82 money order today and I will be sending it out in the mail on Monday.
On Monday I will also be making some calls to try and find a customs broker for our pallet, I'll let everyone know what happens with that.

heh, woah, i just realized that I met craig in real life a few weeks ago :P

maybe I'll be able to contact him, if you can't get ahold of him I'll see him on the 16th at autocross.

[Super Eta]

Thank you everyone (except for Craig Cheadle - who I am unable to contact) for paying so quickly. I purchased the $150.82 money order today and I will be sending it out in the mail on Monday.
On Monday I will also be making some calls to try and find a customs broker for our pallet, I'll let everyone know what happens with that.

heh, woah, i just realized that I met craig in real life a few weeks ago :P

maybe I'll be able to contact him, if you can't get ahold of him I'll see him on the 16th at autocross.

And i used to have his cell number. :?

[KenC]

Thank you everyone (except for Craig Cheadle - who I am unable to contact) for paying so quickly. I purchased the $150.82 money order today and I will be sending it out in the mail on Monday.
On Monday I will also be making some calls to try and find a customs broker for our pallet, I'll let everyone know what happens with that.

heh, woah, i just realized that I met craig in real life a few weeks ago :P

maybe I'll be able to contact him, if you can't get ahold of him I'll see him on the 16th at autocross.

That'd be great. I can just hold his stuff hostage until he pays, lol. Or I could send it up to you if I get the stuff before the 16th and then he could just send me money...
we'll work something out as the date draws near.

[KenC]

OK, I got the final arrival notice. The pallet should arrive into the Port of Portland on the 12th. Tomorrow I will be making phone calls to try and get a customs broker to handle the pallet. I will let everyone know how much that is, as well as the price for customs duties.

Also, since I can only pick up the pallet on a Thursday or Friday (assuming they're not open on the weekends... probably should find that out), I would have to pick them up on the 20th or 21st.

I'll keep y'all updated.

[KenC]

OK, the pallet should have arrived in Portland today. I called to set up a customs broker for the pallet, but they told me that I need a commercial invoice that details the price of each individual part on the pallet.
I emailed Jon a few days ago to the the invoice and he emailed me back about 5 minutes ago and said that he'd write one up and mail it. Hopefully I can get it all straightened out and be able to pick up the parts soon! I'll let everyone know what I hear.

[KenC]

Got some good news and some not-so-good news.

Good News:
Everything with the customs broker is arranged; they are processing the order. I'm hoping that they have a weekend pick-up option if it isn't cleared by Friday.

Not-so-good news:
Alas the customs broker is going to be more money. It will be at least $250 for the customs broker. This does not include any tariffs; I haven't found out how much they'll be yet, however, I don't expect them to be much as Jon claimed that the net value of the parts on the pallet was ~$250.

As soon as I find out how much the total is for all of the duties and brokerage fees, I'll be sending everyone an email and/or PM with your share. I need all of the money before I can go pick up the pallet so I'll need payment ASAP after I contact you.

[nando]

lmk soon, tomorrow hopefully, if it'll be ready on friday.

pretty soon, these wheels will have cost as much as a new set. :(

[KenC]

lmk soon, tomorrow hopefully, if it'll be ready on friday.

pretty soon, these wheels will have cost as much as a new set. :(

Well I've got my fingers crossed that they don't inspect the pallet because that'll mean a longer wait. I'm hoping it'll be ready by Friday, or Sunday if they do weekend pick-ups.

I wish that I would have forseen all of the extra charges that are accumulating.

I don't think that tariffs will be too bad since each wheel was declared to have a value of around ~$5.

[cheades]

I thought this was supposed to be cheaper doing it this way, anybody doing smaller stuff got screwed after all these pallet related charges.

[nando]

yeah even with my set of wheels, I'm going to end up having overpaid by around $150+. Greg has a basement full of 15" bbs, I could have gotten a set from him for around $400 :(

[KenC]

The pallet is ready to be picked up. Can somebody (Chris, James, anyone...) please contact me asap? If we don't pick it up today, then its going to be another $50 to store it for until next Friday. I really want to get it out of there today, but I don't have the $290 to get it out of there.

[KenC]

OK, change in plans... I'm going to pick it up next Friday. I just called and I would have to be there before 4:30 to pick it up, and I highly doubt that I'd be able to make it there through Portland Friday traffic. And it'd be about ~$30 in gas for me just to go pick it up, which would really suck if I didn't make it in time. I figure it's only an extra $50 for the storage to be divided between all of us, which is less than ten each.
I'll figure out everyones share and PM you with it later. For the guys who just got the euro grilles, I won't be charging you anything, and Craig will get a minimal charge too. I'll let everyone know their shares soon.
Once again, I'm sorry about all of the extra fees. They're catching me by surprise too. I'm just ready for this damn burden off of my shoulders. I've put so much fucking work into this pallet, it's rediculous.

[KenC]

OK peeps,
I've sent all of you emails regarding your share of the customs brokerage fees. This is the FINAL fee for the pallet. All that is left is domestic shipping charges for those of you having items shipped to you. The pallet is waiting to be picked up in Portland right now, and it'll be picked up this coming Friday.
Please check your emails ASAP.