Jump to content

Acronym.


Westbrook

Recommended Posts

Hey guys,

 

I don't know if this should be posted here.  Just a quick question for those more savvy than I about shipping/the EU and VAT/sales taxes.

 

I wanted to buy off the Acronym website, but was worried about getting hit with monstrous duties (live in Canada.)

 

If I ordered from the Acronym website using a UK based proxy, would I be able to avoid both the German sales tax and the UK VAT?  (Sorry if this question is dumb...)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think I paid around an extra 30% ordering from Nitty Gritty to Canada. I'm not sure how you'd avoid the taxes because your proxy would be footing the bill for any taxes, unless you can somehow bypass them with your Canadian credit or debit card but still using a European shipping address with maybe paypal? Doubt it's possible.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, you'd still be on the hook for the sales tax, as it isn't deducted for the UK I believe (UK is part of EU). If your proxy marks the package value down, you might get away with not paying any import taxes, but there is nothing stopping customs from inspecting the package and figuring out the real value (may be rare but it does happen).

 

Acronym pre-registers the value of the package with US customs (you can see this happen when you track the package). Other shippers rely on customs themselves to inspect the bill of goods and determine customs. That may cause delay, as they frequently want to know what the goods are made of. Had this problem with End Clothing shipping to the US for instance. You get a call from the courier or customs asking for more info. Very annoying. 

 

Some shipping methods seem to bypass this all together though. EMS from Japan for instance.

 

Look at it this way: You could buy so much ACR, that it'll be cheaper to get a ticket to Berlin and pick it up yourself. :-)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's unavoidable unless the seller is willing to declare a far lower value. 

We've all taken those chances when selling around here because, let's face it, that's what it takes to make a sale. But I, personally, can't imagine taking that chance if I were a retailer. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am personally all for it.

 

More power to the designers and hopefully keep cost down and streamline the whole business model.

 

~I would always rather buy from source, in most areas of retail.

agree with all of those points it will allow them be fast and fluid but the question of whether a garment fits or not or even if you feel that's it's not for you like you experienced with the garbstore x reebok fury becomes a real problem when you need to return it.

 

this is fine if you have a manufacturer who distributes to many retailers or have an online presence in your own country or zone like the eu but when they only have an online presence issues such cost of return if not free, paying for shipping in the first instance and maybe again for a swap in size not to mention the taxes levied and courier fees who kindly pay the tax on your behalf only to present to you an inflated bill, it can prove to be an expensive endeavour. this is the why unfortunately I have not purchased from outlier and probably will not from isaora.

 

veilance have got it right; the eu has its own site all orders are made and paid for to arc'teryx canada and shipped out once a week from canada to a service in germany who then distribute the eu orders on their behalf almost like a proxy service and with free shipping and returns. its funny I suggested an similar idea to marc daniels of isaora 18 months ago as a way to reduce shipping costs when they were absurdly high and now arc'teryx have started doing this.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

^ Exactly my concerns. Don't think I could risk being hit with the insane custom duties that some have mentioned when ordering directly from Acronym to the US.

 

For AU customers you only get hit if the total value of all packages is above 1,000AUD, and at that point it would be about 300AUD or so in charges. All items that arrive together are considered the same package, so if you order from lots of sources and they all enter the country at the same time they get added up. 

 

Because of that, I probably won't be getting a J38-GT. As much as I want one, I know I'd get taxed. About 700~euro is the cutoff for me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A point to make (or remake, since it someone said this a few pages back) is that when you include taxes etc, ACR stuff tends to cost about the same everywhere - there's no one place that's significantly cheaper than anywhere else. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally I'm hoping they'll start moving towards 3D printed garments or at least parts of them. A collab with Iris van Herpen would rock and would tick both the "we need something really new" box as well as the "where the hell do we take the women's line" box :).

Edited by TaoSpace
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...