As using EMS/Poslaju is one of the two default methods (the other being SAL) of importing figures from Japan, just wanted to ask if anyone has ever gotten taxed for Poslaju with CIF less than RM500?

As you might know, there exists something called Jadual Kos Tambang Dagangan which is used by our Customs to calculate the freight cost for any international imports delivered using a express courier service (UPS, DHL, FedEx, EMS/Poslaju). The value differs by the import country but most major countries are around ~RM300 to ~RM400.

If my understanding is correct, by right, it doesn't matter what the actual shipping fee is and the Jadual is used instead to determine the freight cost. Which is a problem as this basically means that almost anything of value you buy will automatically exceed RM500 and be subjected to tax. But it happens very often too that Customs does not use the Jadual to calculate and will instead just follow your actual shipping fee.

I've only received parcels from UPS twice but already got taxed once because Customs calculate using the Jadual. On the other hand, I've never gotten taxed for Poslaju despite receiving multiple parcels from them.

Based on my personal experience, my theory is that Customs seem to go easy on Poslaju when it comes to applying the Jadual. Just like to see if your experiences support my theory.

This post has been edited by rabbit.dynamite: Apr 7 2018, 04:16 AM

Hi guys, actually I won't get in here. But seen this so I share the info.
Cuz it surprise that DamToys release this kind of titles, hahaha....

After-School Arena
All-Rounder ELF
Brand: DamToys DMF001, 1/7 scale



This post has been edited by strikermac: Apr 7 2018, 08:16 AM

That applies to UPS and FedEX from what i know, maybe DHL too
But i never had problems with DHL from Japan. If it is from USA then confirm GG

SAL and EMS are not subject to those Kos Tambang Dagangan you mentioned.

DHL also affected. I used dhl to ship 1 play arts from amiami last time. I paid less than 3000yen for shipping. But after i got taxed and checked the tax details, the shipping cost declared was almost rm 200.

Sifu if 1/6 figure with not much accessory, standing pose. Is it possible to use SAL if buy from amiami? SAL rule is not exceed 90cm all dimension add right?

Possible. But for big items, SAL only cheaper by alot until certain threshold only (after that threshold, the difference is small, sometimes less than 500yen). Anyway for amiami, you can still choose your shipping method during payment process.

Oh and I got 1 amiami shipment I used SAL recently. Item value without shipping is less than RM 500, but kena tahan because the kastam said the value was not declared in their system, so they need to see the invoice.

How is the value not in the system o_o , cant they just look at the value on the package?
So did they open your stuff? Btw do you know if the custom gonna go FBI on your ass if they caught an explicit loli figure?

sorry too much question at once hahaha

Either their procedure don't involve checking the declaration sheet on the package (meaning their rely fully on the system), or the package didn't have the declaration sheet (this one I can only know after I get the package). I haven't collect the package yet; went yesterday (Saturday) and I forgot yesterday was the first Saturday of the month. As for whether custom gonna FBI you for explicit loli figure, naah they won't. They might FBI you if the item is weapon, or full-size replica of weapon, bombs etc.

I kena before on the "weapons" situation...

They say ini tak boleh, ask me to get an approval letter from PRDM i think so confirm I'm allowed to import those stuff.... OR they will return it to the sender.

I ask them to return it to the sender.....

2 months later I get another letter asking me to go kastam or they will return my package to the sender (same letter as the one I received)....

Bet you they sapu the stuff after I fail to response the 2nd time...

SAL confirm not subjected to the Kos as it's not considered a express service.

EMS I also thought initially not subjected to the Kos, but another forumer who I believe works in the logistics industry said that all shipments inbound are subjected to it, Pos Malaysia included. But whatever the case, it seems that Poslaju rarely or does not get the Kos applied, which is a good thing for us consumers.

On a slightly related note, is standard airmail or registered mail less likely to be inspected by Customs compared to SAL/EMS? And are books and DVD more likely to be subjected to Customs inspection, regardless of method of delivery? I've thought of buying some gravure magazines + DVDs before, but just worried about the Customs part of it...hahaha.

Usually the shipping cost for EMS is declared on the shipping slip, even when no invoice was attached, so I'm not concerned about that at all.

It's true that books and dvd have a higher risk, regardless of shipping method. Naturally EMS gets targeted more often. Not because they are looking for pron but they are looking for things to tax. Finding illegal stuff is just accidental discovery.

Is credit card conversion just bad? I paid for 11,200 yen item suppose to be around RM410 or so but got charge RM440 daamn.

Cant use paypal bcause age restrict from amiami

More or less, correct amount. If Google says yen is 0.036, the card rate will be around 0.037. When you pay with credit card in any local shop during a purchase, sometimes shop owners want to charge you an additional 2% fee. It's also applicable in online transactions. Along with those fees that are automatically charged and a slightly higher exchange rate, the amount you pay will be 6% to 8% higher than your expected calculation. Regardless of whether you used credit card directly or via PayPal, there's not much difference (for every rm500 there's about a difference of rm10 only). That's why i rather use PayPal and have a peace of mind.

My Purple Heart order was 19,680yen. That's about RM715. I was charged around RM743 via PayPal.

Btw, google rate is for market reference. In fact, money changer is selling at higher rate, in which banks might also following the same way when charging.. there is also a percentage charge for credit card use if i didn't remember wrong. Guess this is the reason why bank charges us higher.
For debit cards, everytime they charge me a very high rate at the moment i use it (In RM term).. but when it came to actual payment, the charge is usually less than the initial charge.

the rate depends on bank's conversion rate, google's rate are always inaccurate because it get the rate from XE.com(i think) which does not represent any of our bank's rate (normally bank''s rate is higher by quite a lot), if you want to know how much you will be charge better refer to the forex rate by the bank ur CC is from (usually can be found on their website). Paypal have their own rate as well (not sure how they maintain it), money changer's rate are isolate from bank's rate.

also i have observed that bank's forex rate is always higher than XE's rate and BNM's rate

This post has been edited by Ryutaro: Apr 10 2018, 01:51 PM

Actually sometimes i wonder where does Google/XE etc get their rate.

For sure its not cash rate.

Its not even NDF rates.

Hmm I see, thanks for the insight.

Thanks for the info, slightly worried because all of your personal information is on the package. Later suddenly fbi break in through your window hahahaha.

I stopped using Paypal because their conversion rate most of the time differs by quite an amount compared to cc. For example, if Google says 0.036, cc will be around 0.037, but paypal could be 0.039. Only sometimes Paypal could be cheaper but most of the time it was more expensive than cc.

The difference is not that much actually. Within April alone I used direct cc and paypal interchangeably to see the difference. Recently i used cc to pay my Kaori and paypal to pay for my purple heart. Difference is very minimal. it's not as bad as 0.039. Paypal is around 0.0377 for purple heart when i paid. Maybank's CC would have been around 0.0372+, while google states it's 0.0362. But this is assuming credit card did not charge a 2% fee, usually there is a small fee whenever u use a CC. Some merchants absorb it, some merchants will charge the customer. What i noticed so far, is for every RM500 you pay, if u use paypal it's about rm8 to rm10 more expensive than using CC directly, which is not a big difference. Yeah, i do understand that rm8 can feed you a meal already. The common assumption that paypal is too expensive is not true.

Also, paypal's account system for personal accounts and business accounts are different. Business users can make paypal charge an additional amount in percentage for other fees during payment, such as the 2% card fee itself. I've sold figures on ebay to overseas buyers so i do know a bit about these things, though i do not use a business account for paypal.

I even use paypal to buy pay for movie tickets in GSC website lol. For local transactions like these there is no difference in amount compared to using cc directly. I dun have to wait for the stupid 6 digit TAC sending to my phone. One click in paypal and payment made, more convenient.

This post has been edited by EXkurogane: Apr 10 2018, 08:08 PM