Mountain High shipping and taxes

It is like any international shipping.

If using courier (Fedex etc) they add up their charges and import VAT and duty, and if you don’t have an account with them (can you get it shipped say to your company which uses a courier?) they will want that paid before they deliver (you will get an email, which is why you need to supply the seller with a good email address).

If using airmail (not recommended, especially if it looks “British”) then your Post Office will ask you to pay before they deliver. US firms also do not like interacting with their national post office.

The courier is whatever MH offer.

Yes you have to either have an account, or pay all of it before they will deliver.

Buying a Part from Germany, I was notified it was in the UK very quickly. I phoned the Customs number, was told it was now in Aberdeen and I could pay by card. Next day it was delivered. Very helpful staff.
Some time late I received a card by 2nd class post saying it would be delivered when I paid the charges. It would have been very inconvenient if I had waited for that card.

Piotr_Szut wrote:

Could you pay for the taxes before actual delivery?

The OP is in 🇫🇷 as in 🇪🇺.

It depends on the shipper. If it was done by UPS for instance, one usually gets a tracking number. With this you can register and will then be advised of any duty a day or two before delivery.
If buying thru ACS one is usually presented with a choice of shippers.
Choosing USPS equals “ground” transportation, is usually the cheapest (or less expensive shall we say), and the final shipping will most probably done by the postal services of the destination country. In this case it is usually the postman to whom any due will be paid, or if you’re registered with your postal service, will get a mail or message with a payment request.

It is like any international shipping. If using courier (Fedex etc) they add up their charges and import VAT and duty

Like any international shipping, indeed… as long as you allow for the case of importing parts etc from Europe to the US, with the resulting total of import taxes and duties being zero. I’ve never paid a penny of US or state tax or duty on any overseas vehicle part or accessory order in 40 years.

US firms also do not like interacting with their national post office.

This is true for international shipments, because commercial shippers like FedEx (best to the US) and DHL (best for European deliveries) provide better tracking than any national postal service will provide outside of its own country, if cooperating with a foreign postal service. Done right, one international commercial shipper controls the package from pickup to delivery.

Can you really imagine a US firm wanting to ship a package with USPS when the delivery and tracking info at the destination will be by Posta Italiana?

However within the US, the postal service is actually the cheapest and often quickest. Priority Mail is remarkably good for the price.

Silvaire wrote:

I’ve never paid a penny of US or state tax or duty on any overseas vehicle part or accessory order in 40 years.

Definitely not my experience importing anything to either UK or Canada. Tax + ‘excise duty’ + admin fee have always been a substantial addition to the cost, with the ‘excise duty’ sometimes being applied even when there is no normal ‘duty’ under the relevant free trade agreement. I can’t ever remember not being charged when importing to Canada. They seem to catch everything. UK is more random, with many cheaper items getting through with no additional cost.

UK or Canada

July 4th isn’t just a day on the calendar

I think US Customs don’t bother much with imports into the US unless into 4 digits value. They also don’t seem to cause trouble on imports for repair and return e.g. engines which “should work” at this end too but frequently cause trouble, making it highly desirable to use the same shipper there and back for US overhaul jobs.

As I’ve noted elsewhere, European Customs cause a lot of trouble and this leads to people having to waste a lot of €€€ on courier shipping, when airmail (which supports up to 2kg and “should just work”) would be about 1/3 of the cost. The point seems to have been completely lost on European governments that their out-of-control Customs work creation schemes are demolishing their domestic post offices (which provide work for a huge # of people) and feeding billions to couriers which are foreign owned

In this case, MH stuff from the US, best to ask them what couriers they offer. Get one of their 48 cu. ft. composite cylinders while you are at it – the best value bottle ever

Peter wrote:

As I’ve noted elsewhere, European Customs cause a lot of trouble and this leads to people having to waste a lot of €€€ on courier shipping, when airmail (which supports up to 2kg and “should just work”) would be about 1/3 of the cost. The point seems to have been completely lost on European governments that their out-of-control Customs work creation schemes are demolishing their domestic post offices (which provide work for a huge # of people) and feeding billions to couriers which are foreign owned

At least from the Swedish perspective, this all began when mail order from China took off. Before that customs never cared about imposing either VAT or duties on small-value shipments. But now the volume of stuff imported from China by end customers is just too great to be glossed over.

Interesting that there is no comment from someone in France. The answer @Piotr_Szut is seeking really should come from someone with experience in France. The rest is just speculation.

The comments about couriers like Fedex, ups, and dhl are likely very common for receiving goods via them anywhere, except possibly for the pricing details. For example, in Switzerland most if not all couriers (and even the post office) charge a flat fee for customs processing… usually about €20. The suggestion to set up an account with whichever courier is used is a good one. They‘ll then let you know what options you have for payment of fees.

Experience with USPS will depend on landing country, in this case France. I have had bad experiences with France Poste and USPS sending to France and US… lost packages. That‘s why many US companies have chosen a single courier…. don‘t recall what shipping options MH has.