Kotobukiya 1/8 Senjougahara Hitagi 戦場ヶ原ひたぎ and German Customs
Today, I had my first experience with the German Customs.
After getting my shipping notification from AmiAmi about two weeks ago, I followed the EMS tracking data closely (looking forward to receiving my figure), only to find that it ended in "Delivered, Absence.", a strange surprise, since I had been home all day.
Looking at the EMS tracking homepage, I found out that this could either mean my delivery had been handed over to a subsidiary contractor, or was being held by customs.
I simply hoped it was the former, but it turned out I wasn't so lucky.
Yesterday (over a week after the Packet arrived in Germany, according to the EMS tracking) I received a notification telling me that my package from Japan is in Customs, and that I need to go to the central customs depot to get it. It also told me that I need to bring a proof of payment (PayPal printout etc.) with me, and that I might have to pay VAT for the product received. It also mentioned that I will have to pay a 50c fee per day for storage.
So I looked up the address... and it turned out that the customs depot is about 1,5 hours away from my home... both by car and by public transport!
Mildly frustrated I set off to go there by public transport... and regretted it when I had to walk about 15 minutes in the pouring rain.
For those living around Munich, with no Customs experience so far: Don't worry too much. The customs depot is in Garching-Hochbruck, at the end of the U6 line to Garching-Forschungzentrum. Just go to Marienplatz and change to the U6, leave the train at the second-last station. From the U-Bahn Station to the depot is about 10-15 minute of walking - I haven't found any particularly helpful bus. As long as the weather is good, there's no problem, you just follow down the road and turn left at the roundabout, then, after about 500 meters (It felt like a kilometer in the rain, though), the entrance to the customs in on the left.
There was a rather moody middle-aged lady there who got my packet from the depot, and a very friendly young lady who asked me a couple of questions ("What is inside the box?" "Is the figure for private use?" "Does it depict a human?") and then took my PayPal printout and gave me a bill with the payment details for the VAT.
I had to pay 19% of VAT on the price of the figure (excluding shipment), which was in my case about 10€. I'm not happy but simply glad I got my figure, without any more complications than loosing a few hours and maybe catching a cold from walking in the rain.
Now back to the topic: a little first photoshoot.
This is lovely Senjougahara Hitagi from Bakemonogatari, as most of you probably know, in 1/8 Scale by Kotobukiya. I have a feeling that this figure is slightly unpopular compared to GSC's Hitagi, but I personally liked both equally from the pictures... I especially love the Kotobukiya Hitagi's legs, and her face is fascinating.
The box she came it.
staple~ staple~
And this is my major beef with this figure. I was expecting this from the prototype shots, but still, why did they have to make that so rough?
Her Hair... could be more detailled, but still well done.
And of course, what everyone was expecting down here. Very nice details!
Very nice details: Her fingernails are pink.
Her removable Stapler...
I think I will do at least one more photoshoot with her... I there are a lot of nice angles to this figure, and I am plainly in love with Hitagi... I really look forward to the last episodes being released in 1080p (I'm just so picky in terms of picture quality when it comes to movies and anime...) - please no spoilers! I've only seen it up to the beginning of Nadeko Snake so far...
Freshly unboxed
So you had to pay VAT based on the price excluding shipping...
Seems like they cannot decide what they want, sometimes they take the whole value incl. shipping, and sometimes without shipping.
Kinda sucks since EMS shipping often is like 30-50% of the goods you want...
Yeah, I read about people having to pay for the price including shipping.
However, I was specifically asked for "a receipt that states how much shipping I paid". So I guess it really depends on how nice the one behind the counter is.
I was also strangely surprised that the "reason" for keeping it in the first place was marked as "being a EMS shipment", as if they routinely keep all EMS shipments. I'm not sure, since I think this was the first time I didn't use SAL for a shipment.
EMS and SAL stuff got stuck in there, but some things did just go through (allthough it was EMS), seems to be a game of luck.
I had to pay on the price including shipping, and without, it like changes evertime i go there.
But it seems like SAL stuff has a greater chance of coming right through, maybe they assume EMS stuff is more expensive.
Where I'm located in Canada, 99% of EMS packages will get taxed by customs (usually 15% tax + 8$ handling), but Airmail or SAL will most often not get taxed. Sometimes (though this happened to me quite rarely) randomly they might open the box to inspect content and see if a bill inside the box matches what's written on the outside of the box. Of course they properly seal the box again after.
What's funny is that I heard from other canadians in other provinces that they get taxed differently... so I wonder what's up with these customs rules lol.
Wow, custom held it for 2 weeks?! Doesn't that totally defeat the purpose of "Express Mail"? I would go insane if I had to pay 19% taxes on my figures.
Sorry, I wasn't clear about it - they held if for "only" one week, making the total shipping time two weeks. It apparently arrive in Germany last week Friday, and this week Thursday they sent me a letter about it.
Yes, the Tax is really annoying me and made me reconsider buying figures again like this.
u where just so unlucky, i get customs every now and then - 1 in 10 shippment gets customs for me. the post office would write me a letter 1st which i can pay online or on the phone and then they delivery it to my door. in ur case u had to make a 1.5 hour journey - darn that hurts terms of cost and time. for a 15K yen shippment i had to pay £52/E60.
50€ for 15000 Yen? Isn't that about 40%? That's pretty harsh!
they charged me Toy tariff / VAT / handling charge too on top of the shipping cost of 4000 yen (toy 15000 yen + 4000 delivery)
just wondering, did u get the bikini Kos Mos?
Sadly no, because it turned out shipping would have cost me 50USD, half the price of the figure itself! I'm still deciding if I'll wait and look for a better deal or if I will buy her for 150USD- It's still a lot of money... and if customs comes in again, it'll be even more...
:/ Don't know about those ankles. They look very odd from this angle.
lovely figure, I would of gotten this and the gsc but decided just to get one.
LoL. I am glad I don't have to answer "what's in the box?" when I go pick up my figures from the post office!
haha, that would be so awkward most of the time
Yeah isn't there supposed to be a label on the box anyways that describes the content? Mines always say "doll items" or "toy collectible" stuff. XD
My box had a clearly visible label on it that said "Figure" and the price... that's why I don't get this whole thing at all: http://a.imageshack.us/img832/8101/img0449q.jpg
I'm holding out for GSC's version... and possibly Alter's version, if I decide to get two.
This would never have happened if you had just waited for the Good Smile version.
I actually ordered both originally, but I cancelled my GSC one due to money reasons and the annoyance I had with this whole thing. I'm already regretting doing that... October will be painful for me.
The reason why i usually order figures from local retailers... >.< They sell figures at a price equivalent to Japan retail price, sometimes up to 15% cheaper than in Japan. Local shipping won't cost a bomb, and no tax & customs issues... >.< the hassle of having to drive to the customs' office pisses e off more.
Wow, all you get here in Australia is a note inside the package when it's delivered saying it's been checked by customs. Never had to pick anything up.
I'm getting all of them.:)
*envy