Having packages sent to VN.

Buzzer,

A camera cleaning kit, I take it to be small, you shouldn't have much to worry about.  If there are more than 5, then Vietnamese customs will have issues with you.  But, even at that, all they will make you do is pay the duties on them; and the package is yours.  As for delivery, well, that depends of the company that you use.  If it is a good company, you will get your package sooner.

I am from southern California, where there are quite a few Vietnamese-owned and -operated shipping companies.  Now, they are the best at getting small packages shipped here.  They have very good working relationships with Vietnamese customs.  They check the content of your packages and give you quotes, including duties.  Then, it would take them anywhere from 5 to 10 days to get the package to your doorsteps.  Prett nifty.

Cool, cheers man. Yeah it wouldn't be big at all. Great stuff. Thanks!

It's just that it's a great kit and not the kinda thing you can really buy in any old camera shop. So I defo don't want to just leave it at home.

Thanks.

Buzzer,

Just make sure that you pack your kit well.  Vietnamese handlers are known to be rough with packages.  That's all.

No worries. Cheers!!!

i find recieving stuff in vietnam to be a pain in the ass and now prefer to run across to cambodia to recieve packages. I just dont like being treated in a substandard way and i take offence at strangers opening my stuff and poking around in it.

The tax issue is kind of irritating..customs will slap tax fees on your item according to what THEY feel something is worth, usually disregarding the receipt that comes with the item. I had a broken thinkpad T60 sent out to use as spares for my other 2 working thinkpads, the laptop was broken and i would be lucky to get 20 dollars for it on ebay but i ended up paying 30 dollars in tax to get it in vietnam, even though the item was my own FFS. I take exception to this and as i said now recieve stuff in cambodia.

chalface wrote:

The tax issue is kind of irritating..customs will slap tax fees on your item according to what THEY feel something is worth, usually disregarding the receipt that comes with the item.

What THEY feel is not quite the rate that is applied.

The rate is determined by their computer, the only thing a customs agent can do is to apply a more lenient section of their code.

When VietNam signed up to the WTO they got certain breaks which affects import duty rates. Which is why they use the computer - it knows the rates on every item.

Wild_1 mentioned VNese shipping companies. They proliferate wherever there is a large enough VN community to support the, There are VNese shipping companies in Toronto but not Montreal.

They prepare documentation in VNese and often even suggest the duty classification. Customs guys being lazy are happy to accept suggested classifications.

I import thousands of integrated circuits each month from China, and elsewhere, The first couple of times I let the courier handle the clearance, then I started using a VN customs agent and my rates went through the floor.

Many of my shipments don't even attract duty as my agent gave me the Vietnamese that should be used on the documentation along with the Customs classifications.

Your old Thinkpad should have attracted zero duty as it was used, it was yours and it was not working.

Customs doesn't set out to screw you, it operates on whatever you tell it. The front line guys aren't experts, they are warm bodies - you have to look at their supervisors for knowledge.

Against this you have to weigh the wasted time in dealing with any VN Bureaucracy - just look at the mess outside Customs on Ham Nghi.

Remember, the Customs agents don't generally inspect the goods, unless there is an appeal so the word "computer" on a document could be anything.

I don't bring in computer boards, I bring is electronic assemblies. My Arduino PCBs can sell less at retail than a competitor who doesn't do the paperwork correctly.

VN Mail
VNese mail is often accused of 'losing' things on shipments overseas. All shipments are required to be inspected and attaching, in VNese, documentation both to the outside and the items directly, makes their jobs easier.

Major post offices can inspect some items before sealing - never seal the goods until you get to the counter.

Because of the International Postal Union rules VNese mail has to be shipped to a sorting hub in another country where the packages are shipped 'en mass' with others to the destination.

If there are not enough items to move, they are sometimes delayed for a week or so to allow other shipments to the same destination to accumulate,

Regional Shippers
There are an increasing number of regional shippers starting up. They are cheaper but a little slower.

For example, next day DHL for a packet of documents is $19 odd to HongKong whereas JNA (through the VN Post Office) is $6 for two day delivery. DHL has on-line package tracing; JNA does it via e-mail.

Delivery Addresses
It is usually quicker, and better, to have incoming packages delivered for PICK UP at the couriers nearest office. Don't forget your waybill number and ID.

Post Restante, post office pickup, is possible BUT you will be dinged the cost of local delivery (for some quaint reason)) which would cost you nothing if it was delivered to an address.

I have found having things mailed are most reliably delivered to an office or business address; for some reason the PO has a hell of a job finding residences.

At home in BMT, I live a little way out in the countryside and our local carrier leaves our, and neighbours, mail at a store on his route.

Jaitch wrote:

Wild_1 mentioned VNese shipping companies. They proliferate wherever there is a large enough VN community to support the, There are VNese shipping companies in Toronto but not Montreal.

They prepare documentation in VNese and often even suggest the duty classification. Customs guys being lazy are happy to accept suggested classifications.

I import thousands of integrated circuits each month from China, and elsewhere, The first couple of times I let the courier handle the clearance, then I started using a VN customs agent and my rates went through the floor.

Those little Vietnamese shipping companies abroad know quite a bit about Vietnamese custom procedures, otherwise they would have never opened their businesses.  That is why they are the best when you need to send things to Vietnam, and Vietnam only.

I don't recommend them for other destinations.  No.

Thanks guys. All I need is my sensor cleaning kit which is new and unopened, and my flash which I forgot to pack. (I knew I'd forget something, but ugh that was hard to swallow when it came to mind just as I was landing here. So stupid).

Having stuff sent here sounds like a major headache.