Importing anything from OS can be a pain in backside.

It gets to Australia, and more often than not, customs picks it up, whacks all sorts of charges on it, and wont let u pick it up till you pay them.

This is space for us to fill in the rules as we learn them.

* Basic Procedure


!!! For goods Under $1000 AU

1. make sure you have an invoice. %%%
2. make sure you have proof of payment (ie; receipt). %%%
3. for goods ''under'' $1000 this, with the 'first notice' you receive in the mail, should be all you need. %%%

You will get a notice (mine was ExpressMail) from the Airmail transit center. Take it and all you're other 'evidence' along, might get a bit of a wait, but shouldnt be that painful. %%%
You will pay GST on the total value of the Invoice. You may also be charged 'Duty' depending on the item. GST will also be exempt on some items. %%%(will update when i get details-20020522tm)



!!! For goods Over $1000 AU

1. Follow same points as above. %%%
2. Call a Customs Broker. Find one near you at http://melbourne.citysearch.com.au

A Customs broker will charge you anywhere between $70-$???. Its worth the cost if the items are even just over $1000.

By all means check out the customs clearance forms, If you have the right information at hand, you may be able to complete it yourself. %%%
The form I was pointed to (not sure if its 'general') was: http://www.customs.gov.au/cusforms/pdfs/b616gst.pdf %%%

Other forms are available at http://www.customs.gov.au/cusforms/index.htm

Reading through the http://www.customs.gov.au/ site can be pretty helpful too.



!!! Notes
* Correctly identify your gear on parcel documentation. They DO open all packages to check it matches. %%%
* Be aware of ''all'' the costs before publishing prices or making sales. This one was learned easily on us due to negligible cost, dont let it happen to you. %%%
* 'use your common sense' doing silly things in the post is obviously bad. %%%
* customs fraud is really bad. jail bad. %%%


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More to come..

Please feel free to add your experiences, thoughts or comments. [tm]

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'''Contributors:''' %%%
James Healy (hmm... dunno if I'd call what i wrote 'contributing' troy...)%%%
Troy Mitchell %%%