So I'm busy with a commission for which I had to import some fur from 'murica!
It's not nearly as daunting as it sounds and I got the fur in less than a week because it was shipped via UPS and not South African post office which is a complete nightmare in regards to any clothes or fabrics. I do not recommend using SA postal service for that.
Anyways, I imported 3 yards of fur from fabric.com
The pricing consisted of:
1- The actual fur price
2- The shipping costs
These two amounts you pay directly to Fabric.com
The 3rd element was the customs duties and VAT and despite what other threads says in this sub forum the classification of the fabrics were spot on. UPS sent me an invoice regarding the amount I needed to pay as customs duties in the form of an invoice.
So the complete structure existed of:
1- The actual fur price
2- The shipping costs
3- The customs duties
SO the breakdown of cost
When you buy fur from fabric.com you obviously see the listed price let's take a hypothetical price of $29.98 per yard https://www.fabric.com/buy/0317452/shan ... 889bf8fb7b
So if you wanted to buy a single yard your total so far in your cart would be $28.98 which at 15.30(Difficult to estimate a precise amount) equals to R443.39 per yard.
WONDERFUL because that's still cheapish for fur. Just remember a yard is less than a meter 1 yard is exactly 0.9144 meters
Now onto shipping!
For the exact item shipping amounts to $24.72 at R15.30 that amounts to R378.22
Stellar! The total amounts to R821.61 still okayish but creeping close to expensive (Also keep in mind this amount increases per yard)
Your total payable to fabric.com would be:
Fur
$28.98
Shipping $24.72
Total $53.70
So you pay the $53.70 to Fabric.com using either a Credit card or PaypalGREAT! Now you purchased your fur and knowing how fabric.com ships it will be here in great condition and in due time!
But here comes the customs duties and VAT
Good news is that you are not charged customs duty on shipping.
HOWEVER You are charged customs duties on the spot rate at the day of conversion and not on the day you paid for the fur!
Which in layman's terms means that the day UPS decides to work out your customs charge you are charged on the exchange rate on that day they convert and not on the rate you originally paid.
So let's for arguments sake say you paid when the exchange rate was R15.30 to the dollar and you paid R443.39 but at the day the customs duties are charged the exchange rate is R16 to the dollar then the value of your purchase would be R463.68 therefor VAT and customs duties would be charged on the R463.68
So let's work with these numbers because you will almost always be charged on a different value from when you paid since exchange rates are pretty volatile.
Shipping would be charged on Shipped on board meaning the rate at the day the package is shipped would be used to calculate the customs value. So let's for argument sake say the exchange rate the day it was shipped to SA was R16 to the dollar ( I believe this amount is determined on a schedule or such and isn't the real exchange rate)
The percentage customs duties are charged on is 22% which differs from the percentage tax charged on a completed fursuit as fabric and completed garments are taxed at different rates. Fur is defined per the import tax schedules as other woven fabrics.
SO then $28.98 at the spot rate of shipped on board @R16 to the dollar = R463.68 x 22% = customs duty(R102.01)
So therefor your Customs duty is at R102.01
Your total so far excl VAT
Order
R821.61
Customs tax R102.01
Total R923.62
This is still excluding VATSo the Tax base for VAT regarding the fur is something I'm not 100% sure how to calculate but it's not the same value as the tax base on which customs duties are charged. So in other words the value used to calculate the VAT payable is not the value on the invoice at the day of shipping. For some reason the Tax base used for VAT on my order was around 32% more than the tax base used for Customs duties so on that assumption I will continue this calculation using those numbers.
SO for VAT R821.61 x 1.32= R1084.52
R1084.52 x 15% = R162.68
Therefor VAT = R162.68
SO again let's tally the totals
Invoice amount(Order)
R821.61
Customs Duties R102.01
VAT R162.68
Total R1086.3
So you'd pay R264.69 so far to UPS for customs assuming there are no disbursement fees. Check the site for disbursement fees
https://www.ups.com/za/en/shipping/zone ... ional.page
So the you are looking at around anywhere from R1000+ per yard of fur to import.
My personal opinion on the matter. R1000 for 900cm of fur is quite pricey yes but if you have the coin to spend to get it and the means to use it it is absolutely worth it! For me as a fursuit maker this is absolutely worth it to import since the quality of fur I can get from abroad far exceeds that of the local market. HOWEVER! Exchange rates HEAVILY influence the cost and needless to say the higher the exchange rate the more you pay. So actually importing fur is worth the effort for the quality you get.
Also just remember that fabric.com isn't the only source you can import from, there are multiple sites online that you can buy fur from and each site has their own shipping costs and policies regarding shipping. Please PLEASE take that into consideration when you want to import and make sure you understand the transaction structure as I outlined above. You will always have to pay an extra amount with regards to Customs tax and VAT on any imported product. I made this thread to make it easier for those considering importing fur to know what they are getting themselves into.
I hope someone finds this at least a little helpful.
Also my knowledge isn't absolute and 100% accurate but I am studying tax and I do understand how it works, but if you have something to add here feel free! I want to make information like this accessible to all!
May I also suggest to those looking to import fur to have a peek at this site https://www.joinhoney.com/ This is a add on you can add to your web browser that helps you find coupons before you pay for an item. It worked for me since I got a 20% discount from Fabric.com