Australian LCSC orders over $1000

[ryanm]

I'm looking at doing some full reel orders from LCSC and it will take me over the $1000 threshold for customs in Australia.

I assume that if I select DHL as the courier they will just send me a bill for the duty and customs when it gets into the country?

[Kean]

Correct.

You will pay the 10% GST, plus fees of about $100-$150.

There should be no duty payable on electronic components, although I've seen small values (<$5) on some of my paperwork.  Triggered by one of the HS codes I assume.
The customs processing fee is higher (~$80 extra) if the value of goods is over $10,000.  I've only had to pay that once... and it was with an LCSC order in 2022.  Yay chip shortage!

The customs paperwork listing the charges is super complicated.  From memory, FedEx just give you that plus a total to pay, whereas DHL give you a breakdown summary.

[Kean]

The Australian government customs fees are listed here
https://www.abf.gov.au/importing-exporting-and-manufacturing/importing/cost-of-importing-goods/charges/import-processing-charge

Based on the charges I paid in the past, LCSC have not always done electronic lodgements, so I've typically paid the N10 documentary fee - it was $190 on my big order.
With higher value Digikey orders, and at least once with LCSC, they have used N10 electronic fee which was $50 (for value <$10,000).

I believe the other fee I've paid is the AQIS one for biosecurity which I recall being $30-$40.  It increases each year, and the above linked page says it is now $45.

[ryanm]

I looked into self submitting the N10 declaration, but to access the website you need to pay better part of a thousand dollars to digicert. What a stitch up.

[Kean]

Yeah, you'd have to be importing a lot to make self submission worthwhile.
I don't think I'd consider it anyway, not knowing all the industry lingo and processes.

One thing to be aware of is I recommend to only use DHL.
With FedEx, if your shipment includes non-semiconductor parts (e.g. connectors) there is a good chance you will have a delayed clearance, and you will need to complete an asbestos declaration form. 

[Doctorandus_P]

Here in the EU we have a sort of limit of EUR150, above which duties / VAT becomes more complicated. I sometimes split up orders in two smaller ones (with a few days in between) to avoid headaches.

The most extreme I did was with Aliexpress. I could order 4 items with "free shipping", but when I added a 5th item there was about EUR2 of shipping costs, which went up when adding more items. I wanted 20 of those things, so I ended up placing 5 orders of 4 items each consecutively. When the order arrived, all 20 items were in the same bag, but I did not pay additional shipping

Aliexpress is getting annoying lately. They are putting ever more falsehoods on their website. It is becoming common that you see ridiculously low "promotion" prices, and when you put it in your shopping basket and then login for the payment, the same product suddenly becomes much more expensive. Whenever I see this I cancel the order out of annoyance of them lying to me. Prices are already low enough that EUR 2 more or less does not matter and with such silly practices they are wasting my time. No way I am going to encourage that.

[mikeselectricstuff]

FYI I've often noticed higher value LCSC orders getting held for a few days before shipping

[Mangozac]

With FedEx, if your shipment includes non-semiconductor parts (e.g. connectors) there is a good chance you will have a delayed clearance, and you will need to complete an asbestos declaration form. 

Those asbestos declarations are a regular waste of time and money. I guarantee that almost nobody signing those forms has copies of the necessary paperwork.

[ryanm]

I believe the other fee I've paid is the AQIS one for biosecurity which I recall being $30-$40.  It increases each year, and the above linked page says it is now $45.

Yep you wouldn't believe how many people catch foot and mouth disease from boost coverter ICs. Everyone knows how notoriously unclean chip fabs are...

For my first foray I'm just going to order through DHL and pay whatever extortion letter they send through.