Online selling process & import duties for Norway resellers

Hi,

In Norway, we can buy things overseas as long as its value is below 200NOK. Anything below that value, we do not have to pay extra VAT and handling cost which is out of this world high. I have an issue with reselling online here either via dropshipping or not. I want to escape the high charges and at the same time ship faster to customers. I have a sample case and I would need your inputs.

Sample case:
I dropship a product worth 150 NOK and sell it for 300 here in Norway.

Since we only bought the product for 150NOK and most dropshippers/suppliers enclose their actual selling price (in this case, 150NOK); we can escape VAT and other charges but risk that customer will see the original price (150 NOK) on the label and might feel ripped off.

One solution I see here is to send the package directly to me and I send it to the customer. But it takes roughly 15 days from China to Norway thus, taking more time to ship to customer.

Are there any similarities in Australia or USA? Do you have any other solutions for this?

Sincerely,
Steinar Sorum

200NOK is so little money, doesn't it make sense to just deal with items over the limit so there's never a question? I mean, what can possibly be profitably drop shipped from China to Norway that costs less than $35-40?

As far as invoicing goes, obviously each country has its own laws but as a general rule, the destination price is the price for excise purposes. i.e. If the dropshipper is shipping to the consumer it needs to have the consumer price on the declaration, not the wholesale price.

Frank

Hi,

Thanks for the reply:):). We have a good/strange rules here in Norway.

And even so, if we sell a product for example 500NOK, they then charge 105 NOK + VAT on top on that so, it can be pretty expensive in the end.

If the product cost 199 NOK and the freight costs are 75 NOK then, you don`t have to pay the tax and the charge.

How are the rules for USA? Same principles?

Planning to start slow with low cost products so we don`t have to invest a lot of money to start with. Even so, I wait a big bonus soon I don`t want to buy 1000 items of one thing and then all my relatives know what they will receive for Christmas gifts for the rest of my life:)

Sincerely,

Steinar

Import duties for the US tend to be a baffling ordeal, as we have nothing (yet!) like VAT or GST. So each individual item, and sometimes even country of origin, has to be individually calculated. On the flip side it tends to be a tiny fraction of the cost of VAT model countries overall --- just a pain in the butt to figure.


Frank

Hi,

Hehe yeah it is a pain in the butt to figure it. We have a postal office built into the supermarket I run so I have seen my share of VAT and extra charges customers have to pay for goods bought on the internet.

Steinar

Since Steinar is Norwegian and I am too, I will type this in Norwegian.

Hei Steinar.

Fant du ut av dette?
Ser det er lenge siden du spurte om dette.

Jeg ville si at du burde kontakte tolldirektoratet for å finne ut av dette om du ikke allerede har gjort det. Det er ikke smart å dropshippe til norge uten å være 100% oppdatert på reglemanget :)

Selv så bruker jeg bare norske leverandører av produkter enn så lenge.

syntes det er hyggelig å se andre nordmenn her og tenkte å høre hvordan dette gikk for deg og din bedrift.

Norway is a greedy country. We are no longer VAT free, from 1st July 2011 this rule applies:

From 1 July 2011 foreign businesses supplying electronic services to private individuals belonging in Norway can no longer supply such services VAT free.

A whopping 25% rate, as is the national rate for almost all consumer products.

Hei!

Jeg er ny her, og trenger litt råd og tips. Jeg vurderer å importere elektronikk av ymse slag, i varierende prisklasser. Jeg vil ikke si akkurat hva jeg skal importere, siden det ville være dumt å avsløre det :)

Så vidt jeg vet, så skal det ikke betales toll og andre avgifter utover MVA når man importerer elektronikk, altså at det bare legges til 25%. Stemmer dette, eller er det andre ting som plusses på? Er det noe forskjell mellom privatperson og foretak ifht avgifter?

Jeg tenkte at jeg ikke skal dropshippe direkte til kunden, men videresende det selv.

Er det noen som vet om tredjepartsgaranti som kan kjøpes via ekstern tilbyder, slik at man kan tilby en bedre garantiordning for kunden som er tilnærmet like god som den norske elektroforhandlere kan tilby?
Jeg kommer til å kunne tilby mye lavere pris på kostbare produkter enn de store kjedene på visse produkter, men må kunne tilby kunden en god garantiordning også, slik at de velger å handle av meg framfor kjedene

Takk :)

English Translation

Hello!

I'm new here and need some advice and tips. I am considering importing electronics of various kinds, in varying price ranges. I would not say exactly what I want to import, since it would be foolish to reveal it :)

As far as I know, and it shall not be paid customs duties and other charges beyond VAT when importing electronics, ie that only added to 25%. Is this correct, or are there other things that the plusses? Is there any difference between individual and corporate tax ifht?

I thought that I might not hip drops directly to the customer, but to forward it myself.

Does anyone know of a third party warranty that can be purchased via an external provider, so you can offer a better guarantee for the customer who is almost as good as the Norwegian electrical retailers to offer?
I'm going to be able to offer much lower prices for expensive products than the big chains on certain products, but must be able to offer the customer a good guarantee too, so they choose to buy from me instead of chains

Thank you :)

Hi and welcome to SaleHoo, dropshipnorway :)

Based on what I have read basically your imported products will be charged VAT upon arrival in Norway. And this is confirmed by the guide from FedEx -

For shipments where clearance is required, Norwegian Customs Authority requires 24% VAT for all shipments with a value above US $20. Depending of the commodity, tax will also be added prior to release. FedEx will charge recipient VAT and taxes either directly or charge their account at Customs. Only companies can apply for this account at Customs.

As for 3rd party warranty, I have only come across one that has been recommended several times even outside of SaleHoo - Square Trade. To learn more about them, you may refer to this Link hidden: Login to view.

You might also find the Link hidden: Login to view for Norway helpful in calculating your duties.

Hope this helps :)

PS - You might want to write your posts in English next time so that everyone can help you out..Cheers!