9.00-16 ND Tyres & the tyranny of distance

[motto]

I have just imported some 9.00-16 bar tread tyres from the U.S. for my Dodge weapons carrier and wish to share my experience with other Aussie forum members that may be thinking of doing something similar.
The best price I could find was from Wallace Wade of Texas at $190 ea. I ordered six so as I would have the option of using them on my 6x6 or the 4x4. Big Mistake!! As I was aware, this put me over the $1,000 limit over which GST has to be payed. As the total cost of the shipment including freight was just over $1,900 I assumed I would have to pay an extra $190 at this end and was quite prepared to accept that.
The way that it actually panned out was that it put me in the clutches of Customs and Quarantine and that was when the fun began. To cut a long story short, I spent a total of 10 hours away from home involving two trips to the airport 60km each way. Qantas hit me over $90 in fees and charges, Quarantine charged $140 for the inspection which required my going back the next day and Customs and GST cost a total of $314
In the final analysis it cost just short of $550 at this end to get the tyres from the airport giving a total all up cost per tyre of just over $400 not to mention the inconvenience and angst.
How much of this would have been avoided if the purchase cost had been below $1,000 I don't know but I was told that it would have cost me between 1 and 2 hundred dollars more to employ an agent to do the clearance. Also I could have been charged $44 a day for storage for each day between arrival and pick up.
I got off lightly.
David

[sapper740]

First, allow me to commiserate with you over the cost of getting a set of tires from Wallace Wade to you down under. Fortunately I live just 1/2 an hour away from Wallace's store so my purchases from him have been all too easy. Twice I have sold heavy or bulky items to international buyers and both times I used a shipping broker to handle the paper work, pick up, and delivery...money well spent both times. One shipment of two IDF flexible ground/AA mounts for M2 MG's required a custom plywood shipping box and a forklift to load onto the truck but fortunately I was able to pass all those costs onto the buyer. The other was a near-complete WS 19 MKII which I sold to a museum in Europe. For the most recent shipment I used a company called Yusen Global Logistics which sent an employee right to my house to pick up the two large boxes containing the radio. Their costs were reasonable and they were able to cut through MOST of the red tape to get the shipment to Europe. I did have to fax some additional paperwork to the buyer for customs but all went without a hitch otherwise. I highly recommend the use of a shipping company as they are familiar cutting through all the red tape.
Second, allow me to re-iterate my offer to help any fellow MLU'ers with any tire purchases from Wallace. If there is anything I can do to help expedite your purchase or shipping, let me know, I'll be glad to help.

Regards, Derek

[motto]

Thanks for your kind offer of assistance Derek but the real problems were all at this end. Wallace Wade were helpful and the only glitch in Texas was that the carrier did not put my contact phone number on the documentation and I was not given a tracking number. This meant I had to be advised by snail mail about the arrival of the shipment in Melbourne two days after the event. Meanwhile I was getting toey and e-mailed WW to try and find out where my tyres were.
The biggest anomaly seems to be that the $1,000 cut off point for the Goods and Services Tax is on the PURCHASE PRICE ONLY. However, if the purchase price exceeds that figure you are then required to pay the 10% Tax ON THE TOTAL COST OF THE SHIPMENT and this includes the cost of freight. Customs also take the opportunity to slug you with processing fees and other statutory charges and Quarantine get in on the act as well.
I didn't ask a direct question about this but that seems to be how it works.
David

[jack neville]

Dave,

Your tyres from WW were new I assume. I have brought three shipments of 1100 x 18 tyres in in the past twelve months from the States. As they were second hand I needed and got an Import Permit to import used tyres on rims. All they needed was a declaration from the sender that they had been washed and were inflated and sealed on the rims. The tyres were 'as new' condition. Sure there were associated costs but I used Brocks Autos in Lilydale to freight them and they handled the AQIS inspections at their end. It was a very easy and hassle free operation. The Permit is valid for two years so I am looking to bring in some others, 900x20, 1100x20 and some more 1100x18. Brocks bring in about three 40 foot containers a week of various auto stuff and I have used them a few times now.

Jack

[motto]

Yes Jack, the tyres were new. I'm pretty sure that the first Quarantine officer I spoke to was not going to call for an inspection but when I returned with the required paperwork completed, I got a bloke who said the tyres may contain water and therefore possibly mosquito larvae and so had to be inspected. Although the inspection only took a few minutes, the earliest appointment I could get was the following day.
I considered bringing in the tyres by surface freight and was quoted $60 ea by Cheetah. I would also have had the cost of getting them from Texas to where the containers are packed. Going by previous experience with other items, I figured that I could get the tyres by air for less than double that cost and have them in days instead of weeks. The total cost per tyre would have been comparable to the cheapest price I could get here and I would have had American tyres.
As it was, the airport charges at this end added almost another $100 per tyre. The only consolation is that they were still cheaper than Vintage Tyres could do them for and they didn't have them on hand anyway.
You learn as you go and I am posting all this so as others can make informed choices.
David