 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: m1964
Date: 2025-07-16 18:59
A few days ago I bought a used R13 off eBay from a seller in Japan for $850.
The seller promptly shipped it by DHL.
Yesterday, I received an e-mail from DHL stating that I need to pay $142 before they deliver the clarinet. I contacted their CS via chat and was told that the customs duty fee was $121, and the processing fee was $17, plus another miscellaneous fee. The agent said I could dispute the fees over the phone or via e-mail.
I then used an online duty estimator tool (https://www.simplyduty.com/import-calculator/) and got $144 customs duty fee on a $850 clarinet from Japan.
New 30% tariffs will be in effect on European imports starting Aug. 1st...
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Author: m1964
Date: 2025-07-27 11:49
Update 2.0:
Today, in my mail I found a bill from FedEx for $124. It was customs fees for the clarinet I bought over three weeks ago off eBay from a Japanese seller.
So, it looks like DHL would not deliver until the customs fees are paid but FedEx delivered just fine. I was hoping that the clarinet delivered by FedEx somehow "escaped" customs but no...it did not
If the tariffs are not reduced, there might be a significant price increase on all musical instruments imported to the US, as well as sales reduction.
Time to visit Japan? or France?
Your vote is?
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Author: SecondTry
Date: 2025-07-27 20:14
(Sarcasm)
Why don't be silly m1964.
We all know that these high fees to bring clarinets into the US from foreign producers will clearly and quickly motivate domestic producers of such high end instruments to near overnight emerge into the US marketplace providing instruments made of the finest quality US Oak (gosh darnit) and bring manufacturing and jobs back to the ole' U.S. of A!
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Author: ruben
Date: 2025-07-27 21:29
1964: This will, of course, hurt Selmer, Lorée, Maigaux, etc..all of which are struggling to survive. Some companies will go under. Who will benefit from this? ...nobody.
rubengreenbergparisfrance@gmail.com
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Author: Fuzzy
Date: 2025-07-28 00:53
I read that a deal was struck to avoid the 30% - haven't seen the details yet.
Fuzzy
;^)>>>
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Author: m1964
Date: 2025-07-28 06:50
Fuzzy wrote:
"I read that a deal was struck to avoid the 30% - haven't seen the details yet."
It will be 15% "across the board", they said.
SecondTry wrote:
"We all know that these high fees to bring clarinets into the US from foreign producers will clearly and quickly motivate domestic producers of such high end instruments to near overnight emerge into the US marketplace providing instruments made of the finest quality US Oak (gosh darnit) and bring manufacturing and jobs back to the ole' U.S. of A!"
Well, it was the first try.
I am fairly sure that it will work better on the second try, after another trade war in a year or two...
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Author: davidjsc
Date: 2025-07-29 11:55
"Customs" fees charged by DHl, Fed/Ex, etc. are not related to government customs fees nor tariffs.
They are brokerage fees collected as revenue by courier companies to fill out some paperwork. These fees are disguised or obfuscated as 'customs' and it is a scam that has affected Canadian imports via courier for years - especially from US locations. If the same item were sent via the post office, i.e. USPS to Canada - those fees would not be collected because post offices don't charge you for submitting a customs declaration.
Around three years ago I was buying a clarinet from the UK, and the vendor wanted to courier it. I said, no - I'd only purchase if sent by Royal Mail to Canada. It showed up and - guess what - I paid nothing in customs to anyone (cause there are no import taxes on second-hand musical instruments into the country) - however if it were sent by DHL, I would have been charged a much of fees.
DSC
~~ Alto Clarinet; Bass Clarinet; B-flat and C Boehm Clarinets; Albert C Clarinet; Oboe ~~
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Author: ISM
Date: 2025-07-31 06:50
davidjsc,
Very interesting and informative. I wondered about this as it had been my belief that second hand instruments aren't subject to US tariffs.
Imre
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Author: clarnibass
Date: 2025-07-31 09:36
>> They are brokerage fees collected as revenue by courier companies to fill out some paperwork. <<
Partly true. You should be able to get a specified invoice of the total, where it says what part exactly is a fee charged by the courier and what are the import taxes, etc.
There could be quite a few different fees and how much each one is varies by country, type of product and value of the product. For example, locally musical instruments have just the VAT of 18%, but cars have an import tax of about 115%.
Here is an example of an invoice from Fedex:
VAT $71
Storage fees $9
Administration fees $34
Computer fee $6
I don't know why they divide it like that instead of simply having a single price...
The VAT is the actual import tax that is 18% of the cost of the product.
Storage fee can add up if you wait long enough (I think more than 21 days here) but it's a random fee since it's in their storage (you can't not have it in their storage).
I have no idea what computer fee is.
Administration fee is what you pay for their customs broker to release your package from customs.
If the courier refuses to give you a detailed invoice then... I don't know.
So yes they have a bunch of fees and for whatever reason they separate them that way. Unless your country has next to not import tax and extremely high fees by the couriers for some reason...?
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