Thread: Shipping from the US through a mate.

Originally Posted by Nick-D

Yeah had another read, and theoretically even a gift with a value over $110 is subject to some fees. Exactly what fees and how many $ is a complete mystery. Looks like I will just either wait till october when I am over there, or hope the US economy takes a dive bomb some time soon

If there is less than $60 worth of GST and duty to pay the fee is waived. So for items with no duty, it's up to $400 (value of item + shipping) before you have to pay fees. The fee is GST on the item and shipping plus a $46.89 Import entry transaction fee.
For gifts you pay fees on the value of the item over that's $110. e.g. For a $600 scope you'd pay only pay GST on $490, so falsely declaring an item as a gift is only going to save you $16.50.