Statue Retirement

[dao2]

Originally Posted by risingstar

I'll take free healthcare over paying taxes for a statue any day... lol.





P.S. I had no idea the US was import-tax free. I think it's different with UPS and FedEx. If we ship something to the US, once the item is valued over $200, there is a brokerage fee.

Not for me, had tons of stuff shipped to me in the US via Fedex and UPS (one within the last 2 weeks) and did not pay anything additional.

[risingstar]

Originally Posted by dao2

Not for me, had tons of stuff shipped to me in the US via Fedex and UPS (one within the last 2 weeks) and did not pay anything additional.

I'm certainly not an expert on this but I believe when US residents cross the border from Canada into the US, there is a limit to how much they can declare without being charged a customs fee. Depending on how long the stay was in Canada, I think the limits begin at $200. I do not believe they can import unlimited amounts of product, especially not for commercial use. However, the US has remarkable leeway when it comes to "personal use" imports. I wonder if statues fits that bill. It might, or seems to, especially if XM pieces are coming in duty-free.

P.S. I believe FedEx Import/brokerage fees are typically paid by the shipper so that would end up in the final shipping cost.


http://www.cbp.gov/trade/basic-impor...rnet-purchases

[sith_apprentice]

Yeah if I remember correctly an "informal entry" is under 2000 or 2500 dollars, at least last time I flew in from Japan that was what they asked us to declare.

When I worked for Fedex we always tried to get the shipper to bill duties to an account, so the recipient wouldn't get shafted and have to pay 300 dollars to receive a 75 dollar watch because the Mexican government has a beef with some other country.

[SONICobra]

Originally Posted by mistermark

I would rather own ONE beautiful and flawless... piece than two crappy... pieces.

I completely agree with this statement, however I removed specific companies names because I think both in question have had hits and misses.

ill never understand the mentality I see in other manufacture sub-forums where people buy a $125 small scale statue with little or no detail and poor paint apps and say "its good for the price". I think that mindset could take you down the wrong path in this hobby, at least in my opinion. id rather have a small collection of spectacular pieces that make peoples jaws drop rather than a large collection that's just "meh"

[Cougrcrumby]

Originally Posted by SONICobra

I completely agree with this statement, however I removed specific companies names because I think both in question have had hits and misses.

ill never understand the mentality I see in other manufacture sub-forums where people buy a $125 small scale statue with little or no detail and poor paint apps and say "its good for the price". I think that mindset could take you down the wrong path in this hobby, at least in my opinion. id rather have a small collection of spectacular pieces that make peoples jaws drop rather than a large collection that's just "meh"

[built2shred]

Originally Posted by SONICobra

I completely agree with this statement, however I removed specific companies names because I think both in question have had hits and misses.

ill never understand the mentality I see in other manufacture sub-forums where people buy a $125 small scale statue with little or no detail and poor paint apps and say "its good for the price". I think that mindset could take you down the wrong path in this hobby, at least in my opinion. id rather have a small collection of spectacular pieces that make peoples jaws drop rather than a large collection that's just "meh"

I agree 100%....

When I first started out I got really carried away ordering stuff left and right and accepting questionable QC because I pretty much thought that was the standard, but I really don't want a big collection of "" OK "" looking statues, My personal preferences have changed and I'm also building a smaller collection of really high end looking statues. And yes some of those include SS statues among other companies.

But the days of me accepting a statue that looks way off from the prototype are over... SS is capable of making near prototype production pieces (I have several of them) so for now on anything less then that I'm just not going to accept anymore. IMO this hobby is to expensive to have the attitude of "Meh close enough"