Nothing in life is certain but death, and taxes. - Ben Franklin 1789
Purchasing low-value consumer goods for international delivery is simple. The process is not much different than purchasing online from a local merchant, but consumers unfamiliar with international transactions are sometimes not aware that their federal government may have import tariffs (duty) on goods entering from outside their country. Likewise, local governments also have their usual consumption taxes (GST) or value added taxes (VAT). Applicable import duties and taxes are assessed under the destination country's rules. The carrier may advance these amounts during Customs clearance and collect payment from the recipient before or at delivery. Carriers and postal operators may also charge clearance or handling fees, which vary by destination and service. Import fees may be different for named individuals at a residential address than addresses containing a business name or delivered to a business address.
Our US Dollar (USD $) product prices generally exclude destination duties and taxes. Most destination charges are collected separately by the carrier. Where we collect tax during checkout, such as Australian GST on eligible orders, it is shown on your order.† When purchasing locally, the duty and tax may be "invisible" to the consumer because they are included as part of the merchant's retail price, although this practice varies widely depending on the locale and product.
Dive Gear Express has already pre-paid all shipping fees. While you do not have to pay any shipping fees, international package recipients are responsible for applicable import duties, taxes, and carrier clearance fees not already collected during checkout. Please be aware that refusal to pay your government mandated duty and/or tax can ultimately prove to be very expensive. If the package is returned to us, any refund amount will be reduced by both the outbound and inbound actual shipping costs from the order. If we are unable to retrieve the package, or the return shipping costs exceed the value of the contents, then the abandoned package will be impounded by Customs of the import country resulting in a total loss and no refund.
We guarantee safe arrival of your order.
Guaranteed safe arrival means we are responsible for delivery of the undamaged order to the ship-to address. You are responsible for providing the correct address of a delivery location that is accessible, safe and secure; then collecting the order from the carrier and promptly notifying us of any discrepancies. For international orders shipped outside the US, you are also responsible for paying applicable import fees, which may be collected before or at delivery. Please note the special conditions for orders requesting non-guaranteed shipping, and orders shipped to package forwarding services.
† We do our best to make our international customers aware of duty and tax. We prominently display the International Notice in bold type on our Ordering Guide, Pricing & Payment and Shipping & Delivery information pages, as well on our Shopping Cart. We also include the notice in the Thank You page shown following a successful Place Order plus in the order acknowledgement e-mail.