Shopping the World Online from Argentina

[Sockhopper]

Hello!
I'm considering moving to BA and obtaining temporary residency. One concern I have is that I might find it harder or impossible to shop online while living in Argentina with businesses in the US, France, the UK, Italy and Spain which is something I’m used to doing here in Canada.


If any expats or others have shopped online within Argentina with a retailer outside Latin America for goods you want shipped to Argentina, and you’re using a credit card issued in the country of your foreign citizenship (OR Argentina), I’d appreciate hearing if you encountered or have heard of any difficulties connected with making the purchase transaction itself.

In that some online retailers in the US and Europe ship to Argentina (net-a-porter.uk and Bloomingdale’s, Saks eg.) and some offer the facility of “prepaid customs duties and domestic taxes applied by the country of importation”, this means that a consumer in Argentina would owe nothing on such parcel when it enters Argentina (because the duties and IVA collected from the customer by the retailer will be passed on to the retailer's broker and from it to the Argentine authorities). AND the shipper or post office would ship direct to your door if everything else about the shipment conforms with Argentine law. Theoretically at least!

Living in Canada, I prefer to not use “prepaid” options since I save money by paying my duties and taxes directly to my Customs’ at my door. But in Argentina “prepaid” could be most useful.

I’d love to hear from portenos and expats about their consumer experiences shopping online in Argentina at shops outside Latin America.

Reports I’ve read say that online shopping is still in its infancy in South America, is more popular in Brazil, and that Argentines and Brazilians tend to prefer retailers in their own country. So my hunch is that people living in Argentina don’t actually purchase frequently online from companies in the West. My problem is that if I move to Argentina, I’m not American and won’t be taking visits to the States to load up my luggage with goods cheaper than in Argentina. I live in Canada where this is little interesting to buy or things are more expensive than in the US and even Europe now! I also don’t like the quality of Argentine textiles and house wares.

I also would like to access Argentina’s “Customs Tariff” which if this exists and like its counterparts in other countries would classify every tangible item that’s importable and state the rate of duty applicable to each type of item and to imports from its particular country of origin (manufacture).

Could anyone please tell me if a copy of Argentina’s Customs’ Tariff is available online and where I might find it? Knowing duty rates is very important when budgeting what an item will truly cost before deciding to buy it.

While I understand that expats and visitors have had parcels of their old textbooks or clothing shipped from home arbitrarily assessed by Argentine Customs at a way higher value than they’re worth and thereby subjected to extortionate and unaffordable duties, I’m failing to see how this could happen with new goods purchased from a reputable retailer in the West whose shipping paperwork and description of the goods and their value (the price paid) on its “Customs Declaration” don’t misrepresent anything about the goods. If you know otherwise, please tell me.

I hear that Argentine import duties are incredibly high in contrast to those applicable in Western countries. Just now, I’ve pretended to buy something online at a couple of US department stores and have it shipped to a BA address – stores that collect from you prepaid duties and IVA. I’m seeing, depending upon the item, 51% -84% on top of the retail price to cover the shipping, Argentine duties and IVA. (Importing non-NAFTA- made goods from the US to Canada generally costs me 33% in comparison).

Does anyone remember the rate of duties they’ve paid on new clothing when they’ve had to go to a Customs’ office in Argentina to pay duties on and pick up their parcel? Was it in the ballpark of 50%?

Please excuse so many questions. But importing is a multi-step operation and one thing connects with the next.

 

[mphillips_81]

Oh my. If only it were that easy. Getting things that you have purchased online and had delivered from the company purchased or even from a friend in the states that you had it originally delivered to is a NIGHTMARE. No matter what I've tried it always, and I mean always gets held up at the Customs at the airport. And even if I've already paid the duties ahead of time, which I usually do, I end up having to pay again here, not only taxes, but storage fees, and god forbid it should be something the customs officer has questionable feelings about, or is in a bad mood that day, then I have to pay him a fee under the table. Its very corrupt at the customs here and they pretty much do as they please, depending on who you are and how they're feeling that day. Don't expect it to be anything like the US or Canada. I'm not sure if there is a Argentine Customs' Tariff out there, because as I said, it changes depending on the day, who you are dealing with, what mood they're in, and what you've ordered. Oh and be forewarned that no one in the Customs office at the airport, where the packages end up, speaks English, so unless your Spanish is really in good shape you will have to hire a customs broker to help and they charge a fee of US$100 or more.

My recommendation is to buy things when you are in the US or Canada etc and bring them back with you, or have people that come to visit bring things with them. The only thing I've received directly at my apartment with no hassle at all was a UPS of strictly my mail, documents only, otherwise I'm at EZE for 4-6 hours trying to get my goods.

Hope that helps.

 

[surfing]

Basically, what you propose to do is not doable in Argentina in any way that you are likely to find acceptable/reasonable/affordable/logical/fair. Sorry for the bad news but this is one hobby you would have to give up if you choose to move here.

 

[Sleuth]

Plan to go back home with a few empty suitcases and bring them back full. This is my new definition of online shopping in Argentina.

 

[Happy Camper]

"Does anyone remember the rate of duties they’ve paid on new clothing when they’ve had to go to a Customs’ office in Argentina to pay duties on and pick up their parcel? Was it in the ballpark of 50%?"
Just did this today, you are able to receive $50 dollar's of goods every 12 Months, once you are over this amount you will be paying 50% of the purchase price.

 

[arenat]

Sorry in advance for the broken English ...

I have enough experience buying online. Around 200 purchases in the last three years. Mostly small stuff and 20/30 the size of a shoes box. Six times the custom stooped something , five of around a kilo boxes and an iphone which almost always are stuck.
.
The first tip is avoid private couriers because the law allow a simplified tariff for particulars only through officials post offices.
Many horrors stories are because that thing. Also avoid not commercials packets of random things , those always are a headache, not surprisingly because could be illegal stuff. Avoid several things in a packet , two at the most.

The tariff is pretty simple , the due tax of anything is 50% of price+shipping cost.

At custom the arbitrary value of the things is an old tool which is used in most countries to avoid the easy fraud when the sender undervalue the merchandise. However here at Retiro office the guys are fair enough to check online the price. As long they find it you are fine. In the provinces anything could happen.

There are many Argentines buying in Chinese's sites since three years ago his forum's post are the largest after the Brazilians...

 

[Sockhopper]

Thank you all very much for your knowledge and info! Oh my. It’s back to the drawing board for my husband and me planning where we’ll retire. The link below affirms in a brief summary what you’ve together told me about how Argentina applies duties to ‘personal use’ imports of new goods:
http://www.afip.gob.ar/english/postalSystem.asp

Since reading your responses, I’ve learned that Argentina IS a member of the “World Customs Organization” and so uses its “Harmonized Nomenclature” for its own “Customs Tariff”. I’ve not found Argentina’s online yet. As someone who has worked in this area of international trade in North America and Europe, I’m astounded that duties are a flat rate (high at 50%) regardless of the type of item imported and in which non-Mercosur country it was manufactured. I should have anticipated these differences because Argentina hardly trade in consumer goods.
-I’m astounded that Argentina applies duties to shipping costs, not only the goods!! From my Western viewpoint, duties are about manufactured things, not the cost of moving them after they’e been made. .
-I see that amazon.com has a notice to Brazilian customers saying that when they place an order and prepay duties or an estimate of them, Brazil rejects that method and levies duty afresh when the parcel arrives in Brazil. As a result, amazon.com has had to put in place a system whereby it will reimburse your having paid double duties. (This takes time.) If Argentina similarly rejects this prepayment option for the reason that it is invalid, it would not be sound for consumers to prepay duties on goods they order from abroad.
They’d be better off using only companies that offer the method of regular mail where you pay all duties yourself when the goods enter your country. One complication is that many popular and respectable US retailers have been madly adopting a “prepaid” method for their online systems especially within the last 2 years. If this happens, ‘phone them and tell them you need your order to be sent by regular mail, explaining that you need to avoid paying double duties. If they won’t do that, there are other retailers selling the same item usually who will. This move to “prepaid” also partially accounts for why some retailers that ship internationally to almost anywhere won’t ship to a few countries.

 

[Supercharged]

I just shipped 5% of my things here from the US in LA and I paid thousands, yes thousands, of dollars. Most of that cost was paid here in Argentina. Be aware that besides the quote for shipping they give you abroad and the estimated tax to pay, there are "hidden fees" that will never be cleared by the shipping company abroad (they tell you they don't know) that will be charged. They had me by "my heart" because I obviously brought stuff I knew I was not getting here and I paid. Otherwise I would have just burned the stuff right there so nobody could use it.....The system here is so corrupt and with so much bureaucracy, I literally went to 6 offices in the city to get my stuff out, that it will truly kill you.
Sorry I rumbled since it touched a nerve, but in a nutshell; bring anything with you on the plane (yes, even extra suitcases and boxes would be cheaper to bring that way. I found out through a friend that there is a shady office that charges extra money. I should have gotten charged 500US and I paid thousands....If you are used to the US system save yourself money and headaches. In hindsight I should have left things there since I won't bee here for good.
Last thought, if you are into shopping you will be in the wrong place. The one positive thing in Argentina is that you learn to do a lot more productive things, not against shopping a former shopoholic here, unless you learn to replace that time meeting people and having a cafe or a Fernet