jonpais Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Thought you might find this amusing. I was so impressed with the iFootage Shark S1 slider that I decided to go ahead and purchase one of their carbon fiber tripods, the Wild Bull T7, from Hong Kong. The price came to around $575. Well, it arrived here in Vietnam, and customs is saying I have to pay 85,893,694 Vietnam dong, or around $3,770 USD in customs fees. My math isn't very good, but I think that's something like a 700% tax. Normally, there is a 10% tax on camera equipment, but I've usually paid somewhere between 10-20% for other gear I've bought in the past, because I didn't want to argue with customs. I'll be sure to let you know the outcome once this is resolved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Oh Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Holy moly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinegain Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Lol, and here I was outraged I had to pay up 50 EUR for a 100 USD shipment a while back (fuck you TNT). jonpais 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonpais Posted October 13, 2016 Author Share Posted October 13, 2016 Update: Vietnam customs has kindly agreed to reduce the fees to 20% duty and 10% VAT, even though camera gear and electronics are supposed to be 10% duty and no VAT. I'll probably give in. So, I'll end up paying something like $175 instead of $3,770... What would you call an arm of the government that uses tactics like these? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinegain Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Greedy, probably. Easy money with minimal effort. Gd-ish update though. Because letting something be sent back is not why you ordered the damn thing. Hope the Wild Bull is as wild as you were hoping for! jonpais 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ma Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 I think it either smells of a calculation error, or corrupt staff trying to take advantage of foreigners who quote outrageous prices because they think foreigners have exponential amount of money. If you don't mind me asking, you mentioned you had an edelkrone before. Are you looking for something better? I got the edelkrone medium slider with the works (action and targte module). I like it but the sound of the motor sounds like an industrial copy machine so that limits the use quite a bit. I'm kinda wishing I saw the Rhino slider first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonpais Posted October 13, 2016 Author Share Posted October 13, 2016 1 hour ago, Michael Ma said: I think it either smells of a calculation error, or corrupt staff trying to take advantage of foreigners who quote outrageous prices because they think foreigners have exponential amount of money. If you don't mind me asking, you mentioned you had an edelkrone before. Are you looking for something better? I got the edelkrone medium slider with the works (action and targte module). I like it but the sound of the motor sounds like an industrial copy machine so that limits the use quite a bit. I'm kinda wishing I saw the Rhino slider first. I go with option #2... I have the Edelkrone small, v.2, but I already picked up the iFootage Shark S1 a couple of weeks ago... A phenomenal piece of kit. thanks... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Viet Bach Bui Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Hi Jonpais, if you want to order camera stuff from the US there are services that take care of shipping and customs for you. You just deposit 50%-100% of the value and wait for the item to be delivered to your door. The total cost will be item value plus US sales tax plus local US shipping fee plus 3-4% in FX fees plus $5 per pound of the actual package's weight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cinegain Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 I know of http://www.shipito.com and http://www.borderlinx.com . More like it: http://www.moreofit.com/similar-to/www.shipito.com/Top_10_Sites_Like_Shipito/ . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRenaissanceMan Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 Well, glad you managed to get a slightly more reasonable price. Let us know how you like the T7! I'm in the market for a more serious tripod myself, and the Wild Bull may just fit the bill. @Michael Ma, that's too bad about the noise on the Edelkrone. Has anyone tried the Konova with motor attachment? Is it any good? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronFilm Posted October 13, 2016 Share Posted October 13, 2016 12 hours ago, jonpais said: What would you call an arm of the government that uses tactics like these? The Mafia. jonpais 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonpais Posted October 14, 2016 Author Share Posted October 14, 2016 14 hours ago, TheRenaissanceMan said: Well, glad you managed to get a slightly more reasonable price. Let us know how you like the T7! I'm in the market for a more serious tripod myself, and the Wild Bull may just fit the bill. @Michael Ma, that's too bad about the noise on the Edelkrone. Has anyone tried the Konova with motor attachment? Is it any good? I tried to do my first unboxing video, but it was a mess - color balance was off (the light in the room changed when the sun went behind the clouds) and I forgot to plug the Rode mic in. Plus, I shake a lot and move so quickly, the viewer doesn't have a chance to even see what I'm holding... Anyway, I've only ever owned one serious tripod in my life, a Gitzo I used back in my school days, which was built like a tank. But I have to say I'm impressed with the build quality, lightness and general appearance of the Wild Bull. The red metal latches that unlock the legs are a welcome touch, compared to the plastic latches found on some other tripods. I watched a video online (there aren't many), where Nitsan Simantov pushes against the T7 with his entire body weight to show that it can flex, and the legs can slide on the floor - but, try as I might, I couldn't get the thing to budge an inch (I only weight about 140 pounds soaking wet). The tripod comes with a plastic spreader which can be attached at the bottom or at the middle. The unit comes housed in an attractive waterproof carrying case (black with red accents around the zippers), just like the slider does. I bought the tripod to support my iFootage Shark S1 slider, and I'm certain it will perform like it should. But until I've actually used it, I can only give a qualified recommendation, though it appears to be a very well made piece of kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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