Importing engines from ebay- hidden costs

[markred86]

I recently bought a complete B16b conversion kit from ebay. This included engine, gearbox, shafts, shifter linkages and radiator. This engine was from a supplier in Canada, and I just wanted to write this post to outline the costs of importing individual engines from overseas.

The price of these engines, and other Honda engines available on ebay, is generally incredibly cheap when compared to the prices here. The shipping fees that the supplier charges are also very cheap (in my case $350). However it is important to remember that these shipping fees are only to get the engine to your local port. There are a number of other fees that must be payed before your engine can be cleared by customs and released for you to pick up. If you ask the supplier about the cost of getting your engine through customs, they tend to tell you that it isn’t very expensive. However these fees can be quite significant.

Once your package is in transit, you will be contacted by the logistics company that is handling your shipment. They will inform you that you need to find a customs broker to get your engine through customs. Pm me if you are looking for a broker and I can give you the contact details of a number of brokers. Ask for quotes and shop around. The customs broker will orchestrate the series of events required to get your package cleared by customs, cleared by quarantine and ready to pick up. They will pay the fees associated with each step and present you with a final total bill.

First, the shipping fee you pay the supplier does not include unloading the package from the ship. You must pay local port charges to cover this. These are around $200 and GST is charged on this fee.

Then there is the issue of GST and Duty. On a used car engine the GST is 10% and the duty is 5%. Therefore for a $3500 engine, these charges add up to approximately $525. If the item you are importing is worth less than $1000, these do not apply. The supplier will often offer to put a false value on the shipping invoice below $1000 to avoid these fees, however if your shipment is audited by customs they can ask you to prove that this is the value you paid (paypal receipts, bank statements etc). In my case I did not choose to take the risk.

Then there are a number of fees that you must pay to get your package through customs and quarantine. The quarantine inspection and associated fees are only required if your engine is used. The following is a list of these charges

Customs Clearance
Cargo Management Re-engineering
Delivery Order Handling & Collection Fee
Quarantine Lodgement
AQIS Delivery Cartage Ex Wharf to ACP Depot for AQIS
Inspection
Quarantine Facility Fee
Quarantine Inspection Attendance
Government Entry Fees
Destination Quarantine Fees paid to AQIS

These fees add up to approximately $850 including GST.

So to sum up, the extra fees that you will have to pay to get your engine into the country are around $1050 plus the GST & Duty. (remember that these GST and duty are 15% of the value, so are likely to be more than $500). Therefore the total amount you must pay will be at least $1550. These fees are on top of any shipping fees that you pay to the supplier.

I just wanted to write this post to warn others thinking of importing ebay engines to factor these costs into your budget. And also to consider whether these costs influence your decision to buy the engine.

Thanks for reading.

(PS I’m not sure this is posted in the right area. Please move it if it is in the wrong place. Thank you)

[Fredoops]

Customs Clearance
Cargo Management Re-engineering
Delivery Order Handling & Collection Fee
Quarantine Lodgement
AQIS Delivery Cartage Ex Wharf to ACP Depot for AQIS
Inspection
Quarantine Facility Fee
Quarantine Inspection Attendance
Government Entry Fees
Destination Quarantine Fees paid to AQIS
Hmm.. We're not importing commercial goods by the container load....

Anything cost less than AU$1000 dollars (ITEM ONLY excluding shipping) is GST and Duty FREE

Custom clearance is self-declared using an agent, thats $150 MAX.

AQIS inspection is RANDOM, I'm yet to get selected over the years
- Quarantine fees are nil unless you got %^&* in your block like spiders and crap.

If you ship the item via bulk commercial shipping then you'll be up for the fees when arriving at port, like Delivery Order Handling & Collection Fee.
- But then again the shipping is cheap, US to AUS is something like $30 USD per Square meter, so $50 will cover an Engine on a pallet.
- The big end is indeed the handling costs, but even then it's like $500 or so ALL up.

If you ship the item via Express Post (as in Fedex, TNT etc), then it's fee of all handling costs, and it'll be free from custom declarations too, and they take the crap to your door.

[mugen_ctr]

wouldnt it be easier to just import a halfcut as opposed to doing just a engine? that when it comes to doing the acutal engine conversion, u get everything u need to make it run?

[Fredoops]

wouldnt it be easier to just import a halfcut as opposed to doing just a engine? that when it comes to doing the acutal engine conversion, u get everything u need to make it run?

I think OP is importing a long block anyway..

But in essence half cut is more economical... Any crap you don't need goes on eBay lol

[thien]

What would be the approach with importing an expensive engine (say 20-30k) in regards to insuring it and declaring its value to customs?

So lets declare its value to be $1000. Can this be done with $20-30k of insurance value simultaneously?

[Benson]

What would be the approach with importing an expensive engine (say 20-30k) in regards to insuring it and declaring its value to customs?

So lets declare its value to be $1000. Can this be done with $20-30k of insurance value simultaneously?

Wont work. Item is only insured for what was declared

[markred86]

Hi guys thanks for the replies

There are a few reasons i didn't go for a half cut.
The kit I did buy included everything i need to make the conversion work in my car.
The kit was a lot cheaper than a half cut. the half cut may have been more economical in the long run after I sold off the leftovers, but its a lot of effort.
Also, where im living i dont have space to store the body of a half cut while i work on it.

fredoops, thanks for your reply about the shipping costs. Im just giving my experience as a first time importer of an engine who didnt know the customs system well enough to know whether there was a cheaper option. I didnt get too much choice in the matter. when the engine was already on the boat on its way, i was contacted by the shipping company and told i need to organsie a customs broker. I contacted a number of customs brokers for quotes. each quote i recieved outlined similar steps with similar aassociated costs. Is there a way i could have avoided involving a customs broker? the customs brokers each told me i would need to have an AQIS inspection done because the engine was used. Is the way to avoid this just to declare that it is new? In hindsight, express post may have been a better choice. it would have been a little more expensive up front, however, it would have avoided surprise costs. Also i wasnt given a choice of shipping methods.

It is more than likely that i have been ripped off along the way. Fredoops it sounds like you might have shipped a few things into the country before, if you have some spare time, can you possibly describe in detail the processes you would use to get an engine etc into the country avoiding as many costs as possible. It would be great if we could help prevent ozhonda people being stuck with surprise fees like this in the future.

PS this is my first ever thread so if you think it may be helpful to some people can you please send a PQ point my way haha

[Fredoops]

Hi guys thanks for the replies

There are a few reasons i didn't go for a half cut.
The kit I did buy included everything i need to make the conversion work in my car.
The kit was a lot cheaper than a half cut. the half cut may have been more economical in the long run after I sold off the leftovers, but its a lot of effort.
Also, where im living i dont have space to store the body of a half cut while i work on it.

fredoops, thanks for your reply about the shipping costs. Im just giving my experience as a first time importer of an engine who didnt know the customs system well enough to know whether there was a cheaper option. I didnt get too much choice in the matter. when the engine was already on the boat on its way, i was contacted by the shipping company and told i need to organsie a customs broker. I contacted a number of customs brokers for quotes. each quote i recieved outlined similar steps with similar aassociated costs. Is there a way i could have avoided involving a customs broker? the customs brokers each told me i would need to have an AQIS inspection done because the engine was used. Is the way to avoid this just to declare that it is new? In hindsight, express post may have been a better choice. it would have been a little more expensive up front, however, it would have avoided surprise costs. Also i wasnt given a choice of shipping methods.

It is more than likely that i have been ripped off along the way. Fredoops it sounds like you might have shipped a few things into the country before, if you have some spare time, can you possibly describe in detail the processes you would use to get an engine etc into the country avoiding as many costs as possible. It would be great if we could help prevent ozhonda people being stuck with surprise fees like this in the future.

PS this is my first ever thread so if you think it may be helpful to some people can you please send a PQ point my way haha

Well Just for future then, before it leaves the country, ask for TWO shipping quotes
1. a normal shipping method (as in you declare customs etc, be mindfull this would likely to be $500+ all up), then you'll be charged:
- shipping company handling fee etc
- custom fees (if item is less than $1000, then you do a Self assessed clearance - SAC, cost $150 or so, no GST/Tariff payable)

2. international express post, couriers (like FedEx/TNT, flight shipping)
- No shipping company handling fees
- no custom fees

so... yeah, express post may not be as expansive as you think

[thien]

Hi guys thanks for the replies

There are a few reasons i didn't go for a half cut.
The kit I did buy included everything i need to make the conversion work in my car.
The kit was a lot cheaper than a half cut. the half cut may have been more economical in the long run after I sold off the leftovers, but its a lot of effort.
Also, where im living i dont have space to store the body of a half cut while i work on it.

fredoops, thanks for your reply about the shipping costs. Im just giving my experience as a first time importer of an engine who didnt know the customs system well enough to know whether there was a cheaper option. I didnt get too much choice in the matter. when the engine was already on the boat on its way, i was contacted by the shipping company and told i need to organsie a customs broker. I contacted a number of customs brokers for quotes. each quote i recieved outlined similar steps with similar aassociated costs. Is there a way i could have avoided involving a customs broker? the customs brokers each told me i would need to have an AQIS inspection done because the engine was used. Is the way to avoid this just to declare that it is new? In hindsight, express post may have been a better choice. it would have been a little more expensive up front, however, it would have avoided surprise costs. Also i wasnt given a choice of shipping methods.

It is more than likely that i have been ripped off along the way. Fredoops it sounds like you might have shipped a few things into the country before, if you have some spare time, can you possibly describe in detail the processes you would use to get an engine etc into the country avoiding as many costs as possible. It would be great if we could help prevent ozhonda people being stuck with surprise fees like this in the future.

PS this is my first ever thread so if you think it may be helpful to some people can you please send a PQ point my way haha

Thank you for the thread. I'd send a point your way if I could but like yourself I am yet to get one myself.

I am in the same situation currently, except my purchase was not made through ebay and have 2 motors coming from the US.

I will let you all know how I go once it gets shipped. Or does anyone have a container coming that I squeeze in? :)

[sebtoombs]

Yeah great thread guys, looks like I'll have to do a bit more research now before I buy.