suebeedoo

OMG, we are just a normal family but love antiques. We are supposed to be emigrating to Perth in May and have just had our first visit from a shippers who took one look at our antiques and said oh dear you have a problem. We have been feverishly buying clocks and a few tables etc to furnish our new home in Perth as they are pretty hard to come by over there and the cost of them would be extortionate if you could find something you like. However, the guy who came round said that customs would take one look at these and nail us to the floor in import tax and duties as they would consider us to be taking them over to sell (which we most definately are not). He said it is going to cost us $1000s and they would charge us so much that we would never want to sell them as we would never make our money back. We dont want to sell them but we also dont want to be screwed in taxes. My hubby is steaming mad and said we wont go if thats the case as he doesn't want to get rid of them. We have 3 grandfather clocks, 3 vienna clocks, he loves em and a beautiful old french cupboard, dining table and chairs all antiques all of which we have just purchased so the thing of proving that we have had them more than 12months is not something we could do. Is there anyone out there who has come across this problem and managed to get round it???

brian.w

I am very interested to follow this thread also,not that i got antiques,but you could say some are some years old,i have been collecting celeb statues for the past 9yrs now,all been purchased from usa,they are made from the 70s to mid 80s and no longer made or available unless from other collectors, each time they have been shipped to the uk,as i purchased them i have had to pay duty and tax which is fine.
But i heard about something like this the other day when i was asking questions on this site about taking my items and someone said about paying duty and tax,but i never thought it would happen or could happen,or i not even that far to check quotes on shipping.
But this really has worried me when you mention this,as this is a very big hobby of mine and something i would find hard to part with, as i have very rare one off items and items which would be hard to find today.
Also to the right collectors would be worth lots,but i dont care about what some are worth or how rare some are i just love collecting them.

But how the hell can they have the cheek to charge you for duty and tax,these are your items, as is my statues would be mine and as we would be moving to oz we are just taking these over with us what we have or enjoy.
No wonder your other half is going mad,i have not went down that road yet,but my biggest reason for shipping stuff over would be to have these over there with me,as well as a few household items,but the biggest reason is my statues.
I have had oz in my mind for years and i am almost, but not yet got my visa and i hope this problem you have is not going to happen to me and make me change my mind as i really like these statues and really want to take them with me.
I can say as they would be packed mine would look like i be selling them as there is so many about 200 of them and not small too,So they would think, ok he might sell them,but i would not,and if i wanted too i would before i headed there as i have contacts who would pay lots for them this side of the world.
But i have no way or parting with them,surely they cant make us pay on duty and tax on items that are yours,and you are moving over there and even if you was what gives them the right to charge you,you are going to be moving there so whats the big deal with them?I understand having been living there and had them sent over by buying from someone overseas but to take these items that are already yours its got to be a joke.
I can say my items have cost all different prices,some 3 or 4 items would far exceed the price of a container if i sold some to the right collector,depends on the item and who wanted it.
But if i did a very basic add up of what i own and priced at £100 per item,the total would be as much as £20,000 and this is only priced at that above price i know several would sell for double easy and some 10 times that price,again to the right buyers.
Customs would not know there worth,they are only worth what a collector wants to pay and i know the buyers who want some or a few,but again i dont want to sell them.
But how could i prove i had them for more than 12 months,thats got to be a joke? will almost be 12 yrs never mind 12 months.
This really has put me in some worry,i did not collect all these years and fancy move to oz,for some customs clown to then charge me to take them into a country i was moving to to live.
Bad enough having to pay to ship them over,but maybe to be charge customs vat and duty is taking the pi**.

I am not sure if this would put me in the same boat as you,but people buy and collect things all over the world,so why should they be stung on charges more so when there are moving there to live.

Anyone shipped antiques or collectibles like us,let me know your experience or thoughts on what you did or happened,and how does someone know if you was charged duty and tax how much your charged.
The only thing i could do is not value them as much and reduce the prices,for the duty and tax reasons,as i sure not going to be hit again as i already did that buying them all from the usa over the years,why should i have to do again on a place i want to move to.

amazed

half our furniture is antique and had no problems with removals (pickfords) nor with Oz customs.i don't remember if the items were listed as antique on the inventory either. they do worry about woodworm though and this may be what your packers were referring to when they said it could cost you a lot if found during customs search. we have some v old pieces which haven't coped with high humidity and the marquetry inlay has lifting.our local furniture restorer was a little concerned about some of the old worm holes which had been treated and surprised that customs hadn't queried our shipment. recommend you give furniture a really good wax polish before packing to keep moisture at bay

suebeedoo

Hi thanks for your reply amazed. The tip on giving the furniture and clocks a good waxing is very helpful, something we had not thought about. He was definately not on about woodworm, he was most insistant that we would need receipts proving they have been in our possession for more than 12 months or we would have to pay $1000s of dollars in taxes. He said we also would need a certified antique dealer to certifiy that they were over 100 years old. How long ago did you emigrate? Were you asked to show any receipts or prove how long you had had the antiques? Maybe you were just lucky and managed to pass through unnoticed. Is it possible you could find your inventory and check how they were listed. It would be very helpful.

Is there anybody out there who has been charged a fortune by customs for taking in their antique furniture, and had to prove ownership length and certificates proving their age.

quercus

Hi, when I shipped my antiques, they were described such as 'cupboard, dining room', oh, and you have to say it's wooden. Your entire load will be fumigated, but that was no problem.

Q

andrewb

We moved out here two years ago and we had a chest of drawers and a large dresser both from about 1820 and about 200 antique books that are all pre 1900 that I inherited from an old aunt of mine.

They were all listed as antiques so that there would be no problems if they were damaged/lost in transit.

I made sure that I had photos of everything from every angle before they were packed (just in case) and the shipping company (Crown) knew about them and they added extra packing around them.

All got through fine and none was inspected!!

I think the shipping company sounds as though they don't want to do it! I would get someone else who wants to help you.

sallyr

Hi there we bought a conayainer of mostly antiques including some oil paintings there was no worries at all from Quarentine the only fumigation that went on was on 2 crates which had grandfather clock and a display cabinet in them this was only because the shippers had used new timber. No duty had to be paid and it was all itemised. Very good idea to pre wasx polish all of the wood to give it a good coating as the ones I missed have taken a while to recover.

Timber Floor Au

Apparently The wife was classed as DUTY FREE thank gawd !!

suebeedoo

She might not have been an antique but were you hehe

So going off what people are saying on here we have nothing much to worry about. I cant understand why John Masons were so unhelpful, he put the fear of God into us. Maybe its because it was 5 oclock and he had another appointment to go too after us and he wanted to get home for his tea I have another shipping company coming to give me a quote on Friday and one on Saturday so I am getting a few.

Has nobody ever bothered getting a LAPADA Certificate then for their antiques which he said we needed? This is to prove their age and can only be gotten of a registered antiques expert.

andrewb

I didn't get anything but just made sure it was listed as an antique and all was OK. Saying that it was pretty obvious about their age and the books all look 1800's anyway!!

sallyr

We didnt have to have an antiques cert. the only time I have heard of any problems with bringing household items into Australia is if you have new items in boxes ie toaster, coffee makers. etc which are quite clearly brand new. As for antiques how could you be asked to pay any sort of duty on items that could have been left you by family or the like. Britannia moved us and this was never an issue we bought shotguns and a rifle in too and that was really straight forward. All our antiques were photographed and itemised including the makers marks on the porcelain but this was already done for the house insurance in the Uk anyway. My advice get another shipping company.