Import Advice

When you buy an item on the internet from a country other than where you live, the item must be "imported" to you from that country. When the price includes shipping and handling, remember that they are paying to package and send you the item from their country to your address. But when the item arrives in your country the customs service, a government agency of your country, may charge you a customs fee on the item, depending on the amount of import duties and VAT and the amount of the item(s). If shipping is free, you better order twice the product to avoid a customs fee.

Most countries will levy import tax on purchases, but not all purchases will be eligible for import duty.

For instance, customs duty is not payable on goods that are bought between EU countries.

Import and VAT duties vary greatly, you can expect to pay on value about:

A full list of rates per country can be found here: www.dutycalculator.com/new-import-duty-and-tax-calculation

These fees will have to be paid when the item is delivered or received at the post office. The seller has no control over this so remember it is up to you to anticipate these charges. We make sure you purchase your online item from a buyer with a good reputation for international shipping, and that they will provide you with a tracking number that you can use to track the progress of your item. This is done to ensure that your country receives money for taxation. Most countries have a minimum limit whereby items with a value under that limit are are not taxed. Then custom duties are based on the items category and wether or not your country produces the same products.

Under international postal agreements the sender must complete a customs declaration which in most cases should be affixed to the package. The declaration includes a description of the goods, the value and whether they are gifts or commercial items. Any Post Office abroad should be able to give advice to the sender.

Most goods arriving in the EU from outside the EU are liable to any or all of the following taxes:

* customs duty

* excise duty

* import VAT

and must be paid whether:

* you purchase the goods or receive them as a gift;

* the goods are new or used (including antiques)

* the goods are for your private use or for sale

Goods sent as a gift are not free of import duties and import VAT. However, customs duty will not be collected always, depending on the amount of import duties and VAT and the amount of the gift.

Fast Parcel Operators may charge you for processing your package through Customs. These charges are normally collected together with any duty/taxes on delivery but they are not Customs duties. If you need to know the exact cost of these extra charges in advance, you should contact the seller and ask which carrier they will be using to send your goods. You can then contact the carrier and ask what their charges will be.

Note: When you buy an item online as a gift and you send it to an adress in the same country you purchased it, no extra import duties and taxes will be charged other than the VAT of the country you buy the item (included within the total amount of the purchase).

How to buy Safe Toys?

Don't grant your kids' wishes for the newest, coolest toys until you know they're safe. With new product recalls almost daily, choosing safe and healthy toys can be a daunting task. Before you buy, double check that the toy you're considering meets our safe shopping guidelines.

Is the toy age-appropriate?

It's essential to adhere to the age guidelines indicated on toy packaging—because even a toy for a 3-year-old could have parts too small for a 2-year-old to handle properly.

Are there any small, loose parts that your child can swallow?

If you're not sure, consider the toilet paper tube test—anything that can pass through the tube is too small to be given to a child under 3 years old. Marbles, coins and balls are common culprits. Also, make sure that any buttons, eyes and noses are tightly secured.

Could any part of the toy be bitten off and swallowed?

Little kids love to chew their toys, so avoid any toys that have small pieces that can be easily gnawed off.

Does the toy have a string, ribbon, straps or cord longer than 7 inches?

For young children, avoid these toys or remove the strings to prevent strangulation.

Is your toy non-toxic?

Check to make sure the toy has a non-toxic, durable finish.

Could any part cut small hands or fingers?

Look for points, edges or breakable parts that could be sharp and avoid those toys for kids under eight. If you're considering a ride-on, is it sturdy and stable, and does the recipient have all the proper safety equipment (helmet, kneepads, etc.) required to use it?

Does the toy include magnets?

Building sets, action figures, puzzles or dolls containing small, powerful magnets can be fatal if they are swallowed by children.

Could the toy be a fire hazard?

Fabric toys should be labeled as flame retardant or flame resistant. And electrical toys with batteries or electric plugs pose a burn hazard so they should be avoided for kids under eight.

If you're considering a ride-on, is it sturdy and stable?

Does the recipient have all the proper safety equipment (helmet, kneepads, etc.) required to use it?

Does the toy include any throwing or shooting projectiles?

It's best to avoid these toys because they can cause injuries, especially to the eyes.

Guideline for online shopping

Security (see also tips for Safe Online Shopping)

When shopping online, plastic is the preferred method of payment. However, you must remember that your credit card number is static. It doesn't change unless you close and reopen an account, and once your credit card information is online, it can be compromised if it falls into the wrong hands.

There are some measures online shoppers can take to minimize their risk. First and foremost is ensuring that all online shopping is carried out only on secure sites. To be certain the page you're on is secure, look for a tiny padlock icon, usually found in the top right corner of your browser's URL bar. You can also tell if the site is secure by looking for an "s" in the URL address. While non secure sites and pages begin with http://, secure sites begin with https://.

Never send your account numbers or any other personal information via e-mail, which isn't secure. For this same reason, you should never access a Web site to shop through an e-mail link.

Payment

Shopping online is easiest with plastic, but some plastic is better than others. It's advisable only to ­use credit cards, rather than debit cards, for online shopping. Credit cards represent an extension of credit, while debit cards draw directly from your bank account. Once in possession of your banking information, hackers can do much more damage to your finances than with your credit card number.

Under the Fair Credit Billing Act (USA only but similar in other countries), consumers are protected in the event of identity theft or fraud -- if they use a credit card. This law protects account holders by limiting their fraud liability. Payments for unauthorized charges to a credit card can also be put on hold and investigated. Even better, most credit card companies offer more protection, sometimes limiting consumer liability for fraud to zero. Using a debit card affords you some federal protection as well. If you notify your bank of a fraudulent debit card purchase within two days your liability is limited. Ask your bank about the conditions.

Most credit card companies now offer single-use credit card numbers for online shopping. These expire after one purchase and only your credit card company knows which account it's linked to.

Using only one credit card for online shopping is another great way to head off potential online shopping headaches. If you have one credit card number sent via cyberspace, the potential for fraud is limited to that one account. Should a hacker come by your account information, you'll have only that credit card company to contend with.

When shopping online it's always better to use a credit card over a debit card. To refund your online purchase when you have used a debit card takes a lot of time!

Beware the Restocking Fee

Online shopping could eventually mean the death of the physical retail store, but even if that happens, one thing will be constant: the warehouse. There will always be a need to store vast number of items and to employ people to stock these warehouses.

Until robots take their jobs, warehouse employees will require salaries for the work they perform. Paying a person for retrieving, packaging and shipping an item that you've purchased online is already built into a retailer's costs. But if you return the item, it still has to be repackaged and replaced, although the company hasn't made any money from the return. As a result, online retailers have begun to charge restocking fees on returned items.

It's a reasonable requirement, but some restocking fees are easier to swallow than others. While some retailers charge up to 25 percent or more, a fee of 15 percent of the price you paid for the returned item has become customary for intensively packaged products, like electronics. Before proceeding to checkout, familiarize yourself with the retailer's return policies, which should be explicitly stated somewhere on its Web site.

Simply packaged items like books and unopened DVDs shouldn't cost you any money to return. Likewise, if you're returning the product because it's defective, you shouldn't be expected to pay any return fee. If you've damaged the product's UPC code or serial number, however, don't bother trying to return it -- you've pretty much taken the item permanently out of circulation. You can try to recoup some of what you paid by listing the item on websites such as Amazon or eBay.

Bargain Hunting

Online shopping presents consumers with a wonderful new advantage -- the ease of barg­ain hunting. Prior to shopping via the Internet, finding the lowest price for an item meant perusing catalogs and circulars, traveling from store to store or hitting the yellow pages for phone numbers and addresses.

Tabbed browsing has even further paved the way for finding deals online. When checking out, don't pass by the online coupon code bar. Open another tab or window and do a quick search for coupons for the retailer available on other sites, like FatWallet.com and CurrentCodes.com. You may come up with a coupon you didn't know existed just by taking a few extra seconds for a quick search. Many stores will happily provide you with their own promotional codes if you sign up for their email newsletters. Enter the code before you check out to reap the savings. Keep in mind that this is only a tiny sample of bargain-hunting sites on the Web. You may have your favorites, but no one would blame you for keeping your shopping secrets to yourself.

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday are the most days for shopping, most retailers have special promotions and discount codes on these days!

Use the 'Chat now' button if available and ask for Discount or Promo Codes directly. Say hello and ask if they have any promo codes they can share. If you would like to purchase that special item, ask if that item will be on sale for the next couple of weeks. You can also send an email or call their customer service. If you are looking for a phone number, try Get Human first.

If you would like to know when your favorite item is on sale, use the 'Like it' button! You will receive updates on your favorites and save money! This works great on websites like Shopbop and Revolve.

Plan Your Purchase

If there's one big drawback to online shopping, it's the agony of waiting for your order to be shipped. The earlier you make your purchases, the greater chance they'll ­arrive on time. Under federal laws, retailers must ship items within the dates specified (for example, three to five days for standard shipping), or within 30 days if no shipping date is specified in the transaction.

To cut down on shipping fees, try to order many items at once from a single retailer. Your purchases should be lumped together into one large package with one shipping fee attached. By registering with an online retail site, the cookies uploaded to your computer will retain any items in your online shopping cart until you either delete or purchase them, allowing you to ship everything at once -- and at one price. Many online retailers offer free shipping on purchases over a certain amount, and online coupon sites regularly offer free shipping coupon codes.

If you can't catch a break on shipping, ordering early enough will allow you to opt for standard shipping. It's almost always the slowest, but if you order early, you've got time on your side. Give yourself a little more time if you're ordering from a third-party vendor through a big online retailer. The retail site's delivery date is an estimate, one the vendor doesn't always meet. Be aware of the fact that, in accordance with the requirements of Universal Postal Union, International Civil Aviation Organization and International Air Transport Association, all dangerous articles such as perfumery products are not admissible for posting by air mail (including Speedpost).