Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
Just received a notice from Fedex for an order that I placed in August. Order was for $30 for a spool of wood filament. $22 FedEx shipping. Delivered a week later. Now they say I owe them an additional $9 in "Duty Fees" or there will be "Unnecessary Delays."
As you can tell from another thread here, the local US supplier is expensive and unreliable so that leaves us US Prusa fans in a bit of a pickle (as we say).
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
The answer is simple, Amazon. You can buy many Prusa products, including filament there. Even for things shipped from other countries, including China, there are no duty fees. Amazon covers it all and its included in the price upfront. Its sad we are here, but we are.
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
I wish, since I buy lots of filament from Amazon. Their "Prusament Store" has a limited selection of filaments and they have no parts for my MK4/S (other than Chinese knock-off nozzles).
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
How many parts do you need? My MK3 part cooling fan went out, and the Amazon replacement works fine. Most Prusa original parts, at least the fans, are made in China anyway.
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
Well its a bit off topic but on my MK4S there seems to be a tendency for a plastic blob to form around the bottom of the extruder when things go astray during a print. If I have a really bad incident, the whole hot end needs to replaced because its covered in plastic, including the delicate thermistor etc. I prefer to buy the whole assembled unit which is about $50US at Prusa. This is NEVER in stock at the US supplier and even the components (heater, etc) are often out of stock. They also often are out of print beds which seems to be the item that I need to replace most frequently. And yes I am very careful to maintain them as specified.Fortunately several of the other components are printable and I now have those on hand thanks to my (non-Prusa) black PETG. In fact the only Prusa Filament I own is the Orange PETG for printing replacement parts and their Wood filament which is unique. I ordered the Wood Filament from CZ because it is highly regarded and is not available in the US.
Back on the topic. DHL (which is the other Prusa shipper to the US) announced they are suspending most (all?) shipments to the US. My wife has some has a DHL order sitting somewhere in Europe that may never arrive. Bottom line is that shipping to the US from pretty much anywhere (including Canada) is in chaos. Many shippers are suspending service (DHL, Royal Mail) until they can figure out what's going on.
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
Well its a bit off topic but on my MK4S there seems to be a tendency for a plastic blob to form around the bottom of the extruder when things go astray during a print. If I have a really bad incident, the whole hot end needs to replaced because its covered in plastic, including the delicate thermistor etc. I prefer to buy the whole assembled unit which is about $50US at Prusa. This is NEVER in stock at the US supplier and even the components (heater, etc) are often out of stock.
If you would like to start a new topic on this or DM me, would be happy to give you advice. Short answer is you don't need to buy the parts from Prusa. Generic nextruder nozzle assemblies can be bought on Amazon and elsewhere for half the price Prusa charges and BIQU Cryo is arguably a better and cheaper build plate (Prusa plate is 2-2.5x the price).
OK, back on topic.
- Bob Marley
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
At first, I thought it was a scam. Recieved an email from FedEx stating that I owed $19.35 for duties on a shipment from Prusa (Camera) for my Core One printer. Only delayed by 7 days in Memphis. Duty charges was for the camera only. No other parts has a duty. I called FedEx concrning this, thinking it was a scam. It took over an hour on the phone with FedEx, and was told to ignore the Emails and text messeges. Today, I recieved a 10 page letter (Invoice) for the $19.35. I actually needed the camera for the Core One. My other cameras on the other 2 printers will not work on the care one. (Not enough space).
Not happy about this for several reasons - but thats another rant for a different time.
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
Duty fees can be unpredictable, especially for products shipped internationally that fall under specific tariff codes. Even small orders can trigger charges if the item type is on a restricted or taxable list.
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
it's gotten crazy. I've ordered a few things in the last couple weeks. most recently, a set of replacement parking plates for the XL, $13 on prusa website for a pack of 5. Then you add $22 for dhl shipping... and then, wait for it, a notification of $20.53 in duty lol Similar experience the week before with a new $37 nozzle. It ended up being cloe to $100 all in.
It really seems to have gotten out of hand.
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
my 13 dollar purchase that ended up being 60 with shipping plus tarrifs lol
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
It's really hit or miss. I've order 3 sets of things from Prusa over the last 2 months delivered by FedEx and I haven't received any notices for payments of duty.
- Bob Marley
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
I was shocked when my order for 2 CHT nozzles at $24.90 ea. plus $22.84 DHL Shipping also came with a $25.79 Duty charge later.
So I paid $72.64 with tax plus another $25.79 Duty for a total of $98.43 for 2) Nozzles. Had I known.....
Also I couldn't find CHT nozzles on Amazon for those who would suggest it.
At this point I think I'll just frame the nozzles above the printer as a reminder of bad politics.
RE:
Still amazed that Prusa still uses such antiquated logistic practices.
I love Prusa filament, and the base price isn't prohibative, when you factor in the quality.
With the shipping however it becomes prohibitively expensive, so I never buy Prusa filament. I don't understand how nearly all big companies can swallow the cut that a company like Amazon demand for logistics, yet the largest 3d printer manufacturer in Europe can't ?
Nearly all online retailers will offer free shipping when you spend X amount, not Prusa though, you can spend upwards of 1k on a printer and you're still taking the hit for shipping.
RE:
I was shocked when my order for 2 CHT nozzles at $24.90 ea. plus $22.84 DHL Shipping also came with a $25.79 Duty charge later.
So I paid $72.64 with tax plus another $25.79 Duty for a total of $98.43 for 2) Nozzles. Had I known.....
Also I couldn't find CHT nozzles on Amazon for those who would suggest it.
At this point I think I'll just frame the nozzles above the printer as a reminder of bad politics.
I would suggest getting an ObXidian High Flow Prusa instead. It will last longer than the brass nozzles and you can use it with abrasive filaments.
- Bob Marley
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
Still amazed that Prusa still uses such antiquated logistic practices.
I love Prusa filament, and the base price isn't prohibative, when you factor in the quality.
With the shipping however it becomes prohibitively expensive, so I never buy Prusa filament. I don't understand how nearly all big companies can swallow the cut that a company like Amazon demand for logistics, yet the largest 3d printer manufacturer in Europe can't ?
Nearly all online retailers will offer free shipping when you spend X amount, not Prusa though, you can spend upwards of 1k on a printer and you're still taking the hit for shipping.
What is interesting about PrintedSolid is they scale their prices in away that they are always the same or slightly higher than Prusa even including shipping. So can't win.
- Bob Marley
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
I'm staying away from from the high flow version of that obxidian nozzle. I had two of them clog irreversably clog on me. I have gone back to the non-highflow version and have been very happy with it. I was switching back and forth between tpu and PETG-CF on my core one and MK4S and the same clog happened on both. my 5T XL has the HF version but hasn't had any clogs yet, but I've been very cautious with what filament I print on there since the clogs on the other two printers.
I would suggest getting an ObXidian High Flow Prusa instead. It will last longer than the brass nozzles and you can use it with abrasive filaments.
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
I'm staying away from from the high flow version of that obxidian nozzle. I had two of them clog irreversably clog on me. I have gone back to the non-highflow version and have been very happy with it. I was switching back and forth between tpu and PETG-CF on my core one and MK4S and the same clog happened on both. my 5T XL has the HF version but hasn't had any clogs yet, but I've been very cautious with what filament I print on there since the clogs on the other two printers.
I would suggest getting an ObXidian High Flow Prusa instead. It will last longer than the brass nozzles and you can use it with abrasive filaments.
Good to know. I use diamondback for regular printing and prototyping and for large prints I switch to the 0.4 obxidian HF. No clogs as of yet.
Back on topic, I have 2 FedEx packages arriving from Czech republic this week and next. I'll report back if I get hit with an extra duty charge or not.
- Bob Marley
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
I'm staying away from from the high flow version of that obxidian nozzle. I had two of them clog irreversably clog on me. I have gone back to the non-highflow version and have been very happy with it. I was switching back and forth between tpu and PETG-CF on my core one and MK4S and the same clog happened on both. my 5T XL has the HF version but hasn't had any clogs yet, but I've been very cautious with what filament I print on there since the clogs on the other two printers.
I would suggest getting an ObXidian High Flow Prusa instead. It will last longer than the brass nozzles and you can use it with abrasive filaments.
I fitted a high flow Obxidian 0.4 mm in April, and I’ve printed non stop since then, mainly with CF and GF filament, never had a single clog and it prints beautifully.
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
@gb160
I must have had terribly bad luck then lol same problem on two different printers, a core one and an MK4s. I feel like maybe tpu is involved since I was doing some test prints in ninjaflex and chinchilla as well as sainsmart tpu to get things dialed in with the steel nozzle vs the brass one. I don't know if CF filled filament and tpu changes maybe left gunk in the nozzle, but I know it got to the point with both nozzles where I couldn't even cold pull. I have 5 more of those nozzles in the XL and I hope they aren't ticking timebombs. I have not however done any TPU in the XL since putting those nozzles in and have had no issues. I even printed some PC-CF to remake a broken pulley I had in the CoreOne upgrade process. Recalibrating the tool offset is such a pain with the XL that I'm really not looking forward to having to do it again. But if it happens on the XL I'll buy 5 non-HF obxidian nozzles and be done with it. The wife likes me to print tpu things so I'll take possibly slower but more reliable printing. Fast isn't really a thing when you're printing tpu anyway lol. My ninjaflex and chinchilla profiles now tunes are 1.19 MVS lol
RE: Fedex Retroactive "Duty Fees" in US
@gb160
I must have had terribly bad luck then lol same problem on two different printers, a core one and an MK4s. I feel like maybe tpu is involved since I was doing some test prints in ninjaflex and chinchilla as well as sainsmart tpu to get things dialed in with the steel nozzle vs the brass one. I don't know if CF filled filament and tpu changes maybe left gunk in the nozzle, but I know it got to the point with both nozzles where I couldn't even cold pull. I have 5 more of those nozzles in the XL and I hope they aren't ticking timebombs. I have not however done any TPU in the XL since putting those nozzles in and have had no issues. I even printed some PC-CF to remake a broken pulley I had in the CoreOne upgrade process. Recalibrating the tool offset is such a pain with the XL that I'm really not looking forward to having to do it again. But if it happens on the XL I'll buy 5 non-HF obxidian nozzles and be done with it. The wife likes me to print tpu things so I'll take possibly slower but more reliable printing. Fast isn't really a thing when you're printing tpu anyway lol. My ninjaflex and chinchilla profiles now tunes are 1.19 MVS lol
I must admit, I very rarely use TPU, maybe 3/4 times in the last six months.