Good point Mike! I too have been charged import duties between $25 and $45 a few times on my larger Walloth orders. They came as invoices from UPS after the shipments arrived and seemed a bit random, however UPS was relentless until they were paid. I began to pay them right away to minimize the annoyance. Here's how I rationalize my orders/fees:
- I'm grateful that orders to Walloth & Nesch from the US are not charged the EU Value Added Tax (seems like about a 20% difference if I'm seeing it right!)
- Nor do they charge State and local taxes like I would have to pay for orders in the US (~8-9% in my location).
- W&N rotates through sales and specials on parts, usually 10-20% off, I try to take advantage of these prices on parts I know I'll need in the future.
- They also offer 20 Euros off on orders over 200 frequently.
- I'm grateful that W&N caps the shipping fee at 49 Euros and as someone mentioned previously, I also order as much as I can in each order to avoid paying multiple shipping fees.
- I'm grateful for every order that I receive that doesn't have import duties since I assume that the "powers in charge" could charge it on everything if they decided to.