Engagement ring, bring or ship? VAT- (Tax?)

[Juliet and Steve 93]

I've two options. Send an engagement ring via FedX or some shipper for Christmas, or wait till February when I'll be back in Cebu.

If I ship an engagement ring as a gift, let's say equivalent to US$1000 will I be hit with a VAT?

If I bring it "in hand" when I visit in February, will I be hit with a VAT?

By the way, for anyone looking to buy an engagement ring I recommend BlueNile.com

I hold GIA (Gemological Institute of America) certifiation in diamonds and spent most of my life as a goldsmith (though I'm not a GIA "Graduate Gemolologist" since I've never done the two week course in NYC) and I know my diamonds. I can buy from trade channels and can buy at trade prices (though I can't get quite as much off (% off Rappaport)as a store who buys hundreds of stones each year) and when comparing GIA certified diamonds (the only cert that I recommend) with my trade channels Blue Nile runs about 8-10% higher for equivalent stones. Thus for a $1000 diamond their total mark-up is about 16-20%. This is amazing for GIA certified diamonds, which not too many years ago sold at a 100% or more markup. I am quite impressed. I've purchased from them before and their setting/polishing and fabricating is excellent.

In short I could buy a diamond for about $100 less through a trade source and buy a ring and set the stone (a solitaire) for about $90 less. On a $1000-1500 ring I'm happy to let them do all the work for $190.

I only deal in GIA certified diamonds because the are universally accepted and very precise. Further each diamond has a laser engraved ID # on the girdle though you can only see it at about 50 power through a microscope. Taking color alone a D stone is colorless, E, F are almost colorless, G, H has a tint of yellot. A GIA E color stone if graded by another grading service might grade as an E or F. In short GIA has the most respected and precise grading system and each stone comes with a GIA certificate.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Juliet and Steve

[DaveE 178]

If you ship it your customs and duties will be more than 100% of what you paid for the item. I shipped a pair of $100 sneakers to my daughter in the Philippines. She ended up paying $140 in customs and duties before they would deliver.

Now I hand carry everything.

[Hank_ 9,174]

Hand carry. That is what I did and I did not declare it as its not for sale, its personal property no different than my watch or cell phone.

[mrsSpitze 9]

HAND CARRY! (not to be rude with having it all caps)

my bf sent me a digital photoframe-key chain which costs less than $10 and i had to pay Php2500 ($70).

[Cesar & Cata 35]

Same thing here, brought in the nice Blue Nile box in my backpack. No issues.

I also recommend blue nile, got a very nice "signature blue nile" . Brought it to Zales to compare to their celebrity diamonds, no point of comparison, the lady at the counter loved my ring and thought it was a D (color) when in reality is is a I. Needless to say my now wife loved it.

People living in NYC should have it shipped to a friend in NJ I saved a ton in sales tax.

[DaveE 178]

One other thing that is weird. When they calculate customs duty, VAT, and sales tax (yes you will pay all three if you ship it), the shipping cost is added to the value of the item. For example if you pay $3000 for the ring, $50 to ship it, and $50 to insure it, you will pay customs on a value of $3100.00. Also, the shipper will add additional fees in addition to the government taxes.

Will there be any extra charges from the shipping provider?

Additional charges will vary from company to company, however the shipping provider may charge:

a customs clearance fee, or customs handling fee for processing the import declaration

an advancement fee for paying the duty and VAT on behalf of the recipient

an airline handling fee for loading and unloading the goods

a security fee for screening or x-raying the goods

a fee for preparing the customs declaration

Bottom line - Carry it to the Philippines. Best of luck in your journey.

Edited December 6, 2012 by DaveE

[Juliet and Steve 93]

One other thing that is weird. When they calculate customs duty, VAT, and sales tax (yes you will pay all three if you ship it), the shipping cost is added to the value of the item. For example if you pay $3000 for the ring, $50 to ship it, and $50 to insure it, you will pay customs on a value of $3100.00. Also, the shipper will add additional fees in addition to the government taxes.

Will there be any extra charges from the shipping provider?

Additional charges will vary from company to company, however the shipping provider may charge:

a customs clearance fee, or customs handling fee for processing the import declaration

an advancement fee for paying the duty and VAT on behalf of the recipient

an airline handling fee for loading and unloading the goods

a security fee for screening or x-raying the goods

a fee for preparing the customs declaration

Bottom line - Carry it to the Philippines. Best of luck in your journey.

Yikes! I'm glad I asked.

Poor Juliet--no christmas present until February.

Thank you all for the horror stories....

I'm lucky too--I live in New Hampshire = zero sales tax.

Edited December 6, 2012 by Juliet and Steve

[Cesar & Cata 35]

Yikes! I'm glad I asked.

Poor Juliet--no christmas present until February.

Thank you all for the horror stories....

I'm lucky too--I live in New Hampshire = zero sales tax.

Also, nothing beats seeing their face in person at the moment.

[Grant PDX 183]

Not suggesting you want to do this, but a little extra info:

When I've shipped via FedEx or other express carrier I always get hit with costs on the other end, ranging from 60% to 120% of the declared value (one time they thought my declared value was low, so they adjusted to what they thought it should be and charged 100% of that number).

However, when I shipped a balikbayan box through LBC there is never any VAT on the other end. Regardless of what is in the box they declare the value as $100. So I'm not really insured, but they've never lost a box or any contents. It does take quite a bit of time to ship, and is certainly not a good option for an engagement ring, but for those shipping other boxes that aren't time sensitive you definitely avoid the VAT issues.

[A and T 82]

Far too risky to ship a ring, you should bring it in person . If you ship it you might end up with just an empty box once it arrives

[Mogambi 96]

Also, sending it will most likely get charged duty. Hand carry and don't declare, especially since that the hope and plan is that the ring never even stays in the Philippines, you're not importing it, just temporarily storing it there.

When I went through Manila, I declared a camera I was bringing for my sweetie. They told me not to declare it, as they'd have to charge me, and seemed annoyed that I even marked that I had anything to declare!

Never been stopped going through Manila airport since, never declared anything.

[Juliet and Steve 93]

Also, sending it will most likely get charged duty. Hand carry and don't declare, especially since that the hope and plan is that the ring never even stays in the Philippines, you're not importing it, just temporarily storing it there.

When I went through Manila, I declared a camera I was bringing for my sweetie. They told me not to declare it, as they'd have to charge me, and seemed annoyed that I even marked that I had anything to declare!

Never been stopped going through Manila airport since, never declared anything.

That's funny....temporarily storing it there...

[Justud 42]

WOW, i was thinking to send xmas presents, but looking at this, i think i will wait for my next trip. i guest it will be a late xmas.

[JensJrny2Ray 367]

Always hand deliver something that important. I think she would much rather receive it from you in person so you can BOTH experience the moment.

[Wariza 8]

Also, sending it will most likely get charged duty. Hand carry and don't declare, especially since that the hope and plan is that the ring never even stays in the Philippines, you're not importing it, just temporarily storing it there.

When I went through Manila, I declared a camera I was bringing for my sweetie. They told me not to declare it, as they'd have to charge me, and seemed annoyed that I even marked that I had anything to declare!

Never been stopped going through Manila airport since, never declared anything.

Agree with this. I had declared a locket while not declaring the ring in my carry on. They just told me to go on through like it wasn't worth their time. I would suggest Diamonds Direct if you are fortunate to have one near where you live.