Can you take brand new boxed items in your container?

**JimandBarbinAus** · 16-01-2012, 09:48 PM

can you put new items in your container boxed and unopened? Is that legal?

**snifter** · 16-01-2012, 09:55 PM

Iirc the small print says you have to have owned the items for 12 months prior to shipping. If its the odd smaller thing I'd chance it but if you are talking new washing machine, fridge, Hoover and more I'd perhaps unbox and not leave wrapped as new. I think the rule is in place to stop people bringing in stuff and selling it on. So I'd say be sensible, dont go overboard or take the P out of the rule by trying to get a chunk of pricey kit in.

**Cherrypecker** · 16-01-2012, 10:06 PM

Hi,

Totally agree with Snifter. We bought a couple of new things; a hoover, dining table & a oil filled radiator just before the packers came. They suggested that we threw the boxes away and sent them over as used (ie. over 12 months old).

Good luck
Paul

**Mrs Bon Jovi** · 16-01-2012, 10:16 PM

We had a few bits and pieces - towels, bedding etc that we took out of packaging and stuck in with the old stuff. We also bought a new mattress for our daughter's bed as the old one had had it and wasn't worth shipping. That we left in the protective wrapping (seemed daft to take it off really) and so I've declared that on the customs form.

**Adelaide_bound** · 16-01-2012, 10:38 PM

Its legal, but if its less than 12 months old they can charge you import duty on it, so best bet is as others say to throw away the packaging and make it look like you've had it longer than 5 seconds (ie crumple the corners of the instruction booklet and take it out the plastic bag lol). And don't be greedy and think 'I can chuck in an extra Dyson and flog it over there, will make a packet' (not that you would, I'm sure :) ), that really is asking for AQIS to ask you to pay a fat chunk of duty on it all....

Unless....you are taking stuff over and claiming the VAT back, in which case when you buy it, it gets sent straight to your shippers warehouse, and then the paperwork gets sorted and you get the VAT back, but then will have to pay the duty on it in Oz I believe.

But if you're not claiming VAT back on something and just shipping it normalls, just get rid of all the packing basically... :)

**keith&ju** · 25-01-2012, 02:17 PM

Be careful though I was told by a shipping company that if they really are that fussy, then they can check the serial numbers to see how old the item really is!

**Adelaide_bound** · 25-01-2012, 02:26 PM

Originally Posted by keith&ju

Be careful though I was told by a shipping company that if they really are that fussy, then they can check the serial numbers to see how old the item really is!

that's really silly (of the shipping company, not you btw) - how do they when the item was sold from the serial number? Who would collect that data? The item could have sat at Mr Bob's Emporium and Shop for years before it was sold to you, and especially if Mr Bob doesn't use a barcode scanner system for his pricing, there would be no physical way of knowing he had sold it - whilst a lot of the world is using modern tech etc, not everyone is still, and it isn't joined up (especially in the UK) anyway.

Obviously, if its a brand new model thing that was only released yesterday, ala the Ipad 20s or whatever they are up to now, they would have some idea on when it was purchased (although I think that its then allowed under the 12 months rule, as long as you only had one and it was for personal use - not 100% sure on that, but from the research I have done, personal stuff is fine, which is what the 12 month rule is there to assist with, basically so you're not bringing new stuff in tax free and flogging it without the Gov getting their cut, which is fair enough).

Have to say throughout this entire process, its the shipping companies that have made it the most painful, annoying and just 'bang head against brick wall' process, everything else has, including DIAC, been relatively easy and straightforward. They have constantly given plain wrong information, mis information and sludged the truth somewhat. I'm sure there are some very nice, decent and good removals peoples out there, unfortunately we have yet to meet any of them during any of our moves.....grrrrr.

As long as its for your own use, you've only got one of it (Ie if you had 3 vacuum cleaners, one of which was a brand new boxed up Dyson they might ask questions), then you probably will be fine.

**RobJ1978** · 25-01-2012, 03:15 PM

What about toiletries and sun lotion...my mum got me loads of this for xmas...so i could take it over?

**JimandBarbinAus** · 25-01-2012, 05:10 PM

yes good thinking rob, we are thinking of stocking up on that too!:)x

**Sallyh** · 26-01-2012, 07:45 AM

There's a place on the shipping form for declaring stuff under a certain age. We had some new things (because they'd been given to us as presents for the upcoming birthdays etc) and our computer was also fairly new. Declared it all, chose truth over fudging it, and we had no come back whatsoever. Also declared a few wooden things that came within the need to declare (like DH's djembe which I think is African?) and we had no come back and nothing extra to pay. My thoughts are its worth just being straight, because if you're not you could be caught out.