BIG NEWS for DUTY FREE SHOPPING in the US!
Duty free shopping in the United States just got a whole lot more enticing. Thanks to President Obama, duty free exemptions have increased from $200 to $800!
That means you can purchase $800 worth of items from italist without having to pay the burden of duty taxes.
Below, we further explain how this new duty free shopping upgrade makes shopping with italist even sweeter. We also spend some time explaining our return and refund policy.
As always, our goal is to provide the most optimal customer service and experience for our customers. First, onto the new regulations for duty free shopping.
Duty Free Shopping for the United States
For Orders $800 & Below
During this past March 2016, duty free shopping exemptions by mail have increased to $800 from $200!
This means you can purchase any one item or an entire shopping cart totaling $800 or less without paying any duty taxes!
For orders over $800
For orders over $800, you may need to pay the duty tax. This amount is not included in the price you see online on italist.com because it’s calculated based on the value of your shopping cart. See ‘Duty Rates in the United States’ below.
The duty tax will always be calculated before final checkout and included in a separate line item within your pricing details. It will always be extremely clear what your total duty tax is prior to finalizing your purchase.
As always, VAT is not due for customers in the United States.
Duty Rates in the United States
Import duty and taxes are calculated as a percentage of the value of your entire purchase.
This is why duty taxes are not displayed on each product page. Duty taxes are calculated upon the value of your total shopping cart value.
Duty rates vary from 0% to 37.5%, with the average duty rate being 5.63% as of this publishing.
Returns and Refunds in the United States
For customers in the United States, you will have to bear the cost of shipping and any custom duties when returning an item purchased from Italist. Please see the details below with the cost breakdown.
For Customers in the United States
Customers in the United States will be fully refunded the price of the order, excluding the shipping costs and any import duties incurred during the delivery of the order. You may be able to recover import duties for returned items by contacting your local customs bureau.
Refund Amount = Price of Order – Shipping (incurred both to and from) – Any Import Duties (incurred both to and from)
Learn more about import duties from Italy to the US, UK, and other countries.
About the Author
Diego Abba is the CEO of italist.com, an LA-based luxury goods platform. With extensive leadership experience, Diego has held roles at gaming companies Sleepy Giant as CEO and Activision/Blizzard as VP of Finance. He’s also advised clients in media, technology, and private equity while at Bain & Company. Diego’s expertise spans regions, industries, and functions, with notable speaking engagements as an expert on e-commerce, retail trends, and digital communication. He holds an MBA from Cornell University and is fluent in French and Italian. Find him on LinkedIn.