Improved international shipments of ADOX products via FOTOIMPEX

Dear photrio members,

as you all know, international shipments and deliveries had been very negatively affected by the pandemic. ADOX and FOTOIMPEX were quite negatively impacted as well. We had discussed the situation here on photrio in the past in a very detailed way.

Fortunately the situation has significantly improved in the last months, and our global distributor FOTOIMPEX now sends via DHL Express, which reduces shipping times to oversea destinations really significantly. Currently DHL Express shipments are possible to the following countries:

JAPAN

USA

CANADA

MEXIKO

CHINA

HONG KONG

AUSTRALIA

TAIWAN

THAILAND

SOUTH KOREA

SINGAPORE

ISRAEL


If needed, additional countries can be added. Please contact FOTOIMPEX.
DHL Express is most suitable for compact parcels with a weight of up to 5kg. Customers can see changing the weight when they add a product in the shop / shopping cart.
DHL Express is less suitable for products like for example very large developer trays or very large paper formats.

ADOX - Innovation in Analog Photography.
THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE ANALOG.

great to know, but is this the service from DHL that has the resonable fees for doing customs papperwork, or the version that wants 50 bucks a package. I have received stuff Via DHL both ways.

DHL is a bit of a confusing entity. Roughly speaking, there appear to be 3 'segments' to just DHL alone:
1: The core DHL organization (a.k.a. Deutsche Post: German Mail), focusing on enterprise customers; so B2B mostly. Except if you're in Germany, probably, because there Deutsche Post is still the main mail carrier AFAIK.
2: The DHL Express organization, which appears to be mostly consumer-oriented. Maybe they only serve Europe; I don't know.
3: Local subsidiaries that work under the DHL moniker, but are sometimes still organized as the separate entities they once were, and remain somewhat disjunct from the other entities.

I've had packages being handed over from one DHL entity to another and basically none of the DHL group accepting responsibility for them. At one point, I found myself being referred by DHL/Deutsche Post to DHL Express, from them to a local DHL entity and by them back to DHL/Deutsche Post because all entities denied that they were handling the package. The situation was basically that one entity took receipt of the package from the sender, another entity transported it across the border, and the third entity was responsible for delivery to my address. This particular package also had two or three distinct shipping IDs at that point, and in calling around I arrived at the conclusion that the IT systems of those entities are still not integrated: they use their own systems, with only weak interfacing for handover of packages from one entity to another.

So your question "which service" probably has no clear answer. It depends, and what it depends on, is likely not visible from the outside - not for the receiver, nor for the sender. Which is to say, ADOX will also not be aware which part of DHL handles the package once it's handed to them.

cmacd123 said:

great to know, but is this the service from DHL that has the resonable fees for doing customs papperwork, or the version that wants 50 bucks a package. I have received stuff Via DHL both ways.

Click to expand...

Normally all fees are included. Due to the DHL B2B customer service there are no additional handling fees.
And so far FOTOIMPEX has not had any complaints in this regard from foreign customers.

Customs and (import) taxes are of course dependent on the country and its specific laws. The local authorities in the destination country can give information about it.

ADOX - Innovation in Analog Photography.
THE BEST THINGS IN LIFE ARE ANALOG.

Since I am German and living in Canada, and receiving quite some private and shopping packages from Germany, I see the following:

- DHL shipped from either private or from shops through the postal system (this can be since the pandemic either by boat -> about 2 months, or with a few € more by air, usually 1-2 weeks. Before the pandemics it was usually by air, but there seems to be still less capacity then before). Both get handed over to Canada Post after it arrives in Canada and get delivered through the local post. Often it slips through customs without tax (private packages in 10 years: always / shopping I'd say 50% of the time). If taxes needs to get paid, it is the usual sales tax (for me in Quebec 5% GST + 9.975 QST), and Canada Post adds a reasonable $10 processing/collection fee.

- DHL Express: shipping within a few days around the world. Gets locally delivered by DHL, not Canada Post. If customs marks it for import tax (basically always above the value of $25 or so tolerance), DHL adds a hefty processing fee, I think minimum $30, but easily more based on value. In this case, if a customs office isn't too far for you, I recommend self-declaring (see https://goingawesomeplaces.com/how-to-avoid-paying-dhl-customs-fees-in-canada/ ). You go by yourself to customs, pay the tax and no processing fees. I have luckily the Montreal office directly on my bike commute through the old port. Saved me in January $100 processing fee to Fedex...

I never had to pay duty, only sales tax (=import tax).

I think my worst experience was one where ONE of the DHL entties sent me a note via e-mail wanting a payment, and an address to log in to make the payment. I tried to log in, and they wanted authentication number that was in a text message that they sent to the Phone number on the shipment WHICH WAS MY LANDLINE NUMBER. ie no way to receive a text message.

after looking for some time, I found an email to contact the executive offices. and the folk who called me back (on the land line) wanted me to try something, But my phone is not in the same place as my Computer.

finally got it resolved into a way to PAY in about a week. (including the large "service fee" ) the poor person in the executive office was calling me every day during this time, having to eventually transfer the package to another System. the shipper had paid extra for 2 day service I believe. SO my outlook on DHL is perhaps a touch influinced by that experience.

an yes, a few items that folks have sent me did indeed just arrive in my mail box. All of my interaction with DHL has been packages from Japan or Europe.

I've had other packages come DHL express to Canada and their brokerage fee is about $18 ( plus GST of course) unless there are more then about 5 things on the invoice and then they add on an "excessive items fee".

I have experience bringing in a lot of autoparts, and the vendor in the UK is excellent about putting the harmonized tariff number against each item on the invoice. DHL ignores that and creates their own customs classification, usually with duty attached on things that are duty free. Getting it classified correctly is a pain and usually takes 3 calls.

I think their "best" was classifying what was described on the invoice as "carburettor float" as a "mens sweater". There are some real geniuses working in DHL's customs brokerage.

Of the big 3 couriers for bringing things from Europe to Canada my experience is FedEx is far and away the best, UPS is middling and DHL a pain. The postal service is slower, but usually more reliable - which is a shocker considering the involvement of Canada Post!

When I think about it, the $100 processing fee (for a kids bike from the US to Canada) was actually with UPS, not Fedex, and self-declaring saved me this, just paying the taxes. Fedex was indeed always reasonable with $10-15 fees (mostly stuff from Japan).

For work I used in three different jobs DHL Express (from and to Canada, Europe, Asia), and in between businesses where often anyways an own broker is involved, DHL was always the best service: The fastest, cheapest, best customer support. Comparing it with UPS, Fedex and Purolator. But to end-client, the DHL Express processing fees for custom processing is indeed hefty (fees for processing, fees for paying it first, both depending on value of the goods, taxes on both services etc). But as said, as long as you have a Canada Border Service Agency inland office not far (https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/do-rb/services/inland-interieur-eng.html), self-declaring is withing 5 min done. I guess these are often near airports or harbours, in Montreal it is really in the center...