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Experiences With Martemodena


DevonReviewer

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Also, I have similar complain fro the same seller: Martemodena:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/321190-delta-nibs-and-martemodena-monkey-business/

 

I have two Delta Dolce vita fountain pens. I have tempted by auctions of Delta nibs listed at eBay starting from only ONE dollar. The seller seems as one of major distributor of Delta pen; Martemodena and they follow the current trend of discounted Delta products. I aimed to equipped my Delta pen with more optional nib sizes.
Surprisingly, I was the only bidder. so I won 12 nibs in the price of $20. I was very happy and felt that I got great deal. unfortunately I was naive wrong.
The seller, martemodena made a combined shipping of these 12 nibs (about 10 gram total) in $254 (more than 10 folds the price of the nibs).
it is not even via any expensive or fast express carrier. It is just via the economic (cheap) international shipping.
when I complained about this huge shipping cost, Caterina said that only $35 is shipping fee and the rest is a "handling fees"!
Though Martemodena accepts returns within 60 days, buyers should pays return shipping. So buyer will lost 98% of his money in that case.
When I refused and asked for cancel the orders she threaten me to open an unpaid case to hinder me from further bidding in any auctions.
I would like to share this feedback with you to help the community of FPN save, and make them more aware about this Monkey business.
Have you ever experienced this behavior before. when seller earns $220 as handling fee for about 10 grams of nibs?

post-86417-0-26620000-1491386131_thumb.jpg

post-86417-0-90676300-1491386162.jpg

post-86417-0-20887100-1491386179_thumb.jpg

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Just received this from MarteModena:

 

"Dear Customer,

please notice that starting from January 1st 2017, MarteModena won’t be on eBay anymore."

 

I saw that the ARE still on ebay...curious as to what happened from when they sent the communication out saying they wouldn't be on Ebay after 1/1/17...and now...something changed!

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Italian luxury goods sellers. Now, that's a mouthful, not always tasty. I have encountered both friendly service and reasonable (shipping) costs from them, and the reverse. Some days shipping may be combined, others not. Some days $28 gets you express shipping, and on others it's via rowboat!

 

I think, if we were to look into the souls of such dealers (if, in fact, they have souls), we would find lots of fractures and confusion. I believe that they would really rather not have to deal with the man on the street, but sometimes the numbers tempt them. I have been told, by better than them, "go away, little, boy, you're bothering me!" I contacted a Visconti product manager, only to be asked, "How did you get my name?" [similarly, with Pilot not too long ago, such an inquiry generated friendly and pleasant and delightful].

 

No answers from here; I'd sooner tackle world peace or world hunger! However, the moodiness (?) of such sellers have caused me to seek other providers, which I have found, happily. For those of us who speak a smattering of Italian, the word "agita" seems very well to describe the by-product of dealings with some of the nicest and most creative and most confusing people on earth. Maybe it's a Western outpost of North Korea?

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Hold up I actually never thought of this: in fact, such low prices could help with the declared customs value to avoid unforeseen taxes.

 

But Would this be legal?

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Shipping is added to the overal cost and the taxes are based on them, so it doesn't matter either way.

 

Customs taxes generally go back the declared value of the item. I've never heard of shipping cost being included.

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Also, I have similar complain fro the same seller: Martemodena:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/321190-delta-nibs-and-martemodena-monkey-business/

 

I have two Delta Dolce vita fountain pens. I have tempted by auctions of Delta nibs listed at eBay starting from only ONE dollar. The seller seems as one of major distributor of Delta pen; Martemodena and they follow the current trend of discounted Delta products. I aimed to equipped my Delta pen with more optional nib sizes.
Surprisingly, I was the only bidder. so I won 12 nibs in the price of $20. I was very happy and felt that I got great deal. unfortunately I was naive wrong.
The seller, martemodena made a combined shipping of these 12 nibs (about 10 gram total) in $254 (more than 10 folds the price of the nibs).
it is not even via any expensive or fast express carrier. It is just via the economic (cheap) international shipping.
when I complained about this huge shipping cost, Caterina said that only $35 is shipping fee and the rest is a "handling fees"!
Though Martemodena accepts returns within 60 days, buyers should pays return shipping. So buyer will lost 98% of his money in that case.
When I refused and asked for cancel the orders she threaten me to open an unpaid case to hinder me from further bidding in any auctions.
I would like to share this feedback with you to help the community of FPN save, and make them more aware about this Monkey business.
Have you ever experienced this behavior before. when seller earns $220 as handling fee for about 10 grams of nibs?

 

 

 

At a total of $275, your cost works out to about $14 per nib. Seems like a pretty good deal. I'd focus on that.

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Customs taxes generally go back the declared value of the item. I've never heard of shipping cost being included.

Maybe to the US, but here in Switzerland shipping costs add up to the value of the item.

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At a total of $275, your cost works out to about $14 per nib. Seems like a pretty good deal. I'd focus on that.

 

I don't think I would be able to do that. Not when shipping actually cost $35 and a seller had charged me $254.90 for it. :angry:

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At a total of $275, your cost works out to about $14 per nib. Seems like a pretty good deal. I'd focus on that.

275/12=23

254/12=21

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Maybe to the US, but here in Switzerland shipping costs add up to the value of the item.

The same in Spain. The taxes are calculated including shipping.

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Customs taxes generally go back the declared value of the item. I've never heard of shipping cost being included.

Not in Spain. Insurance only takes into account the declared value of the item but taxes are calculated including shipping.

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Items being imported into the US:

 

EXCLUDED from the Customs value: The cost, charges, or expenses incurred for transportation, insurance, and related services incident to the international shipment of the goods from the country of exportation to the place of importation in the United States.

 

BUT the above exclusion is IF these costs are identifiable....if not identifiable the importer may have to document these costs and will have to apply for a refund of the fees.

Edited by Bill P
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  • 2 weeks later...

275/12=23

254/12=21

 

Oh, in that case it's a really, really bad deal. Up to $23 for a nice nib? Wow.

Edited by FriendAmos
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Maybe to the US, but here in Switzerland shipping costs add up to the value of the item.

 

By "customs taxes", I mean duty. Duty on imports in Switzerland do not include shipping costs; it is the VAT that includes such.

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Not in Spain. Insurance only takes into account the declared value of the item but taxes are calculated including shipping.

 

By "customs taxes", I mean duty. Duty on imports in Spain do not include shipping costs; it is the VAT that includes such.

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By "customs taxes", I mean duty. Duty on imports in Spain do not include shipping costs; it is the VAT that includes such.

The shipping costs are added to the declared value of the item in order to calculate the duty. Sometimes if the declared value does not satisfy the custom agency they make an estimation which is used to calculate the taxes.

At least it's my experience from buying >20 items from several coutries outside of EU.

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The shipping costs are added to the declared value of the item in order to calculate the duty. Sometimes if the declared value does not satisfy the custom agency they make an estimation which is used to calculate the taxes.

At least it's my experience from buying >20 items from several coutries outside of EU.

 

Really? As far as I can tell, the customs duty and VAT are quite separate, with shipping costs not included in the duty. Are you able to give any authoritative source to back your claim that shipping costs are included in the duty? (No, "my experience from buying >20 items from several coutries outside of EU" won't do.)

 

On the other hand, there are numerous official and non-official sources that disagree with you. (Let Google be your friend for 1001 sources.) An example: http://spainbox.com/mailboxes/duty-and-taxes-to-import-to-spain-from-outside-european-union

 

"Duties and taxes required to import to Spain from outside European Union

 

Import Duty

 

The import duties in Spain are typically in a range from 0% ( eg books ) until 17% ( for example Wellington Boots ) . Some products such as laptops , mobile phones , digital cameras and game consoles, are duty free . Some products may be subject to additional duties depending on the country of manufacture by example bicycles made ​​in China could be taxed at an additional rate tax statistics or statistical value ( dumping ) of 48.5 % , Antidumping is a set of protection measures with order to avoid the practice of foreign companies to sell in foreign markets at a lower price than the market itself.

 

Value Added Tax (VAT)

 

The standard VAT rate for importing products in Spain is 21 %, but in certain products, a reduced VAT rate of 10% or a reduction of 4% tax apply. The VAT is calculated on the value of the goods plus the costs of international shipping and insurance, in addition to import tariffs"

Edited by FriendAmos
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Really? As far as I can tell, the customs duty and VAT are quite separate, with shipping costs not included in the duty. Are you able to give any authoritative source to back your claim that shipping costs are included in the duty? (No, "my experience from buying >20 items from several coutries outside of EU" won't do.)

 

On the other hand, there are numerous official and non-official sources that disagree with you. (Let Google be your friend for 1001 sources.) An example: http://spainbox.com/mailboxes/duty-and-taxes-to-import-to-spain-from-outside-european-union

 

"Duties and taxes required to import to Spain from outside European Union

 

Import Duty

 

The import duties in Spain are typically in a range from 0% ( eg books ) until 17% ( for example Wellington Boots ) . Some products such as laptops , mobile phones , digital cameras and game consoles, are duty free . Some products may be subject to additional duties depending on the country of manufacture by example bicycles made ​​in China could be taxed at an additional rate tax statistics or statistical value ( dumping ) of 48.5 % , Antidumping is a set of protection measures with order to avoid the practice of foreign companies to sell in foreign markets at a lower price than the market itself.

 

Value Added Tax (VAT)

 

The standard VAT rate for importing products in Spain is 21 %, but in certain products, a reduced VAT rate of 10% or a reduction of 4% tax apply. The VAT is calculated on the value of the goods plus the costs of international shipping and insurance, in addition to import tariffs"

Just a few lines below the ones you quote.

 

Minimum thresholds for paying import duties and taxes

If the sender is a company , import duties of goods in Spain are not the same than for an individual if the total value of goods (excluding shipping and insurance) does not exceed 150 € . If the total value of goods (excluding shipping and insurance) is not more than 22 € duties and taxes are not paid.

Price of shipment including transport Duties General Percentaje general applied [1] Internet purchases (when sender is a company) Less than 22 euros Nontaxable 0 % duties – 0 % VAT Greater than 22 less or equal to 150 euros Should pay duty but not Taxes 0 % duties – 21 % VAT Greater than 150 euros Should pay Duties and Taxes 2,5 % duties – 21 % VAT Shipments between individuals [2] Less or equal to 45 euros Nontaxable 0 % duties – 0 % VAT Greater than 45 euros Should pay Duties and Taxes 2,5 % duties – 21 % VAT

[1] These percentages will be applied if its not indicated the classification that applies to the goods

[2] Not applicable to shipments constituting commercial expeditions

 

Actually, the duties are now 3,5%.

 

And a few lines above your quote:

 

"Taxes and import duties payable is calculated on the value of the imported goods plus the cost of importing them (shipping and insurance)."

 

One of the answers by the author of the article read:

 

"Manuel Gallego says:

Hello Martin,

Custom dont take care if its a replacement or not, it check proforma invoice value and will apply 21% of VAT of the price declared, if they suspect anything is not correct with the price they can charge more.

Regards,

 

23/02/2015 at 4:38 pm "

 

To finish, one example is attached. Flete: shipping cost. Seguro: Insurance

post-95677-0-63753400-1492937642_thumb.png

Edited by rafapa
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