What Chinese Pens Are You Using Today? 2020 + 21

[readytotalk]

1 hour ago, OCArt said:

Ah, you've jogged my memory and I found the pen. It's a Golden Star. Unmarked as to model but I think 28 maybe 28C, it has a steel number 6 sized nib.  Cost me about $5 a few years ago.  Nice writer that really fits my hand well.

Yes, its modern pen, inspired by vintage design of Kin Sin. Timeless ascetic design, very popular in China since 1940s.   

"Kin Sin" (金星) is Chinese for "Golden Star".

[Bikerchick]

A (presumably) counterfeit Hero 616 which writes surprisingly well, and this Yiren, of which I'm unable to find more info or even a model number. I'm quite taken by its nib, which writes beautifully. 
 

[Aramchek]

I really like the design of that Yiren. What's the model number? 

[Bikerchick]

5 minutes ago, Aramchek said:

I really like the design of that Yiren. What's the model number? 

According to the listing, it's an 889, but I can't find any info on Google for a Yiren 889, nor can I find the same pen from other AliExpress sellers if I look for that specific model, so I'm not sure how accurate it is. 

If you're asking because you want one too, here's the link to the AliExpress page where I got mine.

[Aramchek]

1 minute ago, Bikerchick said:

According to the listing, it's an 889, but I can't find any info on Google for a Yiren 889, nor can I find the same pen from other AliExpress sellers if I look for that specific model, so I'm not sure how accurate it is. 

If you're asking because you want one too, here's the link to the AliExpress page where I got mine.

 

Thanks! I've two other purchases coming up so I hope it will still be there in July! (I want to check what else I want from the same seller - I don't want to be hit with import fee for just that one)

[Bikerchick]

18 minutes ago, Aramchek said:

 

Thanks! I've two other purchases coming up so I hope it will still be there in July! (I want to check what else I want from the same seller - I don't want to be hit with import fee for just that one)

According to their page, the seller has 9000+ left and this is a pretty obscure brand, if I can go on the lack of info on Yiren even on here, so I think you're good.
But... aren't you in Sweden? Isn't that the Swedish flag in your avatar? Do you have to pay import fees on a this cheap an item?

[Aramchek]

56 minutes ago, Bikerchick said:

According to their page, the seller has 9000+ left and this is a pretty obscure brand, if I can go on the lack of info on Yiren even on here, so I think you're good.
But... aren't you in Sweden? Isn't that the Swedish flag in your avatar? Do you have to pay import fees on a this cheap an item?

Yes, we do indeed have to pay it whatever the price. It was introduced with little warning, leaving people quite annoyed when something they had ordered arrived and the fee was several times more than the value of the item. 

[Bikerchick]

16 minutes ago, Aramchek said:

Yes, we do indeed have to pay it whatever the price. It was introduced with little warning, leaving people quite annoyed when something they had ordered arrived and the fee was several times more than the value of the item. 

That's pretty messed up, yes. I was under the impression that all of the EU was switching over to the new rules at the same time -- I mean, isn't that how it's supposed to work in a union?-- but here in Belgium, we'll only have to start paying import fees for items under 22€ (shipping included) starting July 1st, and I received a kind letter from our Belgian post office at the beginning of May informing me of just that. I've been buying pens on AliExpress like they're going out of style ever since. 😎

 

[Licue]

2 hours ago, Bikerchick said:

That's pretty messed up, yes. I was under the impression that all of the EU was switching over to the new rules at the same time -- I mean, isn't that how it's supposed to work in a union?-- but here in Belgium, we'll only have to start paying import fees for items under 22€ (shipping included) starting July 1st, and I received a kind letter from our Belgian post office at the beginning of May informing me of just that. I've been buying pens on AliExpress like they're going out of style ever since. 😎

 

I did not get no any kind of letter on that from our post here (🇩🇪), but yeah afaik this new rule (😒😠) will be starting 1st of July.

 

But I thought Aliexpress would be one of the sellers/marketplaces that collect and forward the VAT?

Doesn't Ali already do that for UK customers? (for whom this rule already is in effect since Januar this year (afaik))

Of course this would still mean having to pay more than before/now, but at least there wouldn't be the hassle of the VAT being collected upon delivery (and also no additional collecting fee from the postal service..).

 

❓

[Bikerchick]

31 minutes ago, Licue said:

I did not get no any kind of letter on that from our post here (🇩🇪), but yeah afaik this new rule (😒😠) will be starting 1st of July.

 

But I thought Aliexpress would be one of the sellers/marketplaces that collect and forward the VAT?

Doesn't Ali already do that for UK customers? (for whom this rule already is in effect since Januar this year (afaik))

Of course this would still mean having to pay more than before/now, but at least there wouldn't be the hassle of the VAT being collected upon delivery (and also no additional collecting fee from the postal service..).

 

❓

 

I'm afraid we're starting to veer wildly off-topic, but in the interest of anyone here from the EU to whom the rules will apply from July 1st (or any other date for that matter): yes, if AliExpress sellers register and collect VAT, then the seller pays for the import charges. Since there is no such thing as a free lunch, I would expect we'll see those import charges added to the sale price.  

As I stated before, I was under the impression that the EU would apply this across their member states at the same time and in the same manner, but apparently not. Therefore I am not sure if the following applies to Germany, but there is more info about this on the Belgian Post's website. Hope this helps.

[Licue]

7 hours ago, Bikerchick said:

 

I'm afraid we're starting to veer wildly off-topic

😬 true - I hope people here don't mind too much. Or should we start a new thread on it? It's quite an interesting/important topic imo.

 

 

 

7 hours ago, Bikerchick said:

yes, if AliExpress sellers register and collect VAT, then the seller pays for the import charges. 

Since Ali handels the payments I thought this would be done automatically and Ali-wide.? 

If it's up to each seller individually, that would be quite bad news 🤨 as I worry many (especially smaller) sellers would consider that too complicated..

 

(And yes, of course I expect these costs to be added to the end-price)

 

 

 

7 hours ago, Bikerchick said:

As I stated before, I was under the impression that the EU would apply this across their member states at the same time and in the same manner, but apparently not. Therefore I am not sure if the following applies to Germany, but there is more info about this on the Belgian Post's website. Hope this helps.

Well, the general principle sounds the same, tho in the details you seem to be even worse off than us.:

13€ (or even 15€??) handling fee!! 😲 😳 Deutsche Post will charge 6€ (which (so far) I consider(ed) to be a rather high fee..)

Also apparently in Germany there'll still be some exemption/exception, just much lower than before: duties below 1€ won't be collected, so stuff costing less than ~5,20€ should still be free. (Tho I'm not sure if they might not close that loophole in the future, as now probably much more packages will be (mis)declared to be below 5€...)

 

 

 

[Licue]

###Ooops - meant to edit my post, not make a new one. Sorry 😶###

[A Smug Dill]

4 minutes ago, Licue said:

Since Ali handels the payments I thought this would be done automatically and Ali-wide.?

 

That's how it's done when you put in an Australian delivery address; the ‘electronic distribution platform’ operator (e.g. eBay, AliExpress) is responsible for collecting the 10% Australian GST (which also applies to the shipping charges, etc.) for low-value imports into Australia.

 

It's a different story buying from retailers with their own independent online shopfronts.

[Licue]

8 minutes ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

That's how it's done when you put in an Australian delivery address; the ‘electronic distribution platform’ operator (e.g. eBay, AliExpress) is responsible for collecting the 10% Australian GST (which also applies to the shipping charges, etc.) for low-value imports into Australia.

Oh, good to hear!

I hope it will be the same for EU/Germany.

 

Btw, does Ali add any "collecting fee" on top of that?

[Mech-for-i]

Today I start my Moonman S1 inked with PenBBS no.27 Raven Grey

[A Smug Dill]

1 hour ago, Licue said:

Btw, does Ali add any "collecting fee" on top of that?

 

No.

 

I don't know whether, or how, the AliExpress platform software will deal with any exceptions in the taxation rules that apply to a particular country or jurisdiction, though. For example, the rules for Australian GST is that if the order's value exceeds AUD 1000.00, then it is no longer a ‘low-value import’ and the retailer or electronic marketplace operator should not collect GST, but leave it to Australian Customs to collect it at the border (which involves a whole lot more financial ‘pain’ for the recipient^†). I have not deliberately tested AliExpress to see whether it will do the right thing when the checkout value (i) exceeds AUD 1000.00 (after any applicable discounts) before shipping charges; or (ii) is just under AUD 1000.00 before shipping charges but exceeds the threshold once shipping charges are added.

 

If a particular country's rules allow for a duty-free threshold on imports by post (or courier), I don't know whether AliExpress will deal with it properly, either. (We have no such threshold here; AUD 1000.00 was effectively that threshold, until 1 July 2018.)

 

 

^† This is where a “collecting fee” comes into play. In essence, for consignments that are not low-value imports of (otherwise duty-free and excise-free) goods, import declaration (electronic) paperwork needs to be lodged; and the Australia Government charges a processing fee for just receiving and (supposedly) looking through that paperwork, assuming it does not then require physical inspection of the consignment's contents. If I'm not mistaken, currently it's AUD 88.00 all up for a Full Import Declaration on what comes in by air freight. Strictly speaking, an FID is not required for all types of products, and so a smaller part of that charge ought to be avoidable; but whoever is handling and/or rubber-stamping the paperwork generally won't care about legitimately minimising the cost to the importer, i.e. recipient, so it's safe to assume the full AUD 88.00 will be charged. If the consignment comes in by a courier service such as DHL or FedEx instead of what counts as postal services, then that company would usually lodge the paperwork, pay Customs the sum of the tax and fees that are due, and then recoup that amount plus administrative fees from the recipient before releasing the parcel (but having taken the matter off of the hands of Australian Customs, which is happy to have already been paid quickly upfront). So, an AUD 1000.01 consignment would be liable for AUD 100.00 in tax, AUD 88.00 in import declaration fees, plus the courier service's admin fees, and so add up to roughly AUD 200 — which is 20% of the value of the goods, even though the GST rate is only 10%.

[Licue]

1 hour ago, A Smug Dill said:

I don't know whether, or how, the AliExpress platform software will deal with any exceptions in the taxation rules that apply to a particular country or jurisdiction, though. For example, the rules for Australian GST is that if the order's value exceeds AUD 1000.00, then it is no longer a ‘low-value import’ and the retailer or electronic marketplace operator should not collect GST, but leave it to Australian Customs to collect it at the border (which involves a whole lot more financial ‘pain’ for the recipient^†). I have not deliberately tested AliExpress to see whether it will do the right thing when the checkout value (i) exceeds AUD 1000.00 (after any applicable discounts) before shipping charges; or (ii) is just under AUD 1000.00 before shipping charges but exceeds the threshold once shipping charges are added.

Yeah, I think it's similar here.

The IOSS system (IOSS = Import One Stop Shop, which apparently is the official term for when the foreign seller/shop/marketplace pays the tax directly) seems to be only allowed for orders below 150€.

Also for orders above 150€ there will be import VAT and actual import duty.

Not sure if there'll be any additional custom duty fees - so far all my order orders from outside the EU have been  in the low-price range.

 

 

 

1 hour ago, A Smug Dill said:

If a particular country's rules allow for a duty-free threshold on imports by post (or courier), I don't know whether AliExpress will deal with it properly, either. (We have no such threshold here; AUD 1000.00 was effectively that threshold, until 1 July 2018.)

If you're talking about the fees-smaller-than-1€-won't-be-collected loophole/exception that I mentioned above: I kinda doubt that Ali will consider that. So I guess I'll lose that advantage from July 1st on - maybe I should check my wishlist if there's anything below 5€ and order in the next few weeks...

[Aramchek]

Here in Sweden the import fee was added March 1st 2018. The charges are 75 SEK (1 SEK is ~0.1€) and VAT for orders below 1600, and 125 SEK, VAT and toll above that. They're threatening to raise the former to 200 SEK and the latter to who knows what at the end of the year so I'm trying to focus on non EU orders this year, including what will regretfully probably be a final order from Cultpens. 

 

The only exception that I can find right now is with Wish that handles prepaying VAT but I'm not interested in buying counterfeits. I sure hope the Aliexpress VAT prepaying will apply to us when that arrives. 

[A Smug Dill]

Most online shopping fanatics here went on a shopping spree in the months leading up to 1 July 2018. Many swore they would be deterred from ordering from overseas after that, if the Australian Government had the gall to suddenly demand tax from its citizens who have literally gone out of their way to pay consumption tax on discretionary consumer goods. (Actually, the GST legislation has never exempted the buyer from tax on low-value imports per se, as far as I recall; but it was government policy not to enforce collection because it was too difficult and too costly if Customs have to do the legwork here for a few dollars here and a few dollars there.) Amazon.com shut its doors to customers who wanted their orders delivered directly to Australian addresses on that date.

 

Guess what? Things change. Consumers returned to buying after a lull, and voluntarily chose to accept increases in the personal cost of acquisition of goods, because they found the inconvenience and self-imposed limits out of principle to be even harder to live with. Once everything went back to full swing, Amazon.com changed its policy and started accepting Australian orders directly again.

 

21 minutes ago, Aramchek said:

including what will regretfully probably be a final order from Cultpens. 

 

Cult Pens didn't charge Australian customers an additional 10% over the listed prices in the name of GST, all the way through 2018, 2019 and 2020; only since early March this year, when it implemented system changes (I'm guessing) to cope with the consequences and requirements of Brexit, that it started doing so. I thought to myself, ah, another vendor I probably won't buy from again. Come last week, I placed two £140 (inc tax) orders, for goods that are discounted heavily enough when all was said and done. It's only a matter of comparison with other avenues available to oneself, and whether the total cost of acquisition falls below an acceptable threshold. What real difference does it make, really, between buying something from Cult Pens (as I used to) when it was only offering a 10% discount but didn't charge the GST component on top, and ordering something now if I can get (say) 20% off but then have to pay 10% GST on the discounted total? (Yes, in the second case I'd be better off.)

 

So, I doubt the changes will have as much of a long-lasting chilling effect on European conusmers' online shopping; eventually everyone will just learn to pay up like it is completely normal.

[Bikerchick]

I got this beauty in the mail today:

 

I haven't got the foggiest what it is, because the seller listed it in typical non-descript AliExpress jargon and the pen itself doesn't sport a brand of any kind. The nib is one of those standard 0.5mm "iridium point" specimens, but holy moly, this is one pleasant little pen.