Smart Bali Shopper: Taxes and Shipping for Online Purchases

Wondering where to shop online for your purchases? Curious about how to calculate taxes when buying items from abroad?

To find the answers, we've researched multiple online shopping platforms and stores, including Amazon, eBay, Scubastore, Tokopedia, and Bukalapak.

In this article, we will be using the purchase of the Cressi Focus mask and Cressi Corsica snorkel for freediving as an example.

When displaying the product, Amazon shows you the shipping cost and customs fees that will be charged during the customs clearance of the parcel.

In my case, it looks like this:

+ Shipping and Import Fees Deposit to Indonesia

This means that a total of $67.80 is paid, which includes both shipping and taxes. There will be no need to go to the post office to pay additional taxes.

By the way, I got to the payment stage and the total amount decreased to $60.80. Perhaps because the items are being shipped together, it allowed for a reduction in shipping costs.

As of July 2024, $60.80 amounts to 989,220 IDR.

The total comes out to $93.44, with no reduction for combined shipping, so it remains $93.44.

As of July 2024, the sum amounts to 1,520,427 IDR.

However, international items shipped from Ebay may be subject to customs processing and additional charges. This means that the tax is not calculated by the site and will have to be paid separately at the post office in Indonesia.

There's a great store for diving, snorkeling, and freediving gear called scubastore.com where I decided to calculate the cost of my purchase.

653,442 rupiahs with delivery! Excellent price!

But what about taxes? Here's where it gets interesting.

To calculate the tax, you first need to find the international code for your item in the Harmonized System (HS) of goods. There's a good site called FindHS with detailed descriptions of goods, including codes and photos of items.

When I searched for "Diving Mask," the system gave me this option: 9506.29 and a sub-option with the HS Code 9506.29.00.00.0 that you can see by clicking on the photo of the mask.

Now, let's go to the Indonesian website to see how much tax I will have to pay to bring this item into the country.

On the b2b Indonesia website, we find the search box. Choose "Search by HS No" from the dropdown menu, and enter the code.

The site isn't very intuitive, so after some navigation, you can eventually find the page http://www.disb2b.com/front/tariffsandtradereport.php?hsno=9506.29.00.00

And voila! We finally get the amount of tax that needs to be paid for customs clearance: 26.5% of the cost of the item.

The site even provides a detailed breakdown of this tax, which includes:

- Import Tax 15%

- Value Added Tax 10%

So, if we add the tax (173,162) to the cost of the item with delivery (653,442), it totals 826,604 rupiahs. Which is cheaper than ordering from Amazon.

You can try searching for your item on Indonesian online stores such as Tokopedia or Bukalapak. Both of these stores are located in Indonesia, so you won't have to pay taxes on the goods, only the cost of delivery.

In my case, Tokopedia quoted a total of 1,268,000 IDR for my specific set, including delivery within 2-4 days.

Bukalapak's quote was 1,273,500 IDR. The price for the items is the same as on Tokopedia, but the delivery is slightly more expensive.

In my case, visiting Sanur's dive shops directly is the best option. This ensures that I can try on dive gear beforehand, which is crucial to avoid any risks.

After purchasing the item, you can ask someone coming to Bali to bring it for you.

You can arrange compensation for their help or offer to exchange their efforts for a service, such as picking them up from the airport.

You can look for ads from people planning to fly to Indonesia from your desired country in the local Facebook group called Jual - Beli - Bagasi. The asking price is usually 12-15 euros per kg they bring for you, which works out cheaper than paying taxes. Note that communication in the group is mainly conducted in Indonesian.

Wishing everyone happy shopping and only the best experiences!