AW: Re: [meteorite-list] Unbelievably late package - my story

From: Martin Altmann <altmann_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Tue Sep 19 05:36:01 2006
Message-ID: <005301c6dbcf$004ac090$4f41fea9_at_name86d88d87e2>

Hi Walter, and Martin,

not was it me.
It happened to Bernhard Rems from Austria. Well meanwhile he seems to have
been stolen in person too, as I wait since one and a half year for a payment
from him for a meteorite, sigh.

Well, perhaps I have also to explain, what usually happens with German
customs, for the dealers and collectors not being afraid to send meteorites
here.
In general there is no problem to receive meteorites here and the German
customs has no special interest in meteorite at all, nor do they estimate
them to have a special value.
Like in all others countries too, one has to pay custom taxes (and VAT, if
the goods are not exempted from that tax) for all imported goods.
For them a meteorite is a good. Normally they judge the stones, because they
are looking so unimpressive of being of minor value below the duty &
tax-free allowance (which is here around 40$) and they forward it without
any problem.
But if you have bad luck, they suspect the stone to be perhaps of value.
And here the only interesting parameter for defining the value for them is
simply that, what you paid for. If no receipt comes with the meteorite, you
can show them a printout of the ebay-auction, the paypal-receipt or simply
the e-mail, where your counterpart asked his price.
Theoretical debates, whether a meteorite has no trade value and no value
inherent other then a collector's value, doesn't help.
If one is not willing to pay the taxes, it can happen, that they assume,
that you refuse to accept the parcel and it will be sent back to the sender.
Therefore here in Germany it's not different from most other countries.

The rates of the import tax, depends on the good, so I can't give exact
values (German tax system is placed in a ranking of 104 countries on rank
104, as it's the most complicated on Earth. 220 main tax laws, seventy
thousand subsequent regulations), but it's somewhere between 0 to 17%.
(Here there is room for haggling)
Additional VAT is 7% or 16%.

Cheers!
Martin A.

-----Urspr?ngliche Nachricht-----
Von: meteorite-list-bounces_at_meteoritecentral.com
[mailto:meteorite-list-bounces_at_meteoritecentral.com] Im Auftrag von Martin
Horejsi
Gesendet: Dienstag, 19. September 2006 04:20
An: Walter Branch
Cc: Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
Betreff: Re: Re: [meteorite-list] Unbelievably late package - my story

Hi Walter,

Not this Martin. But I seem to remember the tale as well.

I hope I won't have a story to add here, but I might have one in the
works. I mailed a meteorite to San Diego about a month ago and, you
guessed it, we're still waiting.

Cheers,

Martin



On 9/18/06, Walter Branch <waltbranch_at_bellsouth.net> wrote:
> Hi Bernd,
> >(sometimes it is good
> >people do not know much about meteorites
>
> You are right. This is how I judge whether to dismiss these stories that
> make it to the list. Sort of like Hollywood vs. reality.
>
> Who was it that had their apartment broken into and items where stolen,
> except the meteorites? Was it you, Martin?
>
> -Walter Branch
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <bernd.pauli_at_paulinet.de>
> To: <Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com>
> Sent: Monday, September 18, 2006 1:57 PM
> Subject: [meteorite-list] Unbelievably late package - my story
>
>
> > On Wednesday, October 01, 2003, Mike Farmer sent out my NWA 1909 (AEUC)
> > and my NWA 1943 (AHOW) specimens. The package did make it safely across
> > the Big Pond but on October 21, 2003, I wrote to Mike that the German
> customs
> > authorities were withholding the specimens and I was battling with them
> over my
> > comment that there was no commercial value involved and their idiotic
> response
> > that everything had a value.
> >
> > By November 10, 2003, the package had got lost somewhere between Tucson
> and
> > my home town here in Germany after the customs idiots had agreed they
> would
> > send it to us via mail. It never arrived. Lots of telephone calls but to
> no avail
> > although I had the photo copy from the customs dudes with all the
details
> (sender,
> > contents, etc.). More calls and the information that the package was
> probably on
> > its way back to Tucson. The customs dudes said that if it didn't show up
> here or
> > in Tucson sooner or later, the sender would have to start a "tracer".
> >
> > Wednesday, December 17, 2003, Mike wrote that the meteorites had just
> arrived back to
> > him and that the customs idiot had removed the packaging so that the
> meteorites (worth
> > $600!) were loose in the box which was smashed - fortunately the
> meteorites were fine,
> > not damaged.
> >
> > The customs people were not the culprits this time. That honor goes to
the
> German mail
> > company. There must have been a potential thief who opened Christmas
mail
> that looked
> > promising (precious metals, jewelry, money, etc.). Meteorites were just
> worthless and
> > meaningless stuff so he chucked them back into the torn package
(sometimes
> it is good
> > people do not know much about meteorites :-)
> >
> > My meteorites were shipped again, and, unbelievable but nonetheless
true:
> Tuesday, Dec.
> > 30, 2003, NWA 1909 and NWA 1943 finally arrived (again) after this
> transaltantic odyssey
> > which lasted "only" three months!
> >
> > Cheers,
> >
> > Bernd
> >
> > ______________________________________________
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> > Meteorite-list_at_meteoritecentral.com
> > http://six.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/meteorite-list
>
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Received on Tue 19 Sep 2006 05:35:52 AM PDT