The largest ever LEGO set goes on sale for LEGO VIP customers some time tomorrow and if you aren’t already aware it’s expensive – the Australian RRP is $1299.99.
You may think that being the Australian LEGO site, and being charged in Australian dollars that the price you see is the price that you will pay? Unfortunately that isn’t always the case. A lot of credit cards will charge you an international transaction fee if the store is located outside of Australia, regardless of the currency being charged.
Here is a quick look at what the various Australian Banks say about this:
Commonwealth Bank: 3.00% fee for transactions in Australian dollars but with an overseas connection. If you’re a CommBank Platinum or Diamond Awards customer, you’ll enjoy zero international transactions fees on purchases made in-store and online when using your Platinum or Diamond Awards American Express card.
NAB: The NAB International Transaction Fee applies to all credit card accounts, except NAB Visa One Fee-Free. International transactions are transactions where the merchant, financial institution, or entity processing the transaction is located outside Australia. Fee for Visa, Mastercard or American Express: 3.00%
Westpac: Transactions in Australian dollars and the merchant or financial institution accepting the card is located overseas: Visa and Mastercard: 3.0%, American Express: 0.0%
ANZ: Visa: ANZ will charge 3% of the value of any International Transaction processed to a credit card account or Visa PAYCARD account. This does not apply to an International Transaction processed to an ANZ Rewards Travel Adventures credit card account. An International Transaction is any transaction or refund where the merchant or financial institution accepting or processing the transaction or refund is outside of Australia
Mastercard: ANZ will charge 3% of the value of any International Transaction processed to a credit card account. An International Transaction is any transaction where the merchant or financial institution accepting or processing the transaction is outside of Australia
With all 4 of the big banks charging the fee on some/all of their credit card products your Millennium Falcon could end up costing you an extra $39. In the scheme of a $1299.99 purchase it may not seem like a lot, but $39 could buy you more LEGO.
How do you avoid the fee? While it is unlikely that you’ll be able to get a new credit card by tomorrow it might be worth talking to your financial institution about the cards that you do have and see if any do offer no international transaction fees. Some people have multiple cards and may not be aware of the fees for each of them. If you are prepared to wait (and take the potential risk of the Falcon selling out) there are several products on the market that offer no international transaction fees.
The 28 Degrees Mastercard is a product that comes regularly among people who do a lot of online shopping. The card has no annual fee, no fees on overseas purchases when travelling, no fees on overseas purchases when shopping online, no international currency conversion fees and up to 55 days interest free on purchases.
ANZ Rewards Travel Adventures Credit Card (Visa): $225 annual fee, no international transaction fees, up to 55 days interest free on purchases, Virgin Airline bonuses.
Coles Rewards Mastercard: $99 annual fee, no international transaction fees on purchases when you shop online or when you’re overseas, various flybuys offers.
Those are just a few options that I came across, but I suggest that you do your own research on the best product for your needs. Credit cards are complicated and I’m a LEGO blogger not a financial adviser. The products that I listed are not sponsored links or affiliates.
Sources:
https://www.commbank.com.au/personal/credit-cards/card-fees-charges.html
https://www.nab.com.au/personal/help-and-guidance/personal-banking-fees-and-charges#3d
https://www.westpac.com.au/international-travel/access-money-overseas/credit-cards/
https://www.anz.com.au/content/dam/anzcomau/documents/pdf/personal-banking-general-fees-charges.pdf
If that’s the case, what about customs clearance charges??? The item is over $1000 http://www.wwcf.com.au/Customs
All items from Lego is registerd for GST no difference.
I bought the UCS falcon – and paid GST on it.
I have since received a bill from DHL for GST and import duties!
I’ve lodged complaints with LEGO and DHL, and the LEGO people are trying to tell me I have to pay these duties (which includes double-paying GST).
This seems wrong, and it has been months with no resolution…
I will be curious to hear what happens with this. Haven’t bought mine yet and this is definately something to take into account. With all the fees it may be worth trying to get it imported elsewhere than the directly from the Lego shop. Can you advise what the extra fee total was.
What happened in the end? Did you get out of paying for the additional taxes/duties? I am now in this situation and wondering if you were able to get Lego to pay? At the very least they should be refunding the GST you paid them.
Pretty much the same for any online shopping if you don’t use cards such as Coles or 28degree. 28 Degrees might have issues and think someone has hacked your card when you make a huge purchase. 28D changed hands a while ago and it’s become a frustrating card to use..Speaking from personal experience. At least Lego warns you when you make a purchase that the cost shows in AU but due to it being an overseas website you’ll be charged extra.
Plus this is over $1k purchase so there will be extra forms to fill in since $1k and above has to these days.
Bankwest have a zero foreign transaction fee credit card which I have used for all overseas purchases and only get charged the $AU amount.
With regards to import charges, from my understanding Lego Australia is the importer and hence have already paid these charges, so you will be only charged the listed price on S@H with no additional taxes.
Maybe Michael could confirm this with Lego Australia?
Is the set coming to retail stores like David Jones or Myer?
Unsure at this stage, I have heard that Toyworld stores will be stocking it at some point in the future.
Not sure why this has come up now, has anyone ever paid a currency transaction fee when purchasing direct from LEGO? I never have, it doesn’t matter whether it’s $100 or $1000 a currency transaction fee would be charged if it’s applicable. I’ve never been charged this fee when purchasing an international item as long as it is paid for in AUD. The customs charge is an interesting question, although I’ve never received a LEGO order with a customs declaration on it and it’s always sent from an Australia address.
It sounds like you are one of the lucky few with a good card. I’ve been charged the fee before.
Just a regular visa from one of the big 4, must say I’m surprised you have been charged this fee. Will you be going ahead and ordering one?
I use a 28 degrees card and have literally no complaints. It is fee free and has an amazing exchange rate – usually equivalent to XE official rate so much better than a lot of other products. I have seen a few comments now asking about the customs fee and some people commented that they believe this will be covered by Lego as the importer. I am not convinced of this; I suggest people contact Lego/Border Force to discuss as I believe the way the laws are drafted and applied may mean people will be required to pay 10% GST on the item over $1000 plus a processing fee (around $75). There is the potential for a lot of hidden costs with the Millennium Falcon so if money is no option for you got for it otherwise I would suggest exercising consumer caution and getting the facts – in writing!
Have ordered from S@H before, according to the previous tax invoices, they included GST on total. So I believe there should be no import fee for purchasing MF.
Having experienced the poor packaging Lego uses, I am concerned such a heavy set will almost certainly arrive dented & creased. Anyone know if it will ship in decent custom packaging?
My personal experience with CBA is I haven’t been charged fees previously on Lego S@H purchases. I certainly hope that doesn’t change tonight! As for those concerned about import fees, its Lego Australia importing the goods, not you personally. As others have pointed out the price already includes GST.
The purchases I’ve made from Lego.com have always been paid with my Debit Mastercard and I’ve never had any fee charges from Westpac for those payments. Usually Lego put a hold for the amount then the proper charge goes through when they post the item. I’ve had some back order things recently which left the banking side a bit weird, they put a hold on the full balance of the order, then when some shipped, charged the amount for the shipped items and changed the hold amount to the balance of what hadn’t shipped, so you’ve got to stay on top of things to make sure nothing goes wrong. The only problem I’ve had with this is when I ordered a set and some pick-a-brick, they put a hold for the full balance, then charged the full amount again and didn’t summit the release of the held funds to the bank until after the pick-a-brick items had been posted, was not happy about that!
I have a BOQ Visa Debit and have never been charged any fees when buying from Shop @ Home.
It is now available for VIP on S@H Australia… Ka-ching! 🙁
I think the 12 parsec record may have just been broken. It went live for VIPs and the website crashed within 10 minutes (no surprises there). Now it’s on backorder. I suspect demand for this set might become Lego folklore, apparently undeterred by the high price tag!
I had been checking all day and found it available before receiving the Vip email. Ordered just 1. It says ‘in warehouse’ so hopefully all good.
Bought the Falcon yesterday and I can confirm that citibank signature visa did not charge me any fees.
I got one too. The site crashed so I called lego today to follow up. They told me that they sold more than they anticipated and more than they could handle. Sold out globally within 90 mins. Sold 100s per minute. The guy I spoke to also said that the back log could be a few months, especially getting shelf stock to Australia. Told me to hang onto mine, in his words “hold onto it, you’ve got a gem there”
CBA charged me a $39 international transaction fee on the MF! The crappy part is the fee would have been waived if I’d used AMEX, except Lego S@H does not take AMEX ???? I’ll be disputing it with them.
Dont want to pay transaction fees, then dont do what every bozo does and use a credit card. Use a debit card instead.
I have a Visa Debit and have had the fee too. It’s a bank issue not an account type one
I just bought the MF and may have been hit by the fouble whammy of transaction fees and import duties. Was slugged the foreign transaction fee using St Zgrorhe zsmplify signature visa. Called the bank and they said Visa charges this. I know ING everyday visa debit foes not. Wishing i had used that and gorehone tewards points.
Set is slso being held by customs and anticipating tax charge despite paying VAT at checkout. Never has this happen with Lego orders before. Will update once I find out the outcome from customs
Craig did you have to pay customs .
Mine is in customs now and gr ave no idea what to do .
Sorry Craig just realised you posted that last night .
Im in the same boat customs have had my mf since monday .
Does anyone know what the deal is with customs .
Alot of people jb ave been through this by know .
Any enlightenment would be appreciated
I’m in the same situation, ordered the MF a couple of weeks ago and it is now held in customs.
Called Lego today and they said this is normal. Lego Australia received a large number of deliveries in a big crate / container and these are held by customs until Lego clears it. Once cleared they will get it sent out to everyone.
Sometimes a customer will receive and invoice for the tax, in that case do let Lego know as that is not supposed to happen.
I’d also suggest calling Lego if you have any other questions around this. They are very helpful.
Mine was delivered yesterday after being held up in customs for 5 days. There were no additional fees / taxes. I hope this is the same for everyone else.