menabassily:

NZtechfreak:

menabassily: Sorry mate, I thing you're wrong, I've been there a few times so, the calculation should be based on the total price including shopping, they calculate it anyway and if the duty+ GST is more than $60 nzd, you have to pay them, this roughly gives you a tax free allowance for up to $400 nzd of total cost

Actually you are right about including shipping charges, I've always had it calculated off the declared value of the goods though (and I've, uh, had my fair share of shipments too!). Wonder if that is because mine are usually being brokered through customs by Fedex/DHL?

Anyways, point is that the $298 figure isn't really pertinent, its about the value in NZD in terms of whether GST import duties are applied or not.

At the time when I had this $298USD incident, the US dollar was strong against the NZD, but you don't know what's gonna happen by the time your shipment arrives to NZ, so I just use it as a measuring point to avoid the hassle, anything under 298 (lol) is probably safe unless the USD goes stronger against NZD.