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James Allen: Problems upgrading internationally with shipping and tax

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fenestrate

Rough_Rock
Premium
Joined
Mar 19, 2018
Messages
47
Hello

I’m trying to upgrade with James Allen from the UK. One loose diamond for another. They’ve said they’ll charge $143 for a shipping label to ship my original $1580 diamond to them; is this reasonable?

Moreover, I asked that the new diamond be marked as an ‘exchange’ for customs purposes, with the difference in value between the old and new diamonds the stated amount - else I will be charged tax for the second diamond in full, so I’ll have paid tax on two diamonds but only end up with one, if you see what I mean (original purchase was a few years ago so no hope of tax reclamation).
However they’ve said the full amount of the new diamond will be declared and I therefore presume it’ll be marked as an outright purchase rather than an exchange. I’m not sure whether anyone has done an international upgrade and has any experience with the best route to follow. I have absolutely no desire to avoid any properly due tax: just to end up paying the right amount.

Finally, on an unrelated topic, does anyone have any experience with price matching at James Allen. They don’t have a policy but wondered if anyone has requested a price match and the results.
 
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I’m in Australia but face the same issue.
The high cost of shipping is because it includes insurance and likewise why they have to ship to you at “full value”, again for insurance purposes.
You should contact your customs department and enquire. You might be able to claim a refund, but it may well be that they aren’t “interested” in your exchanging arrangement and it’s tax on the value of the item that gets imported.
Depending on costs and taxes, maybe a visit to the US by yourself (or family, close friend) and have them “wear it home” is cheaper.
Hope you can work something out.
 
The shipping fee is reasonable. Brian Gavin quoted me more than $100 for the return shipping on $425 earring if I choose to return from Canada to USA. Fedex shipping is not cheap.

Now, tax.
It is difficult to answer. Each country, region, province, state's law on sales tax is different.
To make it more complicated, my understanding is that you pay import duty and VAT in UK. So that's two different tax laws.
Most likely, you will be charged the tax on the full value of the diamond, and you will need to file a dispute to get a partial refund.
 
Just wanted to thank you both for very kindly taking the time to reply. What you say makes a lot of sense. As the original was purchased three years ago I believe the window for a tax reclaim has closed (it’s about 3 months from purchase here in the UK) so I just need to figure out whether it’s financially worth it to upgrade. Again your replies were much appreciated.
 
Maybe keep this diamond and convert it to a pendant or get a match for studs.
 
I would suggest calling your government agency (Department of Home Affairs?) for a consult. Here in Canada, Canada Customs is usually pretty helpful about giving you an answer to these things if you call. They're a whole lot less helpful though if you've already done something....
 
Ideal cut diamonds can be hard to find in the UK. Would you do better to list it on LT, DB or similar and then buy your other diamond?
 
The window here in Australia is 3 months and a diamond shipped back and swapped for another is then considered a refund, therefore the first lot of tax or part of it gets refunded in Australia. Even before reading your comments I assumed that another diamond (even an upgrade replacement) after a certain length of time would be considered by most customs as a new purchase. Customs generally don't care if you swapped or upgraded your stone, unless it is a refund.
 
Thank you again for your very helpful replies.

I was thinking about it and actually Blue Nile would be the only vendor where I wouldn’t ‘lose’ the tax on the upgrade as local tax is added to the checkout price so would be taken into account during their upgrade process. However I generally find their prices a little higher and when I first bought a few years ago there was very little stone imagery on the site hence was more tempted by JA at that time. That said if I was doing it again I’d probably start out with them this time for that sole reason. But then I prefer that you can go down to lower colour and clarity with JA now. A difficult one!

Thank you for that suggestion. Looking at second hand prices I think I would get around the same selling the old diamond privately as I will get in the upgrade when shipping and the loss of tax is taken into consideration. This isn’t necessarily a bad idea as then I am not locked into that one vendor.

Thank you for the suggestion re keeping it. It’s not a bad idea either. Either in upgrade or resell I will take a hit which isn’t so nice - I just didn’t think through the implications of being an international buyer, and presumed the upgrade would be rather painless financially. They also won’t price match the diamond I am interested in to the price of three other Pricescope retailers, but unfortunately there isn’t anything I can do about that and of course it is entirely their prerogative (understanding they have their own overheads in order to run their business the way they want to, which of course includes offering such things as upgrades factoring into that). So it again is another thing to think about when you are locked into one retailer.

Thank you, I will enquire with the relevant authority here in the UK anyway, just in case something can be done. I take your point about it now being a used item even though I never actually ended up using it (!) but that is not the point, I do see what you mean.

Thanks again all for the suggestions. Much appreciated.
 
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I think you should advertise and see if you can sell your stone privately (Loupetroop, DiamondBistro, Preloved wedding sites, and Ebay) that way you can then take the money and shop where ever you like for the upgrade.
 
I remember some from the UK getting a code to put on their parcels so they were only charged part the VAT for the new bit of the purchase. This was years ago and then one of them started buying HPD through the London appraiser/jeweller who had a contract with them. I don't know if that was because the VAT rule changed or because they just wanted to see what they were buying.
 
I found a very very old thread, posted link above, may not be what is allowed now, best to check with Customs.
 
Read thread again after many years and seems it was for re-sizing repairs.
 
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