The cost of buying from Scotland: new Argyle outfit arrives

[Colin]

Kiltstore is one of the early and major supporters of X-Marks, and a major supporter of the Scottish-made Kilts and accessories industries.

I can only add that Nick has also written on the of best booklets on kiltwearing that I have seen in a long time. It is very helpful to new kilt wearers and even some of us more experienced kilt wearers (never stop learning). Thanks Nick for your continued support and participation in our site. Not many business owners respond to the questionable threads and stay to answer all questions from existing and potential customers. Most cut and run if it is anything but a positive comment. Kudos to you and your customer service.

http://www.scotweb.co.uk/kiltsandtartan/

[michaelbeeman]

I purchased a kilt from the Kiltstore end of last year and was extremely happy. I also paid a "premium" it seems, getting it into the country and and on myself. I had heard from a friend about how pricey that can be, so I was expecting it. The quality of the kilt and other items were very good, with the kilt being fantastic! I will indeed utilize their services again, I am very pleased.
Merlintree, that is the tartan I chose as well. Beautiful!

[merlintree]

Yes, the Crawford Muted is beautiful although not a typical choice. I come by it naturally having Crawford grandparents. The Crawford 'castle' is a little less impressive as it be a pile of rocks in the Lowlands.

Dave
at the Merlin Tree in Vermont

[ForresterModern]

Dave, sadly our experience is that it's nigh-on impossible to get a definitive prediction. We do our best to state things like tariff codes to make it regular. But so much depends on the port of entry, particular member of customs staff, their spouse's mood that day, time of year, lunar phase, weather, sports results, sun spot activity, and doubtless many more factors beyond our ken. I've never heard the 3% flat rate version before - I'd say if you can get that, go for it!

I actually did a little background checking on customs for importing wool fabric or products made thereof before deciding on where to have my first kilt and a couple jackets/waistcoats made, just to compare the potential overall prices. The customs tariffs are available online but are written in such legalese, and are several hundred pages long, that they are confusing as can be imagined. After great perusing I discerned that woolen fabrics or products made thereof are subject to about a 17.5 per cent import tariff if coming from outside the NAFTA countries. And that can go up if the transporting company (read FEDEX) tacks on its own handling fees. For instance I got dinged a bit over $50 bucks in tariff plus another 10 or 15 for fedex's hand in my pocket for a kilt sent from scotland that cost right around $300 otherwise. Kind of negates the benefit of not having to pay the 17.5 % VAT on Scottish exported goods if you have to pay it on this end anyway. Best if you can keep your order small enough to allow them to send it Royal mails (under 2 kg I hear) and specifically request that your items be sent by that route if at all possible, even if it is slower or maybe even a little bit more expensive. They tend to ignore small orders under a couple hundred bucks especially if it is a mixture of fabric and other non fabric items like jewelry, etc....

[JerseyLawyer]

Yes, I've had the same experience. "Hrm. Well, let's see. These are ghillies. Okay. Leather footwear, not covering the ankle, with leather souse, other than for women, boys, and girls..."

ICE does have a link to a database, but good luck trying to figure it out. Grandpa was a customs inspector - too bad he's not around anymore to ask.

[merlintree]

My kilt arrived from the Kilt Store yesterday and it is absolutely gorgeous; just beautiful.

It seemed large when I tried it on last evening so I called the Kilt Store for wearing suggestions today.

Turns out that when I ordered the M-R casual luxury 5-yard kilt I provided the measurements specified in the 'how to measre section'. These are NOT the measurements needed for the casual kilt although I was specific about were I took the measurements.


Navel waist was 40" but should have been 36" for trouser waist. Length then would have been 2" shorter to accom. Current kilt needs to worn high and then is too large to stay up even with straps at full cinch.

Now a little research into how to make it fit.

[jgorley]

I did not find this thread until after I ordered my Argyle and kilt. Let us see how the charges add up. Also Kiltstore has been great in keeping me up to date on the progress. Even very helpful and friendly on the phone. My order was shipped on 5-9-08 and is still in customs. Evidently if you order a sgian dubh with a genuine stag antler handle it also needs to clear Fish and Wildlife. To do that Fedex needed info from me, but did not call me. I called them. I explained the item and they said they would have it to me today. I had to call Fedex again and explain. It is now going back to customs to clear, hopefully for delivery on 5-14-08. If only I had found this website before ordering. I would still have ordered from the Kiltstore, I would have just been expecting these issues ahead of time. We will see, and I will update upon receiving my shipment.

[ForresterModern]

I did not find this thread until after I ordered my Argyle and kilt. Let us see how the charges add up. Also Kiltstore has been great in keeping me up to date on the progress. Even very helpful and friendly on the phone. My order was shipped on 5-9-08 and is still in customs. Evidently if you order a sgian dubh with a genuine stag antler handle it also needs to clear Fish and Wildlife. To do that Fedex needed info from me, but did not call me. I called them. I explained the item and they said they would have it to me today. I had to call Fedex again and explain. It is now going back to customs to clear, hopefully for delivery on 5-14-08. If only I had found this website before ordering. I would still have ordered from the Kiltstore, I would have just been expecting these issues ahead of time. We will see, and I will update upon receiving my shipment.

you might also try breaking the order up into several smaller ones, as the little ones have a better chance of getting thru without the customs ding, especially if they are small enough to be sent royal mail rather than fedex. I think Scotweb prefers fedex because they are able to insure the contents and closely track delivery, which is understandably important when they are usually sending custom made and expensive difficult to replace items like custom kilts and jackets.

depending on the vendor you may pay a little more in shipping charges for several smaller packages but will likely more than make up for it on saving the customs.

[merlintree]

Update on the order. FedEx did a reasonably good job. At customs they needed to send for another contents declaration from KiltStore as attached copy was illegible. They didn't realize new copy had arrived until I called and then it sat on a desk for another day - customs time was 2+ days. For a $1000 kit outfit order the duty was about $100 and the FedEx fees about $20. Box was never openned.
I did use my FedEx account to speed up payment through customs but it dodn't make any diference. Shipping on my FedEx account was $203 so I had FedEx reverse charges to KilitStore since they get a substantial discount with FedEx (their rate was $48). KiltStore reapplyied shipping fees to my card account.

I ordered a 40" waist kilt and that was what the label said. It was however loose even with full cinching. Maybe I should have measyred tighter or they assume most people give them a too low measurement. Kiltstore is sending me a second set of buckles and a spare strap. A local kilt maker will set me up with 'double buckling' to deal with my heavy winter me and thinner summer me.

Overall, seems to working out just fine. The next time I order I will know all the 'ins and outs'.

Dave
The Merlin Tree

[northernsky]

I ordered a 40" waist kilt and that was what the label said. It was however loose even with full cinching. Maybe I should have measyred tighter or they assume most people give them a too low measurement.

So I finally had an occasion to wear my tank, and I just couldn't get it to fit right--way too big, even in the tightest strap position. (So far the only thing that came through without problem was the shoes) Took it to a local kilt-maker here in Vancouver and he laughed when he saw where the buckle had been put. Ripped out the stitches and moved the buckle quite a bit. Now it fits like a glove. Another reason to buy local. No charge from the kilt-maker as I was ordering a box-pleat from him. I'll never buy by mail-order again, that's for sure. When there are local makers who hand-stitch and can do several fittings, no postage charges, and half the cost, well it just makes sense (cents).