Kayak Pirate

CAUTION - Ranting mood!

Was it a ripped off?

Imagine paying up +72,000php of taxes, duties, storage, more taxes and broker’s fee – for a kayak and paddle set priced at 81,000php! My new kayak set is now an unbelievably, super-expensive, +150000-worth of crap! – Except that it’s only an inflatable version and obviously non-motorized - and it looks more like a play tool more than an expensive expedition boat! Now, is that a SCAM or what?!

(how's my intro so far, i warned you this is ranting time :P tao lang...)

This is the first time that I’ve imported something - having no option to locally source what I need.
My broker - ABPHIL Logistics, couldn’t do anything about the, then growing cost figure, feeling helpless as I was saying that ‘Customs’ practice is just like that’. I wondered why didn’t they just pre-advise me from the very start.. Perhaps I could have applied for an exemption or asked help from somewhere. This is my biggest disappointment in this whole affair as I’ve expected transparency about cost and fees (we are not talking about a cost figure of a few hundreds of pesos only). Hindi po ako mayaman and I’m just an ordinary employee-citizen!

Imagine this scenario – I fly to New Zealand (40-45k plane fare), pick up my stuff, go back home and ride my boat!! That’s a lot faster and CHEAPER and less “painful” than me being ridiculously charged a monstrous amount of money for a gadamn piece of ‘soft’ boat they tagged as luxury item. No wonder we have a lot of illegal smugglers in this country, and even under-the-table deals in Customs!
I just find that my final fee was unacceptable. A friend told me about her import of BMW w/ a total cost-fees of only 200k, that’s just less than 20% of the car value when I was asked to pay 89%?!?!

Anak ng Pawikan talaga! I pay taxes (vat/evat) every single day, I pay a big income tax every single month, now I’m being charged by Customs for an item that I plan to use to promote Philippine Eco-Tourism, as well as Conservation awareness. It's true sometimes that law-abiding citizens are the ones who lose a lot more than 'bad guys' (think smugglers and their buyers).

I find this experience so ironic -- good citizens are always the kawawa and punished ones, I don’t think the big politicians and big businessmen pays this %amount of tax (even if they have millions to spare).


The late beginnings – a flashback

Early this year of 2009, I was preparing for my first team-effort Kayak expedition to complete a modest 100km distance. I was hoping to get a good sponsorship so that my team (all members of UPMountaineers) can acquire the ideal expedition kayak version – sit-in, composite, 16footer singles, rigid kayaks! Ahh - that would be a grand day!

I meant to acquire that version to prepare ourselves for an even tougher 200km distance a few months after, and an even tougher 500km+ distance in the future. But, SURPRISE! We were not to get enough funding from our primary partner – DOT (Tourism), as well as from other sponsors. DOT sort of “cut our funding” given feedback from two kayaking guides (from the kayak association), claiming that my team does not need the expensive sit-in types, and can survive using plastic sit-on versions! Bwisit! Of course, nobody knew about my long-term plans (200km, 500km) and the need to have sit-in versions. I’ve sensed that even in this sport arena – crab mentality is ever present (those kayak guides wanted the money for their use, of course). Argh!

Anyway, I went back to the drawing board – and re-launched my plan, skipped the 100km prep trip (being gung hos), and advertised a 200+km kayak expedition by June. Can we complete that distance? Mah! Hahaha! Gung Ho nga eh! The team got excited and sort of started training, albeit without our kayaks. The potential partner from Singapore, Huey who is an expert kayaker was very excited and supportive of our plans. We intended to get kayaks from him given his reasonable product price and the discount that he offered.
During this period, Swee Chiow (our friend from Everest days) was already on his quest to paddle the Philippines end-to-end!! That’s more than 4000km in 4 or 5 months! (He’s crazy, I’m not haha!) Part of my team’s plan is to ride with him for 10days sometime May or June, but to do that – we need high-end expedition sit-in kayaks, otherwise we’ll just lag behind him, or worse – we’ll just tire ourselves using plastic sit-ons and not even complete our set distance. Even with the ideal sit-ins, we still do not know if we can keep up, so there’s more risk with sit-ons.

By late May - bad luck hit us again, we were lacking a significant amount of cash to push thru with the expedition (which was set to be launched by June1). Truly, the global financial crisis affects everyone, and everything! Meanwhile, Swee Chiow’s expedition has been experiencing some hiccups – he too was having trouble with financial support.

When in doubt, do something!
When I’m not getting what I want - I get agitated, frustrated then do something crazy to move forward. But most of the time – it’s costly! Financially, at least! In mountaineering, I’ve decided to climb mountains without monetary support (to prepare for Everest) – and expensive out-of-the country trips had drained my savings leaving me poor to this day. I don’t even own a condo unit (rent-forever mode), and still living a loan-full of life. =( Funny that until today, I only have an electric fan and transistor radio as my ‘amenities’ in my rented 16sqm-room apartment.

But to hell with comfort life, adventure mode is kicking in - “I want to kayak!”

Renting an expensive 300peso per hour of boat is not a sustainable approach. I did rent several times, and it is not simply meeting what I need in terms of distance, experience and fulfillment!

So why not buy my own kayak? Umm why the hell not?! I got excited, dug for more details and weighed my option.
A. Plastic Sit-on-top! Relatively cheaper (maybe 30k?), but not ideal for long distances (imagine I’ve had quad-cramps and got burnt legs just after 2hours on a sit-on!). Then the bigger concern of hauling the boat to the paddling site!

B. Fiberglass Sit-in! MY IDEAL version. I thought it’s expensive (50-100k) but then so is a high-end mountain bike! Or a Scuba diving gear set! Then my next problem again is – hauling! How do I move this 16-footer boat from one site to the next? I need to have a big car (duh!) and a trailer! Hello?! No F way!

C. Foldable! Ahh… this one just felt perfectly right. Except that each is priced at 150k and up. A little more money and I may just use that to climb another mountain in Nepal. The good thing is that – it fits on a backpack so you can carry it when riding a bus, jeep, even tricycle! :) Still, I just couldn’t afford it.

D. I was left with no other option but to go for an INFLATABLE! Not perfect, not good for expedition – but hey, I can take it to places, ride it easily, even do multi-day trips in a relatively calm seas! It fits on a big pack so transport is easier compared to rigid kayaks.

Inflatable it is! I checked websites, and asked experts. I realized that the good-quality versions are still expensive (50k up), but I didn’t want to buy a cheaper version, poor quality product might cost me my life in an unforeseen mid-water disaster! Was I being over my head buying this inflatable for a hefty sum of money? I WAS LURED BY GREAT ADVENTURES! And I couldn’t wait anymore. Damn the 80k or so, I just have to find more ‘rackets’ to earn a bit more and support my ‘luho’ and unquenched desire to paddle.I thought of this decision (to buy) for quite a few times, sat on it, slept on it – and every time I realize that I still don’t have my own kayak – I get frustrated! So the hell with cost – “I will buy my own kayak!” -- of course I thought it will never reach a 100k mark – stupid me!

**

New Zealand seems to be a good source of inflatable kayaks, supposedly cheaper shipping cost vs. US or Europe. So I went ahead and asked around, and finally – ordered from PaddleZone http://www.paddlerzone.co.nz/.
I chose a tandem version so I’ll have the flexibility to load the boat with camping stuff, or even invite a team mate.

I got so excited that I didn’t bother checking local cost in detail. Soon, I was connected by PaddleZone with Abphil (as their partner here in Manila) – and was sort of assured that I don’t have to worry much. Given that they’re Paddlezone’s partner – they should have known the high cost from the start? I actually asked for a total estimate, but they couldn’t give me any, just a broker’s fee quotation (w/c seems relatively small).

I think what was “tricky” in the overall transaction was the fact that I was kept blind in all possible costs, tax, etc. I only heard trickles of it from time to time. More like little, secret surprises, translating to a growing disappointment.
If I’ve known that the cost will shoot up - I could have asked a government agency (like DOT perhaps?) to help me reduce or get exemption given that my primary objective is Tourism promotion or Eco-conservation/docu trips! Or maybe even ask a commercial importer who may have special discount or exemption deals with BOC, etc. After sharing my story to friends and contacts – a few would say “oh why didn’t you tell me, I could have do this and that; or Mr. X could have done something, etc.”

But in my initial correspondences, I was “kept assured” that everything will be just fine. Fine?! Anak ng tinola! Don’t get me wrong, it’s not just about the money, it’s about principles and the painful feeling of being “ripped off” legally or otherwise!

Anyway, for all those who are considering an importation, this story is a watch-out. Of interest, this (below) is how I’ve “managed” to gain this +72,000peso cost (on top of my kayak price and its shipping cost)…

The Science of Tax and other Importation Cost
Below are some tidbits about my expenses, this could be useful for estimating cost; mock calculation should be done BEFORE making an import decision.
I. Non-local cost:
a. Product – this should be the biggest chunk of the total cost BUT NOT necessarily the basis of a go-buy decision. My mistake! In the end, my product cost was only about half of my total expenses! ARGGHH!!
b. Shipping Cost – I chose NZ considering that shipments should be cheaper (closer to home)– cost me +300us$!
c. GST – sometimes the exporting government charges a tax, in my final invoice document, the freight went up, but GST becomes zero (exempted I think), so I’m not sure how this was played. :(
d. Bank charges - if you decide to wire the money for payment. This could easily be a 30$-charge per bank (sending and receiving bank means you’ll pay both).

II. Local cost and the source of my HEADACHE! Tip here – GET A RELIABLE and TRUSTED and preferably a FAMILY-FRIEND broker! If you don’t know anyone and do not want to pay “that much” – don’t import! Your broker is your only line of defense against the “full wrath of our tax laws”, or even against fraud. By default, you’ll be screwed so it’s just a matter of mitigating the tax or fraud issue. Judging from my final total local cost (almost 90% of the product value) – I failed miserably on this cost aspect!


Here’s the breakdown of my total 72k cost. =( It will probably take a few more months before I get past the denial stage. Para akong nasaksak neto!

Some details on the Duty, Dutiable amount (w/c I thought was just the product value), and the VAT (w/c was surprisingly based on total gadamn landed cost and not product price). And where do these taxes go? Sus!

The primary questionable (or hard-to-accept) item here is EXCISE of 20% - for how can an inflatable kayak be classified as a luxury item similar to a yacht or jewelry? And especially if not motorized? I think the customs examiners or BIR people (designing this 'exagg' or 'excess' tax codes) should try paddling for 5 or so hours; or even just a few hours in 1-meter swell out in the sea, and “feel” if they can consider that “a luxurious lifestyle!” Kayaks maybe “non-essential” (for the blind who thinks that global-warmer big cars are essential; or someone who does not understand an ‘eco-tourist’); but definitely not a luxury item similar to a yacht used by a sun-bathing diva!

This excise tax thing also made me wonder how importers like Toby’s or ROX can afford to import, sell and earn from it. :( Am I just being stupid and naïve? Or simply not aware of our complex tax laws? OBVIOUSLY - a 72k tax/cost for an 81k product (that’s 89% of value) is something really difficult to swallow and seemed highly questionable!

Conclusion – Import? NEVER EVER AGAIN!
I guess that's the reason why people buy smuggled goods (not that i do or planning to) - but ugly rules and policies and bad experience such as this will discourage anyone from 'being a good citizen'. 
Mood: Obviously, PISSED!