International Shipping Policies and Customs Fees

International Shipping Method

Sideshow utilizes whichever carrier will deliver your collectible safely and efficiently while keeping shipping costs as favorable to the collector as possible, ensuring you receive your items without having to sell your mint condition copy of Action Comics#1. For international shipments, the preferred carrier is DHL, but if you would like to use another carrier please contact us.

How are the International Shipping Charges calculated?

International shipping charges are calculated by dimensional weight and the country of destination (since each country will have different costs and fees associated with it). At the moment we only ship to select countries currently on this planet and in this dimension, sorry.

During the check-out process, you will be provided with a shipping quote for in-stock orders, but pre-order items may not have that quote available until seven days prior to the item's arrival at our warehouse. We will email you well ahead of time to confirm shipping costs. 

International Destinations

In most cases, customs fees, sales taxes, etc., are not included in your purchase price and may be charged by your country’s customs office. In some cases, these duties and customs fees are collected by the carrier. 

It is your responsibility to investigate the amount of taxes and duties you will owe prior to your shipment. Sideshow uses the harmonized code that we have been told is appropriate for the shipping of our products to your region, but your customs office has the power to change this code on its own. We don’t want an international incident, so we’re not going to argue with them.

If you feel that your final code/tax is not correct, then you can contact the carrier and/or your customs office directly to request a review. If a package is refused due to excessive import fees and duties, you will be responsible for any return shipping fees that the carrier will charge Sideshow to return the package. If Sideshow is unable to have the item returned due to a package refusal, a refund will not be issued.

Please review our policy here.

International shipments will be sent from our U.S. warehouse or our overseas warehouse, depending on your delivery address. Sideshow DOES NOT collect Duty / VAT directly and therefore those fees are not included in your order total. International customers are responsible to pay Duty and VAT directly to the carrier at the time of delivery or via bill/invoice afterward.

Approximate Duty on our products

Duty assessed on Sideshow items is approximately 5% – 6.5% but will vary based on the type of item. You should verify the duty rate with your local customs office.

Some of our current import categories based on custom regulations include, but are not limited to:

1) Plastic toys, dolls, action figures, parts, and accessories. (Duty code: 9503)

2) Collectors’ models and statuettes (polystone / polyresin items). (Duty code: 3926)

Please note that Sideshow tries to select the best import code for each category of product. However, individual customs offices can reclassify these categories and alter the duty codes before clearance, causing changes in the rates charged. Sideshow is not responsible for code changes nor any additional charges that you may incur. We cannot alter the local customs office's decision. Any dispute about these charges must be made directly with your customs office.

To summarize –Sideshow tries our best, but we have no sway with international customs officers and we just follow their rules. You need to do the same if you want to get your stuff.

(However, we might revisit this policy once our plan for world domination is complete. . . . We’ve said too much.)

How to calculate your Total

Import fees

Calculating your Total Import Costs:

1) Duty Cost= (Item price + Freight cost (incl. insurance)) x Duty Rate (5% - 6.5%)

2) VAT Cost= (Item price + Freight cost + Total Duty) x VAT (%)

3) Total Import Costs= VAT Cost + Duty cost + Advancement fee