I am in the process of placing an order from iherb and I’m trying to figure something out.
Initially while adding items to my cart, I was using a US address. When I changed the address to Taiwan, my order leapt up in price from $70 to $104 and I noticed every item in my cart increased in price.
Though the increase seemed pretty steep, I assumed this must be added duties and taxes - but when I look at the bill details, they list duties and taxes as $17.49, yet the actual cost of my order increased $34.
So it’s like there’s a $17 mystery fee tacked on for Taiwan orders.
I thought maybe it was the overall cost of the order, so tried omitting some items from my cart to bring the price down - but it doesn’t matter, the cost is always higher than the actual duties and taxes fee.
In case it’s relevant I’m not ordering vitamins but food items I can’t find in Taiwan. The order also qualifies for free shipping.
I know vitamins and supplements cost a lot more in Taiwan, and not just due to import duties. Maybe iherb has different prices for their items in different markets to closer align with the market rates?
Yea vitamins and supplements cost a lot more in Taiwan due to their archaic laws on them. Essentially they’re considered medication and all that.
Best to get NHI to pay for it. Essentially whenever you go to a doctor you can ask them to prescribe various vitamins. I don’t know if they have multivitamins but they have B group and milkweed (for helping with liver issues) and probably other stuff.
Because from the way they overcharge on supplements, this is how they want it done.
Ever since I started ordering from iHerb many years ago, there’s always been a higher price for items delivered to Taiwan than for items going to a US address. I think the difference goes toward covering a portion of the shipping costs, which would explain how iHerb can offer lower shipping charges to Taiwan than many other overseas vendors.
I once asked iHerb about this. The reply I received didn’t give a clear answer, but it did say that prices vary depending on the destination market.
How is everyone’s experience with iherb? I saw these at the mrt billboard… I also read that customs is raising the tax free amount to something like 40,000nt, but that’s for people bringing stuff in by hand when flying in.
I recently started ordering supplements from them. I think it’s free delivery over $2000 and it’s opened my avenues up for various things I could never find in Taiwan. You pay the customs charge first but then they refund it to you after a week or so if you are eligible. Orders have taken about 1 week to come, so pretty fast. Overall very happy with the site.
