WEEK 166----The Hassle & Price You pay for Beer Mail into KL

We are (as in the whole fxxking world) living in unusual times for sure---social distancing has now become part of daily life( at least for now til very near future)---we cannot just show up at breweries or bars or bottle shop to get a bottle/a can/a pint like we used to--with most countries/cities closing their borders or having some form of movement restrictions---trying to get some form of beer mail coming in from other cities or overseas looks like one way of beating the situation though that option too is looking increasingly harder with both Europe and US facing very difficult situations....

不久前因为近年非常少有的收到国外寄来一箱啤酒，于是重温了一次多年前开始从欧美城市找酒整箱寄过来，为此而时不时跑到关税局领酒的过程。

有新朋友问说自己从欧美城市找酒进来本地会是怎样一个过程，这里就自身经验非专业简单分享一下：-

Anyway, if anyone of you particularly those living in Malaysia are somehow looking to get some beer mail in personally---this one is about what kind of hassle and price one needs to pay trying to get some beer mail into craft desert KL---this was done early in the year when the pandemic situation was still very mild world wide.....

so here's basically what one would go through:-

1) there's likely 3 ways of how one can get a beer mail in---firstly of course is buying online---secondly getting help from someone who buy on behalf and sent in---thirdly is getting some bottles as a gift either from a friend or relatives or someone who really likes you enough to sent you something.

Whichever way it might be---once the package reached Malaysia custom---and somehow did not get sent directly to your stated address---then you know your pack is being HELD by the custom.

1）会有国外寄来的酒箱子离不开三个来源，一是自己上网买，二是让国外啤迷朋友帮忙买，第三是有亲朋戚友或惺惺相惜的啤迷免费赠与，无论是任何来源，一旦寄来本地然后被关税局先扣住而不是直接送到家的话，那就只能是一个结果，收到邮政局通知後准备付钱给税才能收到箱子。

2) of course you can track where your beer mail is at if you have the parcel tracking code---from the time the pack leave port from whichever origin point---to say a 2nd transfer point--and then to Malaysia port---the best outcome will be that once you see the package reached Malaysia---it will come directly to your door within 1 or 2 weeks time---unfortunately---at least from personal experiences---that chance of beer mail coming directly to your door is LESS THAN 20%

2）无论是自己买还是被赠与，只要有箱子条码讯息就可网上追踪，从最初啤酒装箱送往欧美当地邮政或物流收集站，到几时离开寄发地或中转地到何时寄到本地都查得到，最美好结果当然是到本地後一两周时间内箱子被直接送到门口签收，事情就圆满了。可惜的是，个人经验来说，这个可能性只有大概不到20%，更多时候是箱子到达本地後会收到邮政通知说东西被扣在关税局。

3) Once your parcel is HELD at the custom storage---you will know because the POSTAL office will sent you a notice( used to be a letter---but the last time they sent an SMS)---once you get that notice---you have 3 options to decide how to proceed:-

A)  appoint POS MALAYSIA as your collecting agent( of course not for free--there's a handling fee ( i think it's around RM 50 plus whatever taxes the custom decides later which they will claim when delivering) --BUT FIRST u need to provide an invoice for the beer mail--it can be the actual one or an estimated one before they proceed.

B) appoint someone to pick up on behalf by a letter

C) go and collect yourself

3）收到邮政通知说箱子被扣住的话，基本只有三个处理方式：-

其一是通过付费委托邮政局全权处理，除了邮政局的基本手续费当然也要付关税局决定的税务总数。

其二是以文件方式委托他人帮忙去关税局处理。

其三则是自己亲自跑一趟关税局。

4) If you happened to live within Klang Valley ---then the place to visit will be the custom office very nearby the OLD LCCT--which is easily a 40 mins to 1 hour drive from KL area---depending on how busy the custom office is during your visit---with driving time included----it would take anything between 3-4 hours at least to see the beer mail parcel safely at home.

4）因为箱子是被扣在关税局储物间，这意味着住在雪隆一带的啤迷无论选择二或三都必须去位于雪邦旧廉航机场（LCCT）附近的关税局领酒，这也是让人有点困扰的事，除了因为路途有点遥远费时之外，也因为处理完整个领酒过程也要看当天人多不多，以个人最近一次经验来说，驾车一来一回路途时间加上关税局手续时间差不多花了三个多小时才顺利把酒带回家开箱。

5) At the Custom Office---there's basically 3 steps involved:-

FIRST---go to the storage counter to claim your parcel by showing either letter or the SMS from POS MALAYSIA which include code for your parcel. 

SECOND---take that parcel/box to the next counter where a custom officer will attend to you and usually they will tell you to ‘ BUKA”(open up in Bahasa Malaysia--which could also mean undress depending on the occasion :)  ---so you will need to open up the parcel/box and show what's inside---more often than not you will need to pull out the bottles one by one and explain what it is--or why the label looks like that---or why a beer bottle contain a cork (because only wine needs a cork they said)----or what is a LAMBIC---why they are NOT wine(higher taxes for wine)---things like that..

The officer in charge will write  down the total Volume of the content---also average ABV---as well they will ask for either actual cost of the box or at least estimated one because there's sale taxes involved( regardless if you get it for free or otherwise).

THIRD---after the officer is satisfy that he/she has taken all necessary notes---the papers will be handed over to you to proceed to the next counter---which is essentially the counter where they will calculate and decide how much money is parting from your wallet.
5）在关税局，基本流程三个步骤，先去储物间填写资料把箱子领出来，然后到检验站开箱让官员检视记录箱子内有什么，官员需要的资料包括啤酒总量多少公升，平均酒精含量，什么价位买的，就算是朋友免费增与，官员也会要求估价，这些记录将被送去最後一站税务估算处决定需要给多少钱才能把酒箱子带回家。这意味着就算每次都有朋友免费从国外寄酒来，卡在关税局的话还是得缴些入口税酒精税销售税等等的才能把被列为“敏感货物”的啤酒领走。

6) how much are you expected to be charged? that will depend on a few factors---basically the higher the TOTAL VOLUME ( meaning 12 cans of 500ml will be lower than 12 bottles of 750ml)--also the higher the average ABV the higher the sin tax will be---and then the higher the prices for the goods then the higher the other taxes will be.

From my understanding---the final cost is based upon import tax+ excise duty + sale taxes---*if i'm not wrong the LOGISTIC cost from original point to Malaysia is also part of the calculation.

IN SHORT---let's say you get a box of beers for FREE from overseas---and say average ABV at 6%---you will be looking at  paying something within the range of  RM 10-20 PER BOTTLE at least because they will still ask for an estimation of how much it might cost in USD or EURO even if it's actually gift bottles.

6）关于一个箱子代价多少钱的问题，其实没有统一答案，最後必须付多少税金取决于几个不同因素，首先是箱子装了几支啤酒，是750毫升还是小瓶装，然后要看酒精度，越高收费随着提高，再来是啤酒的美金或欧元价格，然后运输费也被纳入计算税务范围，各种税务加起来，就算啤酒是免费得来的，如果以酒精度6%为计算基准，单只是付给关税局的钱保守估计每一支要马币十多二十多块之间。

7) as for the time needed for beer mail to reach from original point to here---it would vary depending on your choice of method to getting the parcel/box out of custom storage---anything between 3 weeks to 2 months or more is expected.

One thing to note though---the custom storage place is only a common storage room with fans---no cold storage for beer mail boxes ( unless if you have special arrangements which is out of my topic here)---so it would be wise to avoid getting beers which are more sensitive to non-cold storage environment particularly IPAs....

7）关于从欧美寄过来到需要解决关税到最终把酒箱子扛回家需要多长时间问题，一定程度上选择委托邮政局/委托他人还是自己取酒会有时间上的差异，一般来说可能介于三个星期到两个月左右，至于说有没有可能到了本地海关不扣留检验直接放行送到家门口，这个可能性不是完全没有，但基本来说几率非常低。

在本地这个craft beer沙漠，自己从国外找酒寄进来的行为并不多见，也不符合经济效益，但如果你已喝到一定程度觉得市场供应满足不到需求，那就做好必须面对箱子被扣在关税局储物间只能付税领酒的心理准备吧，必须说的是，收藏酒箱子储物间是没有冷藏设备的，如果买的主要是IPA或NEIPA这些对温度时间敏感类型的话，等待领酒时间是会对啤酒鲜香程度造成折损的。

Also it's not common at all here in craft desert KL to see people getting overseas personal beer mail in since it's rather not $$ efficient---but if you do want some overseas beer mail--then be prepared to first receive a notice from POS MALAYSIA---and then be prepared to part more money from your wallet paying the custom before you can happily unboxing at home.