Info on ordering a knife directly from maker in Japan

Was wondering if anyone can give me info on what the taxes and import tax and whatever are like if I order from Japan directly? Been trying to order one from teruyasu fujiwara and i'm wondering if I pay him in US dollars how it gets converted to yen or do I try to get PayPal to pay in Japanese yen directly? I did try to call a government office (good luck…) and got someone who told me partial would be 2.7% but I'm wondering if there something I'm missing here?

Just trying to avoid getting a knife delivered to me and finding out I had $350 of import taxes due to the government…. Thanks for anybody's help

I have bought directly from Watanabe and paid thru PayPal. No import fees or dues that I am aware of. This is for shipping to USA.

I ordered one directly from T. Fujiwara. Pretty sure I just paid directly through paypal--conversion rate was reasonable. Didn't get hit with any customs fees. In my experience, this is pretty hit or miss for customs. The one I remember specifically (which was not a knife) was 5% of the purchase price. Really not that bad.

Bill13 said:

I have bought directly from Watanabe and paid thru PayPal. No import fees or dues that I am aware of. This is for shipping to USA.

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lus1:

I bought from several Japanese makers and several Japanese retailers.
Always paid PayPal. Always asked to declare lower value of package (usually around $40). No issues with customs, and no taxes.
Just keep in mind the higher the declared value the more chances to get taxed.

I also just put in an order for a few knives with retail value of ~$1,000 from Japan. Any one ever get dinged on a duty charge for such a purchase?

Edit: I just used http://www.dutycalculator.com/ and found out if I do get a taxed, it would be ~6% in the US. Not so bad...

I recently ordered a knife directly from FUJIWARA TERUYASU.I will follow up when the knife arrives and post my observations and opinions.I payed via Paypal and I am located in the USA.
Best,
salmonkiller

I received an email from Fujiwara today.....It seems that he is going to make the knife and ship it later this week.This process will make the knife more sentimental purchasing directly from the Blade smith rather than a dealer in my eyes.I will post updates throughout the process.I replied to him.......ありがとうございます。

Dear , ***** *****

Hello, This is Fujiwara.

Thank you for ordering my knife.

We'll finish to make your knife this week.(23/1/2015)

Confirming your payment , we send your knife.

Thank you

Fujiwara