sending stuff to places with high customs fees

[+grips03]

so how do people do this?

 

if you send $50 game to someone, then they pay custom's fee right? Say $20.

but if you send as value $1, then they may or may not pay a fee, right?

 

but what protection do you have in case item breaks due to shipping? You can't really insure something for $100, then claim value of $1

so who is left holding the bag if it does break during shipping?

 

I would think the person who requested the $1 value, right?

so how often does stuff break if packed very well? Is the post office the best way to mail stuff to UK and Europe? What about Canada? Are UPS or FexEd or DHL better?

 

and just so this has some Intv content, Commando looks like a good game.

Edited August 7, 2013 by grips03

[Ignorama]

DHL is good in most cases, BUT you have to pack it very safe. If you send it with value 1$ there is no insurance. Its nasty, but on high value items the custom fees cant be saved if you want the games stay insured. But gifts have higher values. I dont know it for other countries, but in Germany a gift stays free from custom fees up to 45€, while a normal sending is just free up to 22€, shipping is included in that price.

 

The number of broken sendings is very low, but please keep in mind that you have the trouble if your parcel is the one out of 500 which gets lost or something like that

[Oscar G.]

In my experience, the best way to ship to Europe is as follows (this works for Belgium and I guess other European countries)

 

First class international mail + Registered Mail option (signed for)

 

The item can be tracked and needs a signature to be delivered so it is safe.

 

Also no more than $20, used controller, and gift should be written on the customs slip. And no invoice/price should be put inside the shipping box.

 

Of course the item cannot be insured. As a buyer I am willing to take that risk It is more likely that customs damage the goods than the shipping itself, so customs should be avoided at all costs.

 

I have never had any problems getting packages this way.

 

I hope this helps. Cheers!

[+grips03]

Of course the item cannot be insured.

 

 

customs wanted to charge the person $88, as I insured for $200. I think the issue is resolved now, but man $88 for $200 gift is a bit high.

[HunterZero]

Australia has a $1,000 threshold before import duties apply. It is an offense to incorrectly declare the value of an item, but it would be hard to prove this for 2nd hand goods where the value is highly subjective.

 

- James

[boxpressed]

Wow, I had no idea that customs fees could be that high. That's almost 50%!

[+grips03]

The $88 fee was to Canada.

 

What I was told is that limit for Canada is $60 CAD for gift. So if you put $50 USD, then your ok

[ghsqb]

Did you happen to send it by UPS?

They are the worst.

FedEx is bad too but not as bad as UPS.

The customs/duty was not actually $88.

 

What happens when shipping to Canada, is that duty rarely applies, since we have free trade agreements with most major exporters now.

 

CBSA (Canada Border Services Agency) will typically charge the HST (harmonized sales tax) which depends on what province you live in, but will be between 5-15%

 

The rest is the "service fee" that the carrier charges to clear the package through customs.

 

I'll bet you that of that $88, a good $65 is a service charge from whoever delivered the package and cleared it through customs.

 

Those charges are absolutely ridiculous, and that's why I only import through the USPS, but even then I usually pick up my parcels at my US address now.

[Games For Your Intellivision]

NEVER NEVER NEVER send something to Canada via UPS. Their brokerage fees are absolute robbery.

 

They don't inform the people sending the package that they will hold the package hostage for 70 or 80 bucks PLUS the tax......

 

I've heard FedEx is pretty bad too.

 

If tax is due, Canada post usually charges about a 10 dollar fee per box, PLUS GST/HST which is 13 percent in Ontario.

[Certifiable]

When I sell something to a foreign buyer I always use USPS Priority but in my own box.

 

That way it's tracked all the way AND it costs much less than a flat rate box...

 

My post office loves it when I show up with all the customs paperwork already done for them by ebay-

 

Even if you falsify the values of the items it still looks super official, all they seem to care about is if you got the correct package weight...

[+grips03]

Did you happen to send it by UPS?

 

I did send via UPS. Looks like I won't be using them for outside the US.

[+grips03]

NEVER NEVER NEVER send something to Canada via UPS. Their brokerage fees are absolute robbery.

 

They don't inform the people sending the package that they will hold the package hostage for 70 or 80 bucks PLUS the tax......

 

I've heard FedEx is pretty bad too.

 

If tax is due, Canada post usually charges about a 10 dollar fee per box, PLUS GST/HST which is 13 percent in Ontario.

 

I paid 50.77 to mail something to Canada. Why would the person getting the package need to pay a fee too? This is crazy.

[Oldtimer]

In the UK we're screwed to the floor with charges on incoming purchases. We're officially hit with 20% VAT charges on anything over about (it has changed slightly in recent months) £16 . But that's NOT 20% VAT on anything OVER £16. Nay........it's 20% VAT on the whole £16.01. PLUS then the SHIPPING cost is added into the value for tax purposes,so if you bought a game from say the USA and paid the aforementioned £16.01 plus say $14 shipping then it'd be £16.01 + (appx) £9 = £25.01 + VAT @ 20% =£5 . THEN comes the courier handling/clearing/processing (they can call it what they want it's daylight robbery by another name) That's often another £10 on top so if your £16.01 acquisition doesn't manage to slip through customs you could end up paying the £16.01 + £5 VAT + £10 courier clearing fees so it whacks you for as much as £31 & that's with the shipping out of the equation,add that back in and your £16 game is now £40. Its a wonder anyone trades with the UK

 

I use the qualifier 'officially' as often items slip through unnoticed (that's how we get most of our population here too ) I bought a fishing reel from the US,paid £100 as it sells for £200 in the UK. I was prepared for the hit but it came through without customs attention so that was nice. On the flip side I bought a N64 Animal Forest (crossing) from Japan,from memory (it was sold in $USD) it was $24-odd at the time.The exchange rate made it £17.56 (it USED to be £18 allowance back then) on the day of purchase. However,on arriving here 10 days later it had apparently fluctuated and I was hit with the sort of charges mentioned above-it was charged on a value of £18.02!!! Two bloomin' pence cost me £15 extra

 

To cap it all,on anything over about £120 we then attract 'EU Duty' too, which is another 12% (ish) on top. I found that out the hard way years back

 

To get things into the UK there are one or 2 ways to lessen the blow,we can have about double the value on anything marked as a 'gift' so that helps on smaller purchases.Then there's the ruse mentioned on the OP about marking customs at low values.

 

That's all very well on a private purchase paid for in some non-claimable way when the buyer really DOES have to accept responsibility. From experience though Ive found people change their tune about accepting full responsibility for no insurance if an item does get bulldozed by a courier. Ive put down over 20,000 eBay transactions over the years and the majority as a seller and know that eBay here won't blink,if an item arrives damaged and the buyer enters an 'item not as described' claim then you've seen the last of the money. That they asked you specifically to falsify customs and SAID they accepted responsibility doesn't play here (EVEN with email proof they requested it), basically it'd be a miracle for eBay to side with the seller and not just give the buyer their money back. Most buyers experience sudden buyers remorse when a valuable purchase takes on damage.eBay seem to disregard shipping damage,as far as theyre concerned it's the seller's job to get the item to the buyer as seen in the listing and any incidentals are not part of their consideration.

 

I agree with this to some extent and have never had a damaged item.Sure some couriers kicked seven colours of @!?&! out of an outer box but the packaging was better than their effort and the prized item was more than safe inside. So from my point of view I pretty much don't consider that an issue but Ive known many sellers talked into shipping with $5 on the box as a 'gift' only to have it pick up a bend or ding and suddenly theyre facing an eBay claim that they can't recoup through the mail insurance as they've under-valued the item. Which is -in eBay's case -ENTIRELY the seller's risk- which can be really annoying when you get pleading buyers begging you to ship 'at $10 declared-don't worry its MY risk and Im happy with that.' Believe me through eBay as a seller YOU shoulder the risk,if that buyer turns on you-and on a $300 purchase they MIGHT! then eBay will have the money off you in a flash and will advise you to take it up with your mail insurance.

 

That's the take on it from here. Big values are always a risk and yes you CAN chance it and declare a low value but if youre the seller you're taking a biggie. If you sold a Spiker for $1500 I wonder how many folks would risk sending it knowing theyre relying on the word of the buyer that if the mail lose the item they'll accept that risk.And I wonder how many buyers would hold their hand up and say 'Yeah it's my bad,Ill just have to accept it's lost' It would take a big man to accept that,the vast majority immediately start looking at whether the seller REALLY DID send it. And with Paypal making up such a large amount of the transactions worldwide as a seller you're the one looking down the barrel.

 

So I try to stick to just declaring it as it is truly valued.Certain countries have superb mail services (at least Ive found them to be ) and you'd no doubt get no hassle at all taking a risk on the value but some are awful too and 'lose' or open far too many. I know what I can do and to where but on really big value items I still watch eagle eyed til it's tracked to destination. If the buyer's keen enough to get an item they'll accept the risk of charges,I'd ONLY ship at a low value on say the Spiker mentioned if you know there's NO way you could later face a claim if sticky fingers got to the item before delivery. Certain eastern European countries have a lot of problems with this and most UK sellers won't entertain shipping there. Pack well and take the damage risk out of the equation!

[Games For Your Intellivision]

I try to declare 20 dollar values on packages that are not insured for sending my games.

 

People who get 'tracked' packages, it is their call. However, if it is damaged or missing, too bad, so sad.

 

Brokerage fees really are robbery.

 

We get hit with them, plus 13 percent tax on stuff that doesn't make it through, so ours isn't as bad as the UK VAT, but close enough.

[+cmart604]

 

 

I paid 50.77 to mail something to Canada. Why would the person getting the package need to pay a fee too? This is crazy.

 

Exactly! Sometimes what we end up paying UPS on our end exceeds what you've already paid. It's criminal. When sending stuff to Canada please use USPS as most of the time duty isn't charged and maybe only 15% of the time (or less), do we even have to pay HST or PST.

[voltron]

. We're officially hit with 20% VAT

Thats crazy, they have been pushing for VAT here in the States, and for now its been shot down, but it comes up every year. I dont know who the EU agree to it, basically it give politicians the ability to tax anything for any reason. If you have a tissue and you blow your nose on it I can say you increased the value of the tissue bc know it contains protein. I know its an extreme example but thats how a VAT works or at least how they want to implement it here in the State. Sorry for hijacking the thread and making it political, but I feel that too many who work are overtaxed to support those that can work but decided to live off the system.

 

 

Anyway yeah it sucks shipping via UPS and Fedex international. the best is just USPS pricewise. But you always take a risk. I have had a few packages lost, my most recent one in May. Thats why its tricky dealing internationaly unless you and the pther party have a good relationship and are aware of the risk.