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customs forms - what u do

BurnsBurns 2,227 Posts
edited June 2009 in Strut Central
Do yall declare a small value to the record being sent? I've been told to put different things for different countries. Anywhere from $1 to $8 even when it is a high dollar piece.What is being sent? I've put "overstock records".Any help.

  Comments

  • behemothbehemoth 2,189 Posts
    i always put a record. declare it as a gift and a low monetary value
  • mrboogieman88mrboogieman88 74 Posts
    If it's really big money and it's insured, obviously you can't insure for big dollars and then declare it as a smaller amount, but in general you're helping the person escape customs duties and taxes if you declare a smaller amount and call it a gift...
  • hcrinkhcrink 8,729 Posts
    I mark everything going normal first class USED RECORD $9.99 and I rarely have things get hung up in customs.
  • StringsStrings 82 Posts
    I mark everything going normal first class USED RECORD $9.99 and I rarely have things get hung up in customs.



    In my country we have to pay taxes + handling fees + wait an extra 2-3 weeks for stuff worth over $25 that gets stuck in the customs, so I'm really grateful for people that are helping me out by valuing the record at under $25.

    I once bought some DJ equipment for $1000 or something and got the seller to write $15 on the package, and everything worked out fine. Basically I think you can value the stuff you're sending at whatever amount you want, and get away with it. The customs don't want to waste their time on you, they're after the serious smugglers.
  • BurnsBurns 2,227 Posts


    Yes, I wrote the actual value of per se record on custom form ($90), and it got held up at customs in Austria, dude had to pay $40 dollars in taxes to get it out. Felt bad, but I didn't know.
  • ReynaldoReynaldo 6,054 Posts
    For a single LP, I mark it as a gift, put "vinyl record (music)" in the description, and put $3 as the value.

    For large quantities, a good time saver is printing the sender's name and address and description on the customs forms instead of writing it by hand. You can create a template in a word processor.

    Here's the one I use: customs-form.rtf (open in word or works)

    Place the form in your printer face down long ways, green part in first.
  • SoulhawkSoulhawk 3,197 Posts
    I have heard about German customs agents opening up packages & searching the contents on the internet to find the 'real' value - crazy

    German customs once sent me a bill for 4 euro - written in German too - still trying to figure that one out
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