More Customs Drama???
Jonny_Paycheck
17,825 Posts
I have a customer who is now asking that I not write the name of my shop anywhere on the package. International dudes, is this the true?Obviously if I don't write the shop's name it will not be returned to me if there is some problem. More to the point I ship a lot of packages a week and I have a computer system that prints out the labels and I guess it's just one but fuck man I am just trying to ship shit as quickly as possible.What's the hell is going on with international customs???
Comments
I don't know--sounds more like an issue with his wife, or his employer, or whoever else might be looking over his shoulder at the other end.
well, if you mark the records as a "gift" in the customs declaration, I can understand that dude doesn't want the name of your shop on the package. IS THIS THE CASE?
Customz overseas is not looking good.
I mark "gift" because I am asked to.
If that doesn't help fool the customs agents, perhaps dudes need to face the reality that they have to pay customs duties to import stuff.
Yeah, I've been willing to fudge the value/transaction of packages
for Euro dudes all along, but when they get salty because you didn't
commit international mail fraud to their exact specifications, I get
to the point of saying "shit, dude - maybe you should just pay the
customs fee!" I always wonder if there is any way I could end up getting
screwed for filling out customs forms with untrue information.
but wouldn't it end up hurting your business?
This is the first time anyone's ever asked me to fudge my address. I think I'll be OK.
If you're implying that losing international customers would hurt my business, of course it would - but so would getting into some hot water with customs or the USPS.
sayin'.
I just put $5 on the customs form. No duty, no lying and saying it is a gift, just lying about how much dude paid, in which there is no way to check.
Yes, but in many cases, the weak US dollar is helping
these guys get fantastic bargains in the first place.
It arrived and I had to pay ??60 (around $110 on today's rates) to pick that shit up from customs.
Wasn't the seller's fault, but DAMN... I wasn't excited about that one.
Ok, so how do they calculate this shit?
I don't see the rationale of charging a 140% duty on an item purchased.
I had always thought it was a percentage of the declared value on the package... up until I got that one through. I contested it and they said it would simply be held until I paid the costs.
yeah, that case is mad suspect. In Argentina, you have to pay 50% of everything over $20. Like, declared value $40, you pay $10.
Is there a ceiling? Or is the duty $90 on a $200 item?
Because that is robbery.
I once got a gift sent to me for me birthday and they put the value of the gift for insurance purposes of $100. They paid 40 bucks to get it to me quick and I ended up having to pay another 40 on duty & brokerage to get my own bday gift.
No ceiling that I know of. Bottom line is you are not supposed to import items on you own. Oh, and the free $20 are per year.
In Jamaica its 40% on all electronic items,and up to 180% on some motor vehicles.
http://www.tradeboard.gov.jm/imports/list/vehicles_duty.php
People will buy from you regardless of branding, but branding does help business. Maybe have an international label that is different from the domestic? Why not switch it to your real name with the address, or something made up with the correct address like Jonny Good or something.
I honestly don't think it would make a difference. I ship 50-100 packages a month. Mostly to the same countries. The customs agents will see the printed postage and addresses, the professional packaging, and they're going to be thrown off by a few words (in English, no less)?
I feel bad because I can't imagine paying to receive packages but there's a certain point at which it becomes ridiculous.
I used to get sent big boxes of stuff (the annual Supreme clothing delivery was much-loved) to my office from the US (I'm in London) and we'd almost never get any charges. All of them were usually marked 'promotional' on the customs labels.
Truth
I use to do the same thing when sending over shit loads of records to shops.
"We got you now you little prick!"
USPS= not to be fucked with.
"if you want me to lie about my address then I can't be held responsible for whatever happens to the package after I mail it. I'll send you a scan of the receipt and a picture of the package, but you're taking this risk on yourself. "
Something like that.
american record dudes are lonely
A business shipment is more likely to be considered taxable whereas a personal shipment will usually fly under the radar or be considered a non-taxable personal item.
these fuckers would send me notes all the time saying that I have to pick up packages with records at their office across town. Took me a fucking hour to get there, so all in all those imbeciles took a total of two and a half hours out of my day just to try and fuck with me about one single record. Sometimes this happened two or three times a week!
If you do let them fuck with you, it's not cheap!
Customs fees are about 12% and tax is 19% meaning you pay a third of the total of merchandise and shipping costs!
Needless to say, with only one single exception in 6 years, I never paid a cent!
I just had a lot of friends in the US that would send me 45s as gifts for even the smallest occasion.
Only this once, some ebay dealer insisted on declaring the full amount of $ 400 and I had to shell out around 100 Euros (tax back then was 16% instead of 19%)... this still pains me to this day. I'd much rather burn my money than give it to the government, greedy, filthy sons of bitches!