Shipping on swap board-customs value

[Yedda]

Quick question, what do sellers typically do when selling items on the swap board to international users that would have to pay customs fees? Do you list the value as what was paid for the items?

[mz_butterfly]

Out of courtesy, when I ship out of the country, I mark the item as a gift and place a $10-15 value on the item. It's already expensive enough and to add another custom fee on top of that is a burden on the person that has paid for their item and trying to get a bargain. I always mark the package as gift and never report the total contents as more than $20 USD.

[shirohane]

All the packages that I received from other LHCers have been marked below $15 USD and gift regardless of how much I paid for the item. (Some marked even as low as $5)

[BlackRedRaven]

When i think of it, i always ask sellers to mark my packages with a maximum of $25 total and as a gift. With that it passes german costums most times without me having to pay extra fees.

[Yedda]

Thanks Ladies! I'm not too familiar with how customs work so that helps!

[Etna]

This is a little complex. I agree with marking "gift" but if you mark the value as low when shipping something much more expensive, you as a seller place yourself in a situation where you would not be able to claim adequate compensation from the postal company in the case of damage or loss. For example if you mark it as $15 with $70 or more worth of product in there, you'll only get $15 back if the mail carrier loses it. That's quite a loss. $55 you won't ever get back. Perhaps something to discuss with the buyer.

I think this is something all sellers should consider.

[Kaelee]

This is a little complex. I agree with marking "gift" but if you mark the value as low when shipping something much more expensive, you as a seller place yourself in a situation where you would not be able to claim adequate compensation from the postal company in the case of damage or loss. For example if you mark it as $15 with $70 or more worth of product in there, you'll only get $15 back if the mail carrier loses it. That's quite a loss. $55 you won't ever get back. Perhaps something to discuss with the buyer.

I think this is something all sellers should consider.

This.

I also wonder, do they sometimes open/inspect packages? It's something to consider if they do, if the package is marked $5 and there's something obviously far more expensive in there, what would happen?

I'd definitely mark it as gift though...otherwise, if it's a high amount, I might ask the buyer what I should do. I don't know the postal/import regulations in every country, so I have no idea what to do.

[Stellaaa]

This.

I also wonder, do they sometimes open/inspect packages? It's something to consider if they do, if the package is marked $5 and there's something obviously far more expensive in there, what would happen?

I'd definitely mark it as gift though...otherwise, if it's a high amount, I might ask the buyer what I should do. I don't know the postal/import regulations in every country, so I have no idea what to do.

A certain maker of gorgeous inlaid sticks always marks his with an $11 value. I figure he's safe if customs people are anything like my DH. My DH would totally believe I paid $10 for one of those, or at least he would have until I showed him my wish list, at which point he exclaimed, "$90 for one stick!!??" and broke into a sweat.

[BlackRedRaven]

When the cosutms opens packages and they are sure, that the value on the declaration is much lower than the real value of things in the package, they send a letter to the recipient of the package. So you have to go to the costums with the original bill or paypal-receipt and pay the taxes/fees for the original total amount. Bot noone (neither the seller nor me) ever got problems from that.

[Chromis]

This is a little complex. I agree with marking "gift" but if you mark the value as low when shipping something much more expensive, you as a seller place yourself in a situation where you would not be able to claim adequate compensation from the postal company in the case of damage or loss. For example if you mark it as $15 with $70 or more worth of product in there, you'll only get $15 back if the mail carrier loses it. That's quite a loss. $55 you won't ever get back. Perhaps something to discuss with the buyer.

I think this is something all sellers should consider.

On the other hand, I've never had much luck making postal claims anyhow...

I usually just mark $20 and always gift. I tend to tuck in a couple little treats anyhow, so it likely would look pretty gift-like if they opened mine!

[Kaelee]

A certain maker of gorgeous inlaid sticks always marks his with an $11 value. I figure he's safe if customs people are anything like my DH. My DH would totally believe I paid $10 for one of those, or at least he would have until I showed him my wish list, at which point he exclaimed, "$90 for one stick!!??" and broke into a sweat.

:laugh:

This is true. Chances are a customs agent has no clue what these things are worth.

I shipped a ficcare yesterday and marked it the price I sold it for ($35, marked as gift). It was going to Canada so I hope it's safe, I didn't hear anything about outrageous taxes on goods going into Canada, I thought better safe than sorry. The postman looked at the customs slip and said "wow that must be a really nice hair clip!" I just sort of chuckled and said "yea, it is." :p

ETA: I have only shipped things internationally twice in my life, I am hoping I didn't accidentally screw my buyer over. I'm starting to wonder after reading this thread. :(

[faellen]

I have been buying and selling online for years and have always marked parcels as a gift with a lesser value when sending outside the EU. The same has not always been done for me, however, though I rarely get customs charges it has happened now and then. My most recent customs charge for a hairtoy was £13 (£5 was VAT, the other £8 was a "handling fee"!)

[Kaelee]

The EU has some of the most absurd taxes and fees on things coming in.

[BlackRedRaven]

Here in Germany it is 19% taxes on the total amount (price + shipping!) and on things over 120€ there is an additional fee, depending on what kind of item it is... so most times i'd rather take the risk, that the seller writes a lower value on the package, because so far every package arrived here (or was at least returned).

[Magalo]

:laugh:

I shipped a ficcare yesterday and marked it the price I sold it for ($35, marked as gift). It was going to Canada so I hope it's safe, I didn't hear anything about outrageous taxes on goods going into Canada, I thought better safe than sorry. The postman looked at the customs slip and said "wow that must be a really nice hair clip!" I just sort of chuckled and said "yea, it is." :p

ETA: I have only shipped things internationally twice in my life, I am hoping I didn't accidentally screw my buyer over. I'm starting to wonder after reading this thread. :(


I'm in Canada and I got extra fees two times since I'm buying in the internet (and hell, I'm ordering someting pretty much every week!!)... once it was because it was sent by fedex (handling fees or someting), and last time it was because the package was big and heavy (Dr Martens boots). I doubt your buyer will have custom fees. :p

[Stellaaa]

:laugh:

This is true. Chances are a customs agent has no clue what these things are worth.

I shipped a ficcare yesterday and marked it the price I sold it for ($35, marked as gift). It was going to Canada so I hope it's safe, I didn't hear anything about outrageous taxes on goods going into Canada, I thought better safe than sorry. The postman looked at the customs slip and said "wow that must be a really nice hair clip!" I just sort of chuckled and said "yea, it is." :p

ETA: I have only shipped things internationally twice in my life, I am hoping I didn't accidentally screw my buyer over. I'm starting to wonder after reading this thread. :(

In Canada there is no tax on gifts less than $40, so your recipient is safe.

[Etna]

On the other hand, I've never had much luck making postal claims anyhow...

I usually just mark $20 and always gift. I tend to tuck in a couple little treats anyhow, so it likely would look pretty gift-like if they opened mine!

Last year I had to chase up a refund for some jewelry that the mail office had lost. They delivered a clearly ripped open, empty envelope. I received a full refund and used that to re-pay the seller, (who mind you never even said thank-you!) It is possible to obtain refunds on lost mail in Australia.

This thread is educational. I never realized Canada had customs fees also. I knew about Europe. Any other nations with customs fees?

[Venefica]

Second hand items have a lower value than new ones, many say a second hand item have half the value of a new one, at least no one would think it wrong to mark a package as second hand and half the value of what it cost as new if the seller is not comfortable with marking it as gift.

[wendyg]

Etna: I think you'll have a hard time finding a country that *doesn't* have customs fees.

In the UK, customs duty does not apply until the item is worth more than £136, and you pay only if the duty comes to more than £9. HOWEVER, VAT (at 20% except for books, which are zero-rated) kicks in much earlier. For commercially sourced items, VAT applies to anything valued at over £15 *including postage*. Gifts under £36 do not attract VAT. The real killer, though, is the fees and delays introduced by the Royal Mail, who charge a handling fee of £8 and may delay the package up to a couple of weeks. On the sorts of items we send each other, that is usually more than the VAT would be.

wg

[moxamoll]

The killer shipping to Canada is that the customs fees are applied randomly. They pull aside some percentage of packages for "inspection" and charge fees on those. So I can order 3 packages from a retailer and no fees, but the fourth package might show up with $25 owing. And I try not to use retailers who only ship Fedex or UPS because they use a brokerage, so you are charged customs plus custom's handling fee plus the shipping company's handling fee. Nothing online is ever cheap enough to offset that!

[Kaelee]

The killer shipping to Canada is that the customs fees are applied randomly. They pull aside some percentage of packages for "inspection" and charge fees on those. So I can order 3 packages from a retailer and no fees, but the fourth package might show up with $25 owing. And I try not to use retailers who only ship Fedex or UPS because they use a brokerage, so you are charged customs plus custom's handling fee plus the shipping company's handling fee. Nothing online is ever cheap enough to offset that!

Yikes!!! See, I can't imagine ordering something and it showing up and having to owe that much money (probably putting the item way over budget in the process!) That would tick me off to no end. :rant:

[moxamoll]

Yikes!!! See, I can't imagine ordering something and it showing up and having to owe that much money (probably putting the item way over budget in the process!) That would tick me off to no end. :rant:

The customs charge depends on the declared value of course, but it can really kill the savings. It's why I don't order from ModCloth any more. $35 shoes + $15 shipping + $23 customs fees? Yeesh.

[Not Lynn Merely]

Oh goodness! What a pain in the neck! Perhaps the LHC needs for the swap board a permanent thread of "so who is traveling to X country from Y country and would be willing to pack a few swap board items?"