International hairtoy shoppers! Share your frustration/experiences here!

[Dreams_in_Pink]

I'm sure i'm not the only one with this problem.

It feels like majority of high quality hairtoy makers are located in the USA (Timberstone turnings and Grah-toe to name two). Lucky for US citizens, but what about us? Customs clearance, expensive shipping and waiting aaaages for it to arrive...

I thought it might be a good idea to share our frustration and/or experiences here. I'll start of course :(

I ordered a TT hairstick last week. Erin shipped it on the same day and it arrived to its US destination next day. Perfect, right? Not so much :( I had to forward it to Turkey of course and that's where things got complicated. It should've arrived in 2 workdays normally, but due to extreme weather conditions (rain?!) it's been a week and still hasn't arrived yet! Needless to say, i'm paying extra $$$ to have it delivered within 2-3 work days.

I called the shipping company (TNT, to be exact) and they said it would arrive today. To be honest i don't feel that way :(

[KittyBird]

Customs and handling charges are my biggest annoyance. I have no issues with waiting for a while, but paying a ton of extra money just because my item cost a bit more than $33? That really sucks! My last fork cost $37, and I had to pay more than $30 in customs and handling fees when it got to Norway. Bleh! :mad:

[Dreams_in_Pink]

I know right :( I'm so glad that none of my shipments got caught in the customs, i wouldn't know what to do!

By the way, my shipment just arrived :) Thank goodness!

[eadwine]

Well.. the postal service knows what to do: pay up :lol: Otherwise you are not getting your goods. :) Good to hear it got there :)

[Loviatar]

I've usually had good experiences, except that it costs stupid money (£9.50) to include tracking from UK to abroad.

However my only UK seller of Jamila henna has now decided to stop selling it, thanks hennaboy! :( looks like I'll have to go international again.

[Nebulae]

However my only UK seller of Jamila henna has now decided to stop selling it, thanks hennaboy! :( looks like I'll have to go international again.

What?! Noooo :( that's my henna and where I get it from... sad to hear this, lucky I bought enough to last me a year or more but then what..
Checked their site now and they will have a replacement for the jamila.. wonder if it will be comparable in lawsone/dye? I hope so, since I prefer to buy things from the UK since they at least are in europe so I don't get charged a ton of tax..

Which brings me back to the topic.. like Kittybird I have no problem with waiting for whtever I bought (though the sooner it gets here the better of course :p ) but the customs charges and enormous amount of tax that gets slapped on anything from the US where most hair toy makers are located makes it harder to buy what I want.. more items shipped together saves me money on shipping but brings the value of the package up.. which in turn increases the risk of it getting caught by customs. Then is suddenly gets really expensive. Sigh.

[lapushka]

Seems like the cutoff point for customs is somewhere between €20 & €30 over here (Belgium). It sucks. Either you ask the seller to downvalue the item sent or mark it as "gift" on the customs form, or you pay a hefty fee. Some sellers are great with that (won't name names as it's technically "not done"), others not so much.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

We have some very strict custom laws: the shipment cannot exceed 75 euros in total, max 5 shipments per person aaaand the best one: cosmetic products will be sent back no matter what :)

[StellaKatherine]

I do understand that taxes need to be paid for the item. But what make me see red is, that need to pay taxes for the shipping cost as well!!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.... :doh:

[StellaKatherine]

We have some very strict custom laws: the shipment cannot exceed 75 euros in total, max 5 shipments per person aaaand the best one: cosmetic products will be sent back no matter what :)


I Finland the cost of product + shipping cost must not be more than 22 euros!!! How crazy is that? If it is more than 22 euros but less than 150 - you will pay 24% of taxes. If item+ postage is more than 150 euros, then need to pay 12 % duty + 24% taxes.... I got a birthday present from a friend in US and i needed to pay taxes for it ! And i was asked millions of questions about Why is my friend sending me a bag as a present! :/

[Chromis]

I don't mind the delays and customs is hit or miss in Canada, but what what really pisses me right off is the number of sellers that vastly pad their international shipping fees. I don't mind a couple dollars "handling" fee. Ten or twenty though?!

Or the number of sellers that won't ship outside the US at all. This really bugs me on swap boards (not just here). A related rant, people that say "Ships to US and Canada, no international shipping." Excuse me? This is not the 51st state thankyouverymuch.

[Majorane]

I HATEHATEHATE that 1) you buy a nice stick and hey, so cheap, how nice! but then THERE ARE THE SHIPPING COSTS and boom, if you don't buy a gazillion buddies for it, all of a sudden your great bargain is snoody expensive.

And I also HATEHATEHATE to have to pay extra tax when my item arrived AND ALSO to have to pay 'for the service of taxing your stuff'. NO! THAT IS WRONG! THAT IS NOT FAIR AND IT MAKES ME TALK IN ITALICS!

Why aren't there nice cheap stickmakers in the Netherlands? So unfair.

Then again, we have the best cheese (together with France) and that is cheap so it sort of evens out.

[eadwine]

I Finland the cost of product + shipping cost must not be more than 22 euros!!! How crazy is that? If it is more than 22 euros but less than 150 - you will pay 24% of taxes. If item+ postage is more than 150 euros, then need to pay 12 % duty + 24% taxes.... I got a birthday present from a friend in US and i needed to pay taxes for it ! And i was asked millions of questions about Why is my friend sending me a bag as a present! :/

Do you have to pay a handlers fee as well?

We are stuck with 13 euros slapped on top and then the 21% taxes same as you guys (price + shipping) and shipping WHYYY do I need to pay taxes for shipping??? Shipping is not goods

[Quasiquixotic]

Ugh! I would find this really frustrating. I wish I could help :/

[kaydana]

Or the number of sellers that won't ship outside the US at all. This really bugs me on swap boards (not just here). A related rant, people that say "Ships to US and Canada, no international shipping." Excuse me? This is not the 51st state thankyouverymuch.

On a related note, it kinda bugs me when things being sold by european sellers on the swap board get snapped up by folks in the US. I realise I'm totally unjustified in begrudging them hairtoys, but I can't help but feel a little resentful when I find something I missed went back over to the US. They have such a huge variety of choices, why can't they leave alone the stuff that made it to this side of the pond?.

[StellaKatherine]

Do you have to pay a handlers fee as well?

We are stuck with 13 euros slapped on top and then the 21% taxes same as you guys (price + shipping) and shipping WHYYY do I need to pay taxes for shipping??? Shipping is not goods

There are two ways. Eather you pay for handlers to make the tax sertificat for you ( that would be 10 euros) or you can make it yourself online. Taxes for shipping make me jump on the walls :D

[StellaKatherine]

On a related note, it kinda bugs me when things being sold by european sellers on the swap board get snapped up by folks in the US. I realise I'm totally unjustified in begrudging them hairtoys, but I can't help but feel a little resentful when I find something I missed went back over to the US. They have such a huge variety of choices, why can't they leave alone the stuff that made it to this side of the pond?.

Yeah, i've seen this happening several times and not just with hair toys. And it is so damn unfair... Europe is so huge and we still have so few things for sale for us :cry:

[Dreams_in_Pink]

Why aren't there nice cheap stickmakers in the Netherlands? So unfair.

I totally agree with you!! We only have one hairtoy maker that i know, and she isn't that good at it :(


Then again, we have the best cheese (together with France) and that is cheap so it sort of evens out.

And we have BAQ henna everywhere! :D That's the only hair-related advantage of living in Turkey i guess :(

[Marika]

It's really frustrating nowadays because basically everything ends up in customs. Before 2013 the limit was around 45 euros and Ficcares are my only hairtoys I had to pay taxes for. Hairtoys used to be a lot cheaper back in the day, so rarely over 45 €. Even Grah-Toe, (basic) TT, Baerreis etc. were like 35-39 $. I'm really happy we don't have to pay handlers fees here in Finland because the whole thing is really easy to do online. And it's nice they deliver the package to your door. At least you get something for your money...:rolleyes:

But otherwise I have no complaints and I've shopped a lot! :p Sometimes I'm amazed how fast the shipping is. And I think shipping costs are mainly quite reasonable at least compared to Finnish prices. I never pay extra for tracking information and only once I haven't received my package. It was a well known UK company and they sent a new one without questions asked.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

wow, hearing about others' experiences made me feel lucky :D I never paid any tax at all! Probably because the guys in charge of customs here aren't aware of how much these hairtoys really cost! hahaha :D

[eadwine]

Next time I am selling something on the swap board I will put "Europe only" on the listing. And "will ship to US, but only in box" ;) With our 18 euros to send stuff there in a box, cheapest option.. that should ward them off hahahah ;)

[Quasiquixotic]

You could just say "open to European members only for two weeks, everyone else after that." It would give European members enough time to buy it first and would still give you the option of selling everything.

[eadwine]

Hmm.. yeah that works too.

Not that I have anything to sell currently.. all my toys are mine.. mineeeee.... MIIINEEEE!!! ;)

[Majorane]

I totally agree with you!! We only have one hairtoy maker that i know, and she isn't that good at it :(We should import a few quality stuffs sellers. Or learn to make our own ficcares. Or we could try and contact some factories and ask if they could make quality fakkares that we designed and tweaked to our likings, and start up our own awesome hairtoy brand on this side of the pond. To even things out a bit.




And we have BAQ henna everywhere! :D That's the only hair-related advantage of living in Turkey i guess :( ...but it's a very big advantage! And you folks have cheap high quality oils for in your hair and also that delicious pistachio-paste you can spread on bread, which is not hair related but super yummie. And happy stomachs make happy hair. ;)


Next time I am selling something on the swap board I will put "Europe only" on the listing. And "will ship to US, but only in box" ;) With our 18 euros to send stuff there in a box, cheapest option.. that should ward them off hahahah ;)
Yeah... Let's give 'em a cookie of their own dough!! #makethatthecatwise


....I would seriously feel bad about only swapping in EU though. Oh well, I just keep with plundering everything from the swapboard instead of adding to it. Problem solved.

[StellaKatherine]

Hmm.. yeah that works too.

Not that I have anything to sell currently.. all my toys are mine.. mineeeee.... MIIINEEEE!!! ;)

Damn it.. and i was allready ready to jump in :D

[eadwine]

Hahaha the only thing I could remotely sell is one of those I believe it's an original but not 100% sure African hair comb thingie with the wooden beads LOL

[Dreams_in_Pink]

...but it's a very big advantage! And you folks have cheap high quality oils for in your hair and also that delicious pistachio-paste you can spread on bread, which is not hair related but super yummie. And happy stomachs make happy hair. ;)


Yep, i don't know what i would do without easy access to henna, i consume 500 grams every month :stirpot:

Not sure what that pistachio-paste is, but we do have a LOT of desserts here featuring pistachio :)

[jeanniet]

It bothers me that USPS rates have gone up so much recently. A couple of years ago, I sent a package to Germany for about $6. A year later, an equivalent package was nearly $13. I don't see how a 100% increase is justified.

[jeanniet]

You could just say "open to European members only for two weeks, everyone else after that." It would give European members enough time to buy it first and would still give you the option of selling everything.

Or just say that European buyers have first priority. I can see where having things snapped up all the time would be annoying. Honestly, as a US seller it's a lot more of a pain shipping overseas, partly because of the extra forms and partly because you have to figure out package weight/shipping costs beforehand, but I still do it because I know it's not easy to get hair toys over there. Some of my best repeat buyers have been overseas.

[Dreams_in_Pink]

Aw come on people, discriminating regions is just cruel :( I know there must be lots of paperwork for the seller, but things aren't as sunny on the other side of the fence either. We have to deal with customs and go through weeks of anxiety with empty hands after paying LOTS of money.

By the way, i just forwarded another shipment from US to Turkey, wish me luck! :pray:

[chen bao jun]

When I sold anything, I shipped to Europe if the buyer didn't mind paying the extra postage. The customs form is not so hard to fill out. I feel bad for them though that so many taxes and fees are tacked on. I hope we never get like that over here. In the state I live in we get more and more taxes, its crazy--but people just move over the border to another state where taxes are much less. Then they raise taxes some more on those of us still here---Eventually me and hubby will do a border run also, I guess.
I knew an older couple who saved all their life and owned a nice home that was all paid up--and had to move to another state because the taxes on the house were so punitive. Insane.

[two_wheels]

People say "US only" all the time, I wouldn't feel bad about saying "Europe only for 2 weeks".

I don't mind paying the 20% tax at all, but I hate that I have to pay £8 handling charge- for the privilege of having my parcel held up for another 3-4 weeks. If the UK postal service actually gave a good service with speedy delivery / ability to voluntarily pay the tax upfront instead of waiting for customs to process it and paying the handling, I would be cool with that. Or if the handling fee were capped monthly, that would be ok too. As it is, I feel like I am paying extra to have my parcels delayed for weeks at a time.

longhairedjewels is a UK/Europe reseller of jeterforks and ketylos, for patient people.

[truepeacenik]

When I swapped, I told the PO here in California that these items were left by a guest.

[Quasiquixotic]

This looks like a new shop out of England.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PerfumeCollectors

And I bought something from her already...

[eadwine]

https://www.etsy.com/listing/192090912/surprise-acrylic-hair-stick *giggle* That is not a stick.. that's a cane!! ;)


She does have pretty material though, but WAYYYY too bulky for me

[lapushka]

Thought long and hard about it, but decided against it. I'd rather go for a Quattro or Ravenslair stick, and not waste money on something I'll probably never end up wearing.

[Isilme]

When I ordered my Ficcares the company decided to stick each clip into it's own glittery mega box, and then they stuck all the boxes into one single GIANT box that practically yells "look at me, look at me, I'm super expensive, please tax the h*ll out of me! Over here, HELLO!!!!" Suddenly Ficcares went from kinda expensive to very expensive.

[eadwine]

Yeah.. for some reason flexi 8 lately is being taxed the hell out of as well.. and they come in a bubble mailer saying value $7 *shakes head*

[two_wheels]

Yep, cultmate or maiden-like all the way for ficcares/flexis. Although I'll be very tempted to order direct if they bring out an ivory lotus on gold.

[eadwine]

I'll just contact maiden-like to get one for me ;) Done things like that before in the past :)

[two_wheels]

They do that? I thought they just ordered bulk & it was a free-for-all! Noted, thanks :D

ETA I'm going to have to dust off my schoolgirl German again to do that... it seems so rude to just email a German person in English and assume that's OK!... oh well, should give them a giggle

[StellaKatherine]

Could we put together all the websites that are in europe? Or is that done allready ?

[Loviatar]

This looks like a new shop out of England.

https://www.etsy.com/shop/PerfumeCollectors

And I bought something from her already...

I have five of Suzan's sticks and two more on the way. They're a sort of satiny finish, not glossy like Eaduards oversized ones. Personally I love them :) but I like thick sticks. (And I cannot lie) lol.

[littlerobot]

I am a poor Slovenian student and the prices for shipping and handling just break my heart...they can easily get to twice the price of the toy. sob

Isn't there a Europe-friendly option anywhere!? :sad

[eadwine]

Of which store?

[KittyBird]

They do that? I thought they just ordered bulk & it was a free-for-all! Noted, thanks :D

ETA I'm going to have to dust off my schoolgirl German again to do that... it seems so rude to just email a German person in English and assume that's OK!... oh well, should give them a giggle
You can email Maidenlike in English (I always do that), and I think Cultmate too, though I'm not completely sure as I haven't done business with that shop before.

[two_wheels]

Yay, thanks KittyBird :blossom:

I'm done on Ficcares for the time being so it's purely hypothetical until they bring the new lotuses out.

[Rinna]

I've never had problems buying hairtoys from US, as they don't weight much and reshipping them to Israel doesn't cost a lot.

What annoys me are the clothes stores, ones that have 'worldwide shipping' policies, but in reality if you're not from US they double the prices. Even before shipping is taken into account. What a ripoff.

[eadwine]

You were VERY lucky then to not have been hit yet by import charges!

[StellaKatherine]

I am really starting to think I should learn how to make some of the hair toys. It getting annoying to see that there are actually so few hair toy makes on European side!!!!!

[eadwine]

Thing is.. getting wood blanks for sticks? USA. Getting acrylic blanks for sticks? USA. Getting other kind of material? China.

Import charges times three. I think that is the reason we don't have that many makers on this side of the pond.

[Cania]

It bugs me to no end when there is no shipping to the EU. I don't understand why, I don't mind paying extra and I don't see what's harder about telling the post office it is going to the UK rather than the USA? Can someone explain?

[Majorane]

/\
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THIS! I don't get it, is it so much harder to send your hairslidetoys to us, in the Europe? We're nice! We pay! What does it matter if you tell the post office 'sent this to Cania or Marjo, please'?

So painful, so sad :'(

[Nebulae]

It bugs me to no end when there is no shipping to the EU. I don't understand why, I don't mind paying extra and I don't see what's harder about telling the post office it is going to the UK rather than the USA? Can someone explain?

I third this! I really wonder...

[Cania]

All I could think was that they are worried it will go missing, but can't you just state buyer assumes responsibility? I always get tracking and extra insurance if I'm putting down a lot of money and people from America who buy from me seem to do the same. That, and I have never actually had anything go missing, ever...

[Nebulae]

All I could think was that they are worried it will go missing, but can't you just state buyer assumes responsibility? I always get tracking and extra insurance if I'm putting down a lot of money and people from America who buy from me seem to do the same. That, and I have never actually had anything go missing, ever...

Yeah, I thought the exact same thing. Like you said, easily fixable (tracking etc), so I don't think that's reason enough. Guess the sellers had bad experiences or something?

[Nightshade]

All I could think was that they are worried it will go missing, but can't you just state buyer assumes responsibility? I always get tracking and extra insurance if I'm putting down a lot of money and people from America who buy from me seem to do the same. That, and I have never actually had anything go missing, ever...

Sadly, doesn't work that way. Normally I send things first class international because it gets there just fine 99% of the time and people appreciate the cost savings. That 1%, though? Doesn't matter if it says in my shop policies that lost boxes aren't my fault if someone chooses not to upgrade to Priority International (lowest shipping grade that's insurable). If they don't get their box and I didn't have insurance on it, and they file a complaint via PayPal, I lose. I don't blame some sellers for not wanting to deal with it because that means I eat the cost of the order, shipping, and then often the order + shipping again, or a refund for the cost of the item.

ETA: the other option is to force everyone to upgrade and pay the higher cost on all package, which also makes people unhappy because, like I said 99% of the time it isn't needed :|

[Cania]

Nightshade, that's terrible! Ugh I can understand it more, then, paypal do generally side with the buyer. I'd be interested to know, do things go missing more when you ship overseas?

[kaydana]

Sadly, doesn't work that way. Normally I send things first class international because it gets there just fine 99% of the time and people appreciate the cost savings. That 1%, though? Doesn't matter if it says in my shop policies that lost boxes aren't my fault if someone chooses not to upgrade to Priority International (lowest shipping grade that's insurable). If they don't get their box and I didn't have insurance on it, and they file a complaint via PayPal, I lose. I don't blame some sellers for not wanting to deal with it because that means I eat the cost of the order, shipping, and then often the order + shipping again, or a refund for the cost of the item.

ETA: the other option is to force everyone to upgrade and pay the higher cost on all package, which also makes people unhappy because, like I said 99% of the time it isn't needed :|

Things don't go missing in the US?

[Nightshade]

Nightshade, that's terrible! Ugh I can understand it more, then, paypal do generally side with the buyer. I'd be interested to know, do things go missing more when you ship overseas?

Sometimes. It's pretty rare that things wholly disappear, but they can get very, very delayed. I once had a package to Scotland go missing for 7 months until it was returned back to me having taken a turn through Tibet and a few other nations (?!)


Things don't go missing in the US?

They do, but the first class package ID is good enough for proof of shipping and delivery inside the US and PayPal takes that as enough evidence that I filled my end of the deal. With first class international I can sometimes/usually depending on the country see it the whole way, but a lot of the time tracking stops when the package leaves the US, and PayPal would consider that not enough evidence on my end to ensure a happy buyer.

ETA: another thing is customs forms. I don't have issue with them, but for a small seller or someone swapping they can be intimidating.

[Cania]

Nightshade, that's nuts. My parents ordered some holiday brochures from somewhere in England when I was little, they arrived two years later with French postmarks all over them. Who knows what happened there?! I recently had a TT stick go back to Doug and Erin and they were kind enough to ship it back out to me for free, despite my offer to cover shipping. Post can be crazy sometimes.

[Nightshade]

Yeah. :| The "tracking" on first class international is unofficial. Technically I can see a lot of packages after they leave the US, but if something goes awry, the official policy on USPS and PayPal is it's a "package id" not a "tracking number" unless I upgrade to Priority International.

[kaydana]

Actually, this brings up another thing that infuriates me about buying things internationally. I can't get my head around the idea that you can buy something, not receive it, and just be expected to be okay with that.

[Nightshade]

That is very, very frustrating on both ends because often the problem isn't the seller or the buyer, it's the post company/companies. :(

[lapushka]

Actually, this brings up another thing that infuriates me about buying things internationally. I can't get my head around the idea that you can buy something, not receive it, and just be expected to be okay with that.

You aren't expected to be okay with that. That's why Paypal has your back. ;)

[Nightshade]

And I agree, but if the seller can prove they shipped it, the responsibility/blame isn't on them, either. :|

This is where the international shipping catch 22 comes in: Let's say a seller ships an item that's purchased. It goes MIA. Now, no matter what, you have an unhappy customer who just wants what they paid for (and paid a lot of shipping for).

For the sake of a good customer relationship, the seller can reship the item, but now they're out the item (again), that time to make it (again), and the cost of shipping (again). It can add up really, really fast, and a lot of sellers just opt out of dealing with it entirely. Thankfully this is really rare, but it's never fun when it happens, for anyone.

[two_wheels]

That does suck for all concerned. If I were a seller I'd be tempted to self-insure by figuring out an add-on for international shipping (and back-test it against cost of replacing past lost international packages as a percentage of past international revenue or something). If it's a decent estimate, the seller gets reimbursed little by little, and the buyer doesn't need to feel bad about raising lost package issues.

I don't know if that would make it prohibitively expensive- probably not as expensive as the official tracking, though.

[Beezle]

I had wanted to buy a ketlo stick but when it came to check out, I was appalled to find that the shipping was double the price of the stick! That's just ridiculous so I cancelled the order. Thanks to a comment by two_wheels on this thread, I contacted long haired jewels in UK. What a helpful woman. The ordering is done by e-mail which is a little unusual but far more personal. I happened to pay for my order just as the seller, Doreen, was going to the post office and I was amazed to receive my hairsticks SEVEN days from posting.

We don't pay duty or customs fees here but parcels so frequently disappear that it's a bit of a gamble buying anything online. Last year I was expecting five parcels around the same time. Only one turned up. One was returned to the seller who contacted me, but the other three were never to be found. It's always a risk but very exciting when orders actually arrive!

[butterfly_dream]

Another international buyer’s rant here. :headache:
First problem - customs and handling charges that do increase the final price of the item of about 30%. Really annoying!
Second problem – customs clearance delay. It could take from 1 to 4 weeks. Really stressful!
Third problem – in case your parcel is marked over $100, once arrived in Italy, it could magically disappear, regardless of the content. With Italian Posts it's always like a gamble. Really frustrating!

[Wosie]

Beezle, may I ask where you live? =o I wouldn't dare to purchase anything online if I every time had to pray for the goods to show up. :bigeyes:

[leilani]

I gotta say I hate it too. OhFaro on etsy charges 42 euros shipping. Thank goodness my mom is coming to visit so I had her mail my two items to my mom domestically, and she'll pack them in her suitcase.

[butterfly_dream]

Beezle, may I ask where you live? =o I wouldn't dare to purchase anything online if I every time had to pray for the goods to show up. :bigeyes:

I have the same question.:alien:

[Cania]

Praying for a parcel to arrive is some serious business! I've never had anything go missing, though a TT I ordered in February has just turned up this morning, heh.
On the plus side, we EU countries have the best wine, cheese and chocolate ;)

[butterfly_dream]

I am buying on Ebay and Etsy for years, and I've never had anything go missing or stolen as well.
I am praying for my parcel to arrive now, because I assume that it was marked over $200, and that it was shipped with a first class international. I know Ebay will make sure I get my item or if not a refund. But I do not want my money back, I want the thing I paid for! :mad:

[two_wheels]

I'm waiting for a fork that was posted on May 23rd from US to UK :( Not in a huge rush to receive it, but I do worry it may have been lost. Your TT story simultaneously scares me and gives me hope Cania!

[Chromis]

Actually I do have a pet peeve for this forum's swap board relating to people who won't ship outside of their country/continent. I wish more people would put it right in the title so we can just skip the listing easier! I hate getting excited to see something and then reading at the bottom that they don't want the bother of customs forms. (Which are seriously not that hard in the US. I used to do them all the time! I just took a couple extra when I did swaps and then I could even fill them out ahead of time. Not a big deal.)

[julee]

butterfly_dream and two_wheels I hope your parcels arrive soon! I sometimes get frustrated with long waiting times for parcels, except for Elymwold, there's hardly any makers here! I also get frustrated at shipping costs if I want to sell something, I never feel as though I can charge the actual cost ($20 to the US, $24 to Europe, not including the cost of packaging. The most I've paid is around $60) It's ok if I sell just one thing at a time, but if I do a decent destash it adds up.

/end of rant

All that being said, I can't really complain, as I have a lovely hairtoy collection and I don't really need anything else (wait, did I really say that! :p) It's just I go a bit crazy sometimes, as I'm so excited to find things that actually hold my slippery hair up! :D Anyone whose been here knows decent hairtoys are almost non-existent.

[Majorane]

we EU countries have the best wine, cheese and chocolate Yeah, which I now all three need in unholy amounts, because I saw the shipping prices of OhFaro. Bring on the cheese and port please, because I need to booze that out of my brain. 42 euro's for shipping?! My gosh.

And to Belgium it's only 7,something! If I ever wanna buy something from them, I'd rather ask a nice UK or Belgium member here to reship it to me, and reimburse them for their cost and send a pound of cheese in return as thanks for the effort. That way it's STILL cheaper then the 42 and I get to go to the cheeseshop to boot.

Argarghargh

[Cania]

I'm from the UK! I'm nice enough! I'll gladly ship on for you, if it helps ^_^

[monsoonstorm]

For me, one of the saddest realisations was that ONN would incur customs charges. A lot of makers put some nominal amount on, but unfortunately ONN don't (or didn't then, may have changed).

Sticks - £11
Postage - £7
Customs - £10.50.

Never again, which is a shame because they do have some beautiful colours, but no plastic stick is worth almost £28

I've only ever had one package go missing, some henna, and in all honesty I'm not sure it was even posted in the first place, their tracking never indicated that it was. That was at full insured cost though, so I'm sure they got their money back if that was the case. I need to switch henna suppliers to someone more local.

[Majorane]

I'm from the UK! I'm nice enough! I'll gladly ship on for you, if it helps ^_^
Aaaaw! Yay, if I decide on what fork I want I'll definately let you know! If you ever are in need of cheese, just give a yelp. Although you Brits have some lovely cheeses as well, I must say. :flower:

[Beezle]

Wosie and Butterfly_Dream - I live in the United Arab Emirates but not even in a big city where maybe there is a better chance of receiving items. Maybe. Only twice have I claimed for lost parcels when it was a big company selling. Strangely, in both cases after replacement the parcels turned up - one two months later and one seven months! (now where had that been?) And both times I was stuck paying for double quantities of supplements that I didn't need. I feel if I claim from any of the etsy or ebay sellers that the next time I will find they ship only to safer countries. And so I either do without the thing I want (gasp) or purchase and pray!

[StellaKatherine]

For our wedding I was searching items all around the world :) I probably saved 80 % by doing so. Had items coming from Poland, UK, US, Australia, Canada, Thailand, China... All of my packages arrived! The funny thing was, that the longest time I had to wait for the package to come was not from China or Thailand ( they were coming by ground hehe) but the first class package from CANADA!!!!! It take over a month and when package was here it had clearly box ripped open from one side. Someone opened it and didn't even try to "fix" it!!! Here is the photo I take before opening my package, this is EXACTLY how it looked!!!!!!! :patrol: I was suprised, that the dress was actually still inside the box :bigeyes: :D

http://i562.photobucket.com/albums/ss62/Arelyn_bucket/canadapost.jpg

[Johannah]

Wow, weird story Stella! Thank god the dress was still inside!

[Marika]

I once ordered hair care products from Mariposa Import in Netherlands. You bet the package was opened by customs even though it came from one EU country to another! :D

[StellaKatherine]

Wow, weird story Stella! Thank god the dress was still inside!

Yeah it was a huge relief. I remember the lady at the post office was really suprsed at how the package was looking :)

[Hypnotica]

What?! Noooo :( that's my henna and where I get it from... sad to hear this, lucky I bought enough to last me a year or more but then what..
Checked their site now and they will have a replacement for the jamila.. wonder if it will be comparable in lawsone/dye? I hope so, since I prefer to buy things from the UK since they at least are in europe so I don't get charged a ton of tax..

Which brings me back to the topic.. like Kittybird I have no problem with waiting for whtever I bought (though the sooner it gets here the better of course :p ) but the customs charges and enormous amount of tax that gets slapped on anything from the US where most hair toy makers are located makes it harder to buy what I want.. more items shipped together saves me money on shipping but brings the value of the package up.. which in turn increases the risk of it getting caught by customs. Then is suddenly gets really expensive. Sigh.

http://www.hennabutiken.se/produkter/farg <- Jamila in Sweden.

[Nebulae]

http://www.hennabutiken.se/produkter/farg <- Jamila in Sweden.

Ohh, thank you for that link! Hopefully they will keep stocking it in the future when I need more henna :D

[Hypnotica]

Ohh, thank you for that link! Hopefully they will keep stocking it in the future when I need more henna :D

I have bought from them for about 3 years or so :)

[DweamGoiL]

*hugz* to all of you. I did not realize you guys had it so tough. Interestingly enough when I sold a few items recently on the swap board, I, too, indicated no international shipping, but I did cave when international people so eagerly PM'd me. I told them I would find it the details and then make my decision from there. I was surprised that international shipping is not that hard. I sent one package to Canada and one to France. From now on, I won't be making that distinction any more whenever I sell anything on the board. Then again, I am not constantly selling, but I do feel for you guys :)

[StellaKatherine]

DweamGoiL, awwww you are too nice! That is so awesome from you ! :flower: