The Yak Shack Forum

My 2 cases have been held up in customs and due to unforseen circumstances sent back to the sender. This means now (I really was left wih no other choice but to send back) that I have to get them re-sent and re-imburse shipping costs back to me making sure that the declaration value is lower than what was originally stated. What bother...rather a sticky wicket one might say.  ::)  :P

Good luck.  I have noticed more and more Ebayers / retailers are refusing to put lower values or list the item as 'gift'.  Fingers crossed they won't be too long  :o=


Just for information I have hired the Hippogriffs that were guarding your SS cards before  >:D  Bet you wish you hadn't trained them so well now  :rofl:

Sharon, Hippogriffs get distracted quiet easily. I suggest Troll Patrol. They are great to have around, you just have to get use to the smell :rofl:

 :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: OMG that could be a real security firm.  Quick someone has to start a company called Troll Patrol  :rofl:

I think you'll find that many of them have been 'told' to complete these wretched forms correctly by the postal offices local to them. :-\
If they're operating as a business then they can lose their licenses and be fined if they don't complete them properly too, so I do understand why some refuse to 'help' in this way. :-\
The other thing I've noticed is some sellers will ask you to pay them using Bidpay rather than Paypal and will happily put whatever you want on the forms if you're prepared to pay them using this method, rather than stating the exact amounts (especially on the more expensive cards) which they are required to do to be properly protected under the terms and conditions set down by Paypal.
I wouldn't advise completing your transactions in this manner unless it's with somebody you've dealt with on a number of occasions and your happy to do it this way - it's a hell of a risk! :o

Troll Patrol indeed!!! ::) :rofl:

You are so correct, Jules.
Let's set up a sceanario. So-and-so buys a case of X cards and actually pays, for example $590.00, but wants the customs declaration to say $250.00. Great. You want insurance for $590.00. The postal clerk says, "Oh no, you only declared $250.00 as the value." Ok, so the postal clerk is half-asleep and it "sneaks by". The customs officer in country sees the declared value and the insurance value are grossly different...Hummm he/she thinks ______________. FILL IN THE BLANKS. 
Second Scenario, the sender changes the insured value to match the declared value and sure enough the package gets lost. Time to claim the insurance. You get $250.00. Now for the interesting part. The buyer and the seller get into a whizzing contest about who owes who what and ___________. FILL IN THE BLANK.

Bottom line...HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY.

I just had that happen to me.
A buyer in I believe the UK bought a case from me and received it and had to pay around $70 in fees andf for some reason was under the impression that I would lower the value of the item and e-mailed me cursing me out and asking me to refund him the amount he had to pay for the customs..I am kind of scared now that he will file a claim with Paypal and there will be nothing stopping him from getting ALL of his money back

I know that PayPal generally sides with the buyer in disputes, but you shouldn't be held accountable for customs fees.  Other sellers put a caveat in their auctions that they will declare the correct value on customs forms and any fees are the buyer's responsibility.  You may need to do this in your auctions from now on. :-\

You can't be held responsible for customs charges. I'm in Canada and it's expected that I'll have to cough up extra cash when the item comes. Sometimes I luck out and I don't have to pay (those are good days  ;D )
Anyone purchasing anything from outside their home country is importing, and with it comes crappy customs fees.
You did everything right, the buyer doesn't have a leg to stand on unless your auction states that you cover all import fees, duties, taxes, and tariffs, IMHO

To be honest, that would mean, i wouldn't buy from him from now on. I don't think, it's a good idea.

It isn't right to expect a seller to lie on the customs form.  According to the US Postal Service:

1) The sender's failure to complete the form properly can delay delivery of the item or inconvenience the sender and addressee. Moreover, a false, misleading, or incomplete declaration can result in the seizure or return of the item and/or in criminal or civil penalties. The Postal Service assumes no responsibility for the accuracy of information that the sender enters on PS Form 2976.

2) The sender may declare that the contents have no value. However, declaring that the contents have no value does not exempt an item from customs examination or charges in the destination country

I wouldn't expect it, but i would ask. It's so much money, the customs here.  >:()

It's most important though that if we do pay EU taxes when something arrives over here that we haven't also paid US taxes. If you sell something outside your country then it's not taxable by law. So basically - everyone buy from New Hampshire ;)

Ciiiiindyy???

:rofl:

Good move, the discussion is much better here. :)

We seem to be pretty luck here is Aus; Ive never had to pay for anything imported...

Me neither, and I have imported some pretty pricey things ;D

Me three...never had to pay any taxes on my parcels  ;D

me too... even the potter cases weve got in together have come in tax free as far as i know...

I think you do have an importing tax policy - but I believe it's over about 250 or 300 dollar items. I know a guy who skates and bought his skates from inline warehouse.com (nice guys BTW) and got import taxed on them :(

I don't know of any seller who charges state sales tax on an international shipment.  In fact, I don't think I've paid taxes on any of the boxes I've bought from a dealer who does not live in the same state as me.  If I purchased a box from a local store or via eBay from a store/seller in my state, then a sales tax is supposed to be added to the purchase price (there are exemptions on items that are taxable, but trading cards do not fall into those categories).

I'm not an accountant, but the tax laws are generally like this:  A seller is obligated to charge state sales tax on purchases made by buyers who live in the same state.  Stores have to do this, but many eBay sellers ignore it.

And you're right, Roz.  New Hampshire does not have a state sales tax. :)  A lot of people in New England will go to New Hampshire to buy pricey items just to save on the sales tax.  I've done it myself! ;)  The down side is that people in New Hampshire pay high property taxes, so the state gets its money one way or another.

I believe that Nevada doesn't have any state income tax (not sure about sales tax) because of all the money the state gets from the Casinos and hotel taxes, etc.  Please correct me if I am wrong but I think that is the case. 

In California we have a very high state income tax as well as pretty high sales tax anywhere from 7-9% range depending on where you live.  That is why I get most of my stuff from out of state it is much cheaper when avoiding the sales tax.  I hope they never institute a national tax policy or internet purchasing tax policy, although some sites like American Eagle will charge you sales tax through their website (:D#

Florida doesn't have a state income tax either.  The tourists pay for it in sales taxes!   ;D 
But Connecticut taxes the air you breathe (or at least it seemed like it).  (:D# |:#  Argg!  It be government piracy!!!

I sometimes Email a seller first to see if they will mark an item as a gift.  If they won't I don't buy it.  Simple as that.  I don't blame the seller if they won't stretch the truth on the customs declaration, but our import duty is now so high it just isn't worth it.  The other thing to note is that if no box is ticked on the customs declaration we (in the UK) usually don't get caught for tax.  So if you just leave all the boxes blank that seems to be good enough.

Couple of interesting facts about the UK though (well I think they are interesting  ;) )

Our sales tax is 17.5 % on practically everything.

We have to pay import duty on items from Europe, even though we are part of the EU/Common Market or whatever it is called these days.

We have to pay import duty on items sent from Jersey, even though this is part of the United Kingdom (I have never been caught but officially they can charge you).

I live in London so am going to have to pay for an Olympic Games I never wanted in the first place.  Ooops sorry this is a totally separate rant.   ;)

As I only send small packets from the UK If you can get the package sent at letter rate or Printed paper you don't need a customs for even if you send it international signed for therefore there is no declaired value on the package at all. I charge my customers for these rates rather than sending small Packet rate which maybe cheaper but you have to put a customs form on and I have to declare full value to match the insurance level on the International signed for slip.

Don't know if this will help anyone but this is how I post my packages there are ways around having to put customs slips on packages. I do wonder if Boxes can be sent printed paper as they are "Printed Thick Paper " Really

Ive had boxes of cards sent to me that have "printed material" on the customs slips...becuase really, they are just printed paper.

For the first time ever, I have had to fill a customs slip for a small padded envelope. The lady in the post office said it is classed as a small packet. I had to put the value of the contents on it. As it was a redemption card, do I put either:- A) What I paid for it. B) The going rate at a show. C) The price the redeemed auto is going for?
What I was worried about is putting a value on it that would incur a charge to the card company and they refuse to pay. Would my card be returned to me, or would it be consigned to "Lost Post" hell?

Technically you're just sending in your property for redemption, you aren't transferring ownership of it, so no merchandise is being exchanged.  Could you mark it as a gift?  I admit I don't know too much about this stuff, but that seems do-able. 

Graham, it's not an issue. There's practically no import taxes in the US (within reason of course...).

Insure it for what it would cost you to replace. It's unlikely you'll have to claim for it - but if you do you want to be able to make sure that you can replace it for the casherroni that the Royal Mail will send. You'll have to prove it of course if you were claiming ;)

I have receive an item fron Australia with the customs declaration on it stating value as $2000.00 US. It was 3 cards identified as cards on the lable. NO DUTY on printed goods to the USA. An enlightened attitude if you ask me.

Like I said eariler after all it is just card ;)

and so it is printed Paper and so I send it that way all the time if you tell the post Office how you want to send it there should be no problem. You only have to put customs forms in the Uk on Small Packet or parcel services. printed paper and letter rate do not need the forms.

I suppose you could get away with slipping a card into a soft sleeve and a top loader, wrap it in two sheets of paper with a note and mail it airmail letter rate.

And THEN the "My-God,-did-you-ever-see-such-poor-packing?" bunch will complain because it wasn't in 3 bubble wrap envelopes, hermitically sealed and armored plated.

Of course, it all comes down to the few who spoil it for the majority. Who are the few? The one's who lie and say the card never arrived. Thank goodnees that the Yak Shakers are not in that group. The sender has no choice but to protect themselves by insuring and declaring the value.

Speaking for myself, I have established some nice relationships, I think anyway, with some fellow Yak Shakers and the trust we have has saved some money by not requiring insurance and all that razz-ma-tazz.

Just to throw this info into the mix ...

I'm fortunate to have a really good postie who I've trained to deliver my stuff before I scoot off to work in the morning ... bless him! LOL :-*
I was unfortunate to have to pay Duty Import VAT on a card this morning because the US seller had put the value down as $40 on the Customs sticker and I ended up paying £7.97 (£3.97 + £4.00 Royal Mail 'handling fee' ::) ) to receive it. [UK VAT is currently charged at 17.5% which works out roughly to £3.97] It didn't matter that it was marked as 'Printed Matter' either, I still got charged.
My postie confirmed it's a random pick from the mail which enters the country as to which items get checked and which don't ... anything marked over $30 will get put to one side and be charged ... like mine was.
Anyway, he then told me that this would be a thing of the past shortly, when Royal Mail introduce an automated sorting machine which is proven to be capable of sorting ALL the mail prior to delivery ... letters, packets, parcels, handwritten or printed addresses and labels... it doesn't matter what it scans as this machine will read the lot. :o :o :o
Think about it - at the moment it's a hit-and-miss affair whether you get charged on your items coming into the UK or not and £18 in value isn't a very high limit is it - you won't have that to fall back on once this machinery is up and running as everything will be scrutinised whether you like it or not! :(
The implications for the postal staff are wide-ranging and not good - there will be a massive number of people being made redundant and sorting offices WILL close .... :-\
I've not heard of anything about it in any of the Press here in the UK and believe me, there will be such a stink once it gets out about the redundancies. :-\
The machinery itself is hugely expensive and I believe the Dutch mail service already uses this automated system to good effect. You won't need an army of people hand-sorting the mail prior to delivery, just a couple of folks to load the mail in one end and and bag it up at the other ....
I'll ask my postie to keep me informed of any more developments and pass them along here, but he's not expecting to hear anything further till the end of April.

All I can say here to our Forum members from overseas is - THINK about the amount you're putting down on the Customs sticker please, because a 17.5% VAT fee is a LOT of money!!  :o

*climbs down off soapbox* :P

I know that here in Aus we dont seem to pay anything for imports (ive never been done, not even on the Lost case), but Im always mindful of how I send things overseas. I try to mark the value as low as possible, and single cards I send letter style so they escape the customs form. I usually mark things as gift too, becuase none of the other options on our forms seem to apply...

Yeah you do pay import in Aus - a friend of mine had to pay import of nearly AU$100 on his skates because they were over the threshold value - which must be over around $400 US ish - I'm not `100% sure but I am betting you could find out pretty easily :)

I feel your pain on a regular basis Jules... but it's really only the 'fee' they charge for taking the money that bothers me... Royal Mail's £4 fee is rather modest compared with a lot of other delivery companies - trust me.

You know, to collect 4 GPB for delivering a letter on top of the fact that the postage has been paid already is sort of like going to a restaurant and them charge you to put the food on a plate. They are already having to come to the table to deliver the meal. I mean, gee, the postage is already paid, and the are charging the VAT to boot.  And the kicker is they probably want a tip to boot. Most delivery companies count the fact that they are delivering as part of the original fee.

I have talked to many people who refuse to undervalue the cards, because in reality the sender can get in trouble for this in the US (I have never heard of it actually happening though).  I don't personally really care I always try to keep the values under $20 on the customs forms.  I have never declared anything having a value over $25 to keep the buyer from having problems.  It is a bit of a dilema really.

I am sure some other US YSers know the big reasons not to undervalue on the customs forms, I am just partial to the collector.  I know I got burned with a $70 invoice on customs duties of some Hockey Boxes I bought from a Canadian ebay seller.  I think the value was over $300 on the items.  Needless to say when I got the UPS customs invoice 2-3 weeks after I had the package in hand I was a little po'd.  In the end I didn't save any money on the good deals I thought I had got. :'(

Hey Becks - in the virtually tax-less country - how on earth did you manage that? Was it Canadian tax? They do have import tax but at something reasonable like 8% or so (or so I am told)...

No Roz living in Canada I've been done in with this before....UPS the courier service, charges a brokerage fee to take the parcel in bond across the border, this applies coming here or going to the U.S. the rest of the charge could be import tax which is applied by the U.S. customs which I understand is lower and a heck of allot more forgiving than here in Canada their tax scale may start at $200 value as duty free, any thing over that value or what ever their scale is then would be taxed at that start point...If that same parcel was coming here instead I would have been charged....the brokerage fee,provincial tax, and also a goods and services tax like your VAT...THE LAST 2 TAXES ARE 15% of the stated value....anything under $20 (THAT'S OUR STARTING SCALE) is duty free and is treated as a gift..now if it USPS which is the post office, you just get nailed with the 2 taxes over $20 value no brokerage fee

I too am in Canada and hate this postal service!   >:()

The last tiem I bought from Tom, for 2 boxes I got hit with taxes.
I phoned the office of customs, rather annoyed and they said that anything over $20 is taxable.
I dont get how they come to this conclusion when th US scale is SOOOO much higher!

If you ask the byer to put a lower value price on it, you are going to get in trouble.
Plus, if its damaged in shipping or lost, you cannot claim the "real" amount back.
So, I think we are stuck with those lovely charges for now  ::)

Argh - your import taxes sound even worse than ours ;D

Do you even get a free national health service out of all this nasty taxation?

Roz, nothing is free except advice.   :rofl: :rofl:

LOL and even that isn't free these days... I mean not pay per use... a wonderful friend of mine in Philly got cancer. She's recovered from the illness but the financial strain of the illness is something she still has yet to get over (yes of course she had insurance, but not everything seems to be covered). If you are ill I think the last thing you should be worried about is how to pay to get better ::)

Just a few observations on this thread


Since 9/11 almost all packages are checked


We have been waiting for machines that live up to there promises in Royal Mail for years. It may happen, but these machines usually only perform with perfect mail and I doubt that the machines will be reading customs forms anyway.

As for declaring the correct amount on customs forms, if you're surcharged at least its a more secure form of delivery than the signed for services. Registered mail coming into the UK is now sorted with the normal mail (although it should still be signed for), instead of being transfered from office to office by a more secure system.
And before anyone complains about this to the Post Office I can assure you the staff have already done so, but they have been told that this is by order of the Postal Regulator.

And it's usually worth every penny you pay for it.

Thanks for the input m.o.b. - I'd forgotten you work for the Post Office! ;)
I know there are radical changes proposed and if you're anything like my regular postie, you're being run off your feet with a bigger workload and less time to do it in! :-\
I hadn't realised everything was being checked or is it a regional thing ... no that can't be right as the Customs Office is in London, unless there are others?
I recall being told some time ago that signed-for items from the US didn't require signing for anymore - I believe it was to do with the reciprocal signing arrangements between the two countries being cancelled which might go some way to explaining why items aren't trackable once they leave UK shores?
If I've got it wrong then please correct me. ;)
I agree with you in that incoming signed-for items should be kept separate (and secure) from the main bulk of the post, but my guess is that it would cost more than they're budgeting for to reinstate it?
Why has the Post Regulator chosen to ignore this when it's clear postal staff think it's something worth doing?

~**~

John ... now now, that's a very cynical comment ... ::) :P

Most of the workforce think the only purpose of the Regulator is to dismantle the Post Office. You would think that Postcomm would be about trying to give everyone one a better sevice, instead it just reduces costs for big business which will lead eventually to higher postage costs for you and me

Yeah ... sounds about right ... :-\
Like the 2p rise in the cost of 1st and 2nd class stamps - it doesn't sound much but I'm sure Royal Mail will have huge profits this next financial year because of it. :(
I do find all this annoying ... I have a regular postie who goes the extra mile when he's delivering mail (trying to be in the right place at the right time so ppl don't have to trek down to the sorting office to collect their items) ... and the staff at the Post Office couldn't be more helpful - why is it these ppl get such a rough end of the deal when they're all trying hard to provide the level of service to the public without the back-up from the top-levels of management?
I know we've all had a whinge about the postal service as a whole and deservedly so in a lot of cases, but I do think the Postal Regulator is losing sight of the fact that it's a service the Post Office should be delivering to everyone and not just big business.
*grrr*

Sorry .... we've gone off-topic on this one, but I'm sure it's not just the postal authorities in the UK which need a kick up the rear .... :-\

Hi All ;) :D

I am expection in 7-10 days 2 boxes of cards I have imported in from USA does any one know if and how much I might have to pay as the total was $94

Be very grateful if someone could help me

Cheers

Paul

Paul - it depends very much on who you've bought them from and how they've been packaged to be sent over, as to whether you'll have to pay anything extra them or not! ;)  :o=

It also depends Paul on how much you have imported from abroad.  We went for years without getting caught but once they charged us duty on one thing it just snowballed, as if they were looking out for our address  >:().  The import duty is bad enough but the post office charge is now just plain silly.  You pay for the postman to drop a card through your letter box telling you to go to the sorting office to collect the parcel.  Then you pay another fee for the post office to take your money  >:().  I think all in all the post office fee is now between £4 and £8  >:()

Here's hoping they miss your package  :o=  What are they by the way  ;D