Small questions thread

[Acid, Bitter and Sad]

How's the Silent line holding up quality and material wise? I'm considering getting a couple of oversized tees and the cotton appeals to me as I would like them to be able to take a beating. Meaning I'm going to use them as my basic tees. Are they worth the price or am I better off with some AA crap?

I've got a bunch of them, and they're holding up just fine. The cotton's amazingly soft and comfortable, even after being laundered, plus i even toss them in the dryer.
They've becomed my fav basics

[beardown]

Damn, that sucks.
With customs fees, there is no way around them. Unfortunately, it all rests in the official paperwork for exportation. I sent something once via DHL to Italy and not only did it never arrive to the destination, it took me 4 months to get it back. I had to pay the shipping there AND the shipping to have it sent back to myself.
All of that because I failed to check one single box, even though the DHL person looked at it and told me it was good to go.

But as far as I know, they won't release a package until the custom fees and duties are paid in full.

One solution might be to have it returned to you and to ship it another method, preferably expedited as a gift.

That may be the only way to circumvent the fees. You'll probably have to pay to have it shipped back but that's better than the monstrous amount they're trying to charge the recipient.

As a seller, you didn't do anything wrong...you just got tied up in red tape. You're damned if you mark it at full value and it gets caught in customs and then you're damned if you don't and it gets lost and you lose the value of the jacket.

quick question.
i sent a leather jacket to lyon, france. i sent it express via usps, and insured it for a high value. (many lost packages to france, so i dont want to risk losing it).
france customs wants the buyer to pay a lot for customs fees, what can he do to not pay the fees?

if he says that it belongs to him and that he left it at my house and i am only returning it, will that work? and i put a high value, in case they lost it?

he says they want 500 USD...

edit: to update, i sold a robert geller coat to france and usps lost it. it's been 4 months and they still have not given me a cheque in the mail (i insured it). i called several times, and each time, they say i should be getting more info in the mail in a few days. this is unrelated to the post above, but just an update since i posted this problem a while back in this thread

[nakata]

So, i wonder what is the best delivery service out there that you guys usually use to ship oversea tho? i always use EMS.

[mononon]

i put 1300 usd for the value in order to insure it, so why would the fee be 500 usd? that is almost half the value...?

[mizzar]

i put 1300 usd for the value in order to insure it, so why would the fee be 500 usd? that is almost half the value...?

In Ukraine, for example, you pay 40% percent in fee of the insured value if >200 EUR. So for 1300USD the fee would be 520USD
That's how it works in some countries. And i've been told Italian post is even worse then Ukranian or Russian. So maybe there is something like this with France customs?

[mononon]

Damn, that sucks.
With customs fees, there is no way around them. Unfortunately, it all rests in the official paperwork for exportation. I sent something once via DHL to Italy and not only did it never arrive to the destination, it took me 4 months to get it back. I had to pay the shipping there AND the shipping to have it sent back to myself.
All of that because I failed to check one single box, even though the DHL person looked at it and told me it was good to go.

But as far as I know, they won't release a package until the custom fees and duties are paid in full.

One solution might be to have it returned to you and to ship it another method, preferably expedited as a gift.

That may be the only way to circumvent the fees. You'll probably have to pay to have it shipped back but that's better than the monstrous amount they're trying to charge the recipient.

As a seller, you didn't do anything wrong...you just got tied up in red tape. You're damned if you mark it at full value and it gets caught in customs and then you're damned if you don't and it gets lost and you lose the value of the jacket.

if i send it expedited as a gift with a declaration of something low like 200, i cannot get insurance if they lose the package correct?

[lowrey]

i put 1300 usd for the value in order to insure it, so why would the fee be 500 usd? that is almost half the value...?

that is quite high, I think VAT in france is 19% so that would leave nearly 20% for customs.. maybe the customs % for leather is particularly high in France? the recipient should know what the charge consists of though, usually its VAT + customs charged from the full value.

if i send it expedited as a gift with a declaration of something low like 200, i cannot get insurance if they lose the package correct?

insurance is based on the value of the package, so I doubt you can insure and declare it differently. even $200 can be snatched, $50 is usually safer. unfortunately there is no straightforward way of sending good insured yet customs free. the best alternative imo is using a reliable shipping method.

[mononon]

thanks lowrey.

fucking pain in the ass. have been dealing with this one issue to france for over 4 months since december and now this one hits me

[bestial]

Now I got scared, is it that usual that packages get lost in france? I'm going to ship stuff to france next week, although I'm inside the EU so customs isn't a problem. But that they loses packages worries me.

[mononon]

Now I got scared, is it that usual that packages get lost in france? I'm going to ship stuff to france next week, although I'm inside the EU so customs isn't a problem. But that they loses packages worries me.

to be fair, they only lost one...the other one is only detained for a fucking high fee!

the problem is that the package is just lost. they keep on telling me they will give me the claim form in the mail, but every time i call, they say just a couple more days. i can't go in person since i need to call the 888 number since it needs to be forwarded to the international department...

i just get nervous selling high priced goods internationally. i don't know whether to insure it and risk a high fee or do not insure it and risk it being lost...

[bestial]

That sucks.

When it comes to internationally shipped parcels I feel the need to set up standards when I'm selling. If the buyer don't want to pay high custom fee's then it's his risk getting the package sent with lowered value and no insurance. If he wants it shipped safe and sound he has to be prepared to take the blow when it hits.

When a person sells something he of course want that the buyer will feel protected, but there is only that much one can do to keep the costs at minimum. In my point of view, this high fee lays upon the buyer.

I don't want to sound harsh.

[theaddict]

well, the safest method to avoid both would be to ship with FedEx or UPS...you can mark the value down AND have a safe shipping with a working tracking...of course they are fuckin expensive.

I only lost a package once and that was in Austria, within the EU. I always prefer to to get a package with low value, since i ALWAYS have to go to customs, even for a T. And i tell ya, German customs is a pain in the ass.
Insurance covers 500€ max anyway for a package from Deutsche Post, i dunno if there isnt a max for US packages too. Worthless if you send a 4k CCP leather...

[jumpoff]

I purchased a pair of sneakers on ebay from a seller in the UK a couple of years ago. With Norway being outside of the EU, you'll have to pay VAT and a customs/handling fee on everything worth more than 200 NOK. These shoes however did cost less than 200 NOK but seller made a mistake and declared the value as £30, then around 300 NOK. So I got a letter saying I had to pay the fees and VAT. All I needed to do was e-mail them my paypal receipt, saying that the seller had accidentaly put the wrong value and I didn't have to pay anything.

So if you have a paypal receipt of let's say $50 when the actual value is $500 you might be let of the hook without having to pay the high fees. But then again, there might be consequences if you get caught, and I don't believe all customs are as lenient as the Norwegian.

[BBSCCP]

well, the safest method to avoid both would be to ship with FedEx or UPS...you can mark the value down AND have a safe shipping with a working tracking...of course they are fuckin expensive.

I only lost a package once and that was in Austria, within the EU. I always prefer to to get a package with low value, since i ALWAYS have to go to customs, even for a T. And i tell ya, German customs is a pain in the ass.
Insurance covers 500€ max anyway for a package from Deutsche Post, i dunno if there isnt a max for US packages too. Worthless if you send a 4k CCP leather...

I´d be interested in how far you can bluff german customs. I mean, do they believe you, if you tell them a 4K CCP leather was bought for $ 50 or so?

In fact they don´t know CCP, but what´s your minimum for leather without getting suspicious....

[beardown]

I´d be interested in how far you can bluff german customs. I mean, do they believe you, if you tell them a 4K CCP leather was bought for $ 50 or so?

In fact they don´t know CCP, but what´s your minimum for leather without getting suspicious....

But if you ship a $4K leather and value it at $50, if it goes 'missing,' then you'll recoup $50 from a $4k lost jacket. I think that's the real issue here. Trying to protect the value of the item while trying to convince customs it's not as valuable as it is.

I think things were better prior to the recession. After profits dropped, governments started eagle eyeing the packages to milk as much as they could out of every delivery.
Two years ago, I'd never paid a serious import/tax/duty fee in my life.

Lowrey made a good point about leather. The U.S. started bumping up taxes for specific materials so the percentage charged is based on what was used to produce the product.
I don't know...it's a maze to me but I would be really hesitant to sell something more than a grand overseas these days.