Just a quick note to follow up on a few things I’ve read and noticed and heard.
First, you can insure international priority mail out of the US, and the insurance will cover the package for loss, damage, theft etc, even after it is out of the control of the US. As the saying goes “our people will contact their people”. It may take a while, but there is a process in place. This was not always the case, but it is now.
Secondly, there are tariffs involved in international trade. If you have something sent from a foreign country, expect an import tax! Please don’t expect the person sending the item to know whether or how much your country will charge.
As the dollar weakens, more people are buying musical instruments overseas, and customs offices are being more and more strict about collecting their import taxes. Packages that used to ‘skate through’ are now being checked and verified.
Here in Norway imported goods is tax-free below a certain value.
For your own benefit you should check wether the same rule applies in your own country. As an example, is there such a rule in the U.S.-and if there is, what is the value where stuff becomes taxable?
If you live in a EU country and you buy something from another EU country, you pay the sales tax from the country you order from (usually included in the prices on that page), not the import taxes in your own country.
Packages arriving in the UK from outside the EU are not taxed if they are merchandise valued at about £18 or less or gifts valued at about £36 or less. If it is stopped by customs and valued above this amount, it will be charged 17.5% for tax, a few percentage points for customs and, in my experience, a £8 handling fee from the postal facility.
These value amounts are supposed to take the cost of postage into account as well (ie an item worth £10 that cost £5 to post is valued at £15) but in my experience the postage value is generally not considered.
I have generally done well with international transactions, both ways. Sent and received without any duty charges.
That is until a package was recently sent back to a manufacturer for repair. The package was marked as such but they still wanted an import fee, something around $80 for a $350 instrument. TWENTY THREE PERCENT!! This was to the UK by the way. Seems like a total rip off to me, especially since it was not being sold to someone.
The manufacturer refused the shipment and wound up sending a replacement instrument for me. I am still frigging waiting for the UK to release my original and return it to me. Any clues on how to expedite things?
How long have you been waiting? I had a couple of used german concertinas stuck in The Customs Office From Hades once (coming into the UK) and eventually they were going to be shipped back to the sender…about 4 weeks I think. (The problem I had with this was that we had already paid the customs fees but they had lost our payment! We’re lucky that we rang to ask what the heck was going on)
And I can understand if you’re professional trader, that this would be unethical…
I am still frigging waiting for the UK to release my original and return it to me. Any clues on how to expedite things?