Shipping: UK to US - concerned about duties and brokerage

[intogamer]

I won an item on eBay from the UK. Royal mail will not ship anything internationally over 2kg. The seller insisted on shipping via UPS. However, after hearing many horror stories about brokerage fees from packages abroad; how can I best choose which courier and lessen the burden of possible fees?

 

[CZroe]

If it is a personal transaction and not a business, have the seller mark it as "gift."

 

[Colt45]

My understanding is the US is quite a lot slacker about this (when we get stuff in canada we get burnt, but I don't recall the reverse being true - though I've never shipped UPS to the US).

Anyway, should be able to get.. 'worldwide saver' or whatever, which includes/ doesn't charge brokerage. I know for getting stuff here that is much faster, and effectively cheaper than standard + brokerage.

Anyway, looking at UPS it shows the brokerage rates on the canadian locale, same page on us locale doesn't exist, so who knows if they ever charge there.

 

[FoBoT]

the gift thing is really illegal, you can't sell/buy stuff and claim it is a gift. everyone does it, yes, doesn't mean that it's legal

http://www.auctionbytes.com/cab/abu/y206/m01/abu0159/s05

If you are like me and actually report your eBay income to the IRS, you consider yourself to be a socially responsible Netizen.

Sometimes our civic duties are tested, however. What should you do when a foreign bidder asks you to mark a winning bid item as a "GIFT?" 'Tis the season to give gifts is it not? Perhaps you could try to rationalize the idea of gift-giving by including an actual small "gift" with your shipment?

I hate to be the Grinch Who Stole Christmas, but as innocuous as it may sound, the bidder has just asked you to forge shipping papers and dodge their country's law and our Federal law.

Any person who knowingly submits false or misleading export information through the Shippers Export Declaration (SED) (or any successor document) shall be subject to a fine not to exceed $10,000 per violation or imprisonment for not more than 5 years, or both. Source: U.S. Code: Title 13 : Section 305 http://digbig.com/4fqcw.

doing international buying/selling/shipping LEGALLY is a pain and involves extra costs, so is it even worth it? almost everything (that is legal in the first place) is available from a USA seller and there are USA buyers if you are selling that you can find to avoid this whole issue. you might think you are saving a $ but is it really worth the extra hassles?

 

[hovergirl]

The fees will depend on the declared value and the product that you are receiving. If it is under $200 and not a product that requires a formal entry with CBP it should clear through as a section 321. You could contact UPS-SCS and set up an account with them ahead of time, if you don’t like their prices, you can set up an account with a different broker and UPS will turn the paperwork over to them and they will clear it for you and file your entry through customs.
It really depends on what exactly it is - there could be other government agencies involved. For example, anything containing a laser is FDA regulated.
(Worth delurking for another addition to my post count- importing products can be very complicated)

 

[FoBoT]

(Worth delurking for another addition to my post count- importing products can be very complicated)

 

[intogamer]

Appreciate the responses. We've found 3rd party shipping services that offer FedEx shipping at a discounted (albeit reasonable) rate - including full 245 GBP insurance.

Is it really the luck of the draw? I've received an DHL overnight package from the UK that was declared at $7xx, that did not incur any fees or charges. I've received FedEx international packages from Sweden with the same outcome.

 

[Q]

The fees will depend on the declared value and the product that you are receiving. If it is under $200 and not a product that requires a formal entry with CBP it should clear through as a section 321. You could contact UPS-SCS and set up an account with them ahead of time, if you don’t like their prices, you can set up an account with a different broker and UPS will turn the paperwork over to them and they will clear it for you and file your entry through customs.
It really depends on what exactly it is - there could be other government agencies involved. For example, anything containing a laser is FDA regulated.
(Worth delurking for another addition to my post count- importing products can be very complicated)

:thumbsup: Good post

 

[hovergirl]

It really isn't the luck of the draw, the shipper must have acted as the importer of record, and their broker filed the paperwork with customs, and they just included the price of the clearance in the price that they charged you. I mostly work with importers based in North America, and it is a very common practice. Glad that you worked that out!

 

[intogamer]

The item is a single piece of clothing. It is under $200. If UPS or other couriers don't have to go thought CBP, that essentially negates brokerage charges - correct?

 

[Red Squirrel]

The fees can be completely random. I've paid anywhere from $20 to $200 and the price does not have anything to do with the value or what I paid for the item. See if the seller wants to mark it as gift but lot of them specifically say on their page they will not do it. There could be legal repercussions I'm guessing so they rather not take the risk.

It's pretty much, brace yourself and hope it wont hurt too much.

 

[intogamer]

The fees can be completely random. I've paid anywhere from $20 to $200 and the price does not have anything to do with the value or what I paid for the item. See if the seller wants to mark it as gift but lot of them specifically say on their page they will not do it. There could be legal repercussions I'm guessing so they rather not take the risk.

It's pretty much, brace yourself and hope it wont hurt too much.

You're in le Canada! Your fear mongering of brokerage fees is preposterous!

Nonetheless, if Hovergirl is correct, if I bypass CBP in the states, then effectively, there's nothing to broker.

 

[hovergirl]

You won't bypass CBP, your carrier has a legal obligation to declare your goods, it is completely up to the individual officer. Don't forget that customs was originally a branch of the treasury dept. Like the IRS
You probably won't end up paying duty but there is a chance. As I wrote earlier, it is complicated.

Now time to lurk for another couple of years.

 

[intogamer]

Update: We used parcel2go, where the company picked up the package and shipped it via FedEx International Economy. Came in 3-4 days! UK > Boston

Successfully picked it up at FedEx Office with no addiional fees or duties.

 

[alkemyst]

If it is a personal transaction and not a business, have the seller mark it as "gift."

illegal.

OP, duties and customs/etc is hit or miss. I have done a lot of international shipping and haven't been hit with much duties. However, I have had shipments delayed up to 3 months sadly and a couple that made it to customs and then 'disappeared'...

insure your items properly unless self-insurance makes more sense to you.

Also 'value' is not necessarily what you paid for something, but rather it's street-price. Keep in mind your declared value will be used against you if you have over-insured an item as well.

Keep things honest.

 

[HAL9000]

Parcel Force, that's the division of the Royal Mail that will do it.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Update: We used parcel2go, where the company picked up the package and shipped it via FedEx International Economy. Came in 3-4 days! UK > Boston

Successfully picked it up at FedEx Office with no addiional fees or duties.

Or so you think... you could get a bill in 6 months from now. It's happened to me a few times. Sometimes you have to pay right away, other times it's a bill that comes later.

 

[alkemyst]

Or so you think... you could get a bill in 6 months from now. It's happened to me a few times. Sometimes you have to pay right away, other times it's a bill that comes later.

QFT, normally the reciever is responsible for duties/customs.

With an agent (and this is almost always in their fine print), they will customarily cover duties/customs/extra postage to ensure your package quickly makes it to the destination.

They will usually bill this in 30-90 days, but it can go longer.

Usually in the end these fees are so minor I am not sure why people worry so much.

 

[intogamer]

Or so you think... you could get a bill in 6 months from now. It's happened to me a few times. Sometimes you have to pay right away, other times it's a bill that comes later.

Oh snap. I've heard about this and forgot about it. Well it's been a good month+ since I picked it up. Time will tell.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Usually in the end these fees are so minor I am not sure why people worry so much.

I've seen $200 custom bills come through. No fun especially when you don't expect it. But yeah most of the time it's like $30-$50.

I think the last time I bought something from the states it ended up being like 20ish bucks. Which reminds me, I probably have another bill on the way as I made an order from that site a little after.