Guest Anonymous Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 Can someone clear me up on the USPS postal regulations for shipping internationally? I have made it the policy to ship my direct sales internationally via Express mail, and fully insured (which means declaring their full value), because I hate dealing with lost mail and no way to track it. Anyhow... I've gotten in the habit of checking "Commercial Sample" on the customs form... because... well frankly, it's the only description that makes sense to me. Recently a customer suggested that I send them as "Gift" to avoid them having to pay taxes or duties or what-nots. The only problem I have with doing that is I ship a LOT of products internationally, and the last thing I want is to get in bad with the Feds for any kind of mail fraud or what-nots, ya know? I've tried googling information on the subject before, but I've never been able to find a good, simple, answer to the question... so I thought I might pick at the collective consiousness of the forum. :') devi- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members palthegiraffe Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 Basically, you're being asked to lie, which puts you in an awkward spot. It might be one thing if it's someone you know or have regular personal contact with; but for someone to buy one of your products and then ask that is kind of obnoxious, at least on a personal-ethics level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Merkin Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 What does your moral compass tell you Devi ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 Originally posted by Merkin What does your moral compass tell you Devi ? lol.. I thought I made it pretty clear what my moral compass tells me. Let me make it more clear for you : I want to do what's legal, and if it's legal to mark it as "Gift" to save my customer's money, then I would love to know that I can do that, but until then "Commercial Sample" seems more appropriate, though at the same time doesn't really describe what I'm shipping either... ya know? What exactly is a Commercial Sample anyhow? devi- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Arjae Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 Do you put a copy of the invoice in the box? If you do and it gets opened at customs, they are going to see an invoice and a check mark that says gift or sample and the two aren't going to add up. I often go the gift route but make sure no invoice is included and mark the value down to $50. If I was a business owner, I would never consider doing such a thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Sir H C Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 Commercial sample would usually be if you sent one to a guitar magazine for them to test and report on. Also if you were to call Analog Devices and ask to try some ICs, those would be commercial samples (as I have used the term in shipping). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blaghaus Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 does marking it down as a gift have any implications in terms of insurance? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fernmeister Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 it is hardly clear how putting commercial sample on something that is clearly not a sample, but a sold good is any less a misdirection than saying it is a gift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dot-dot-dot Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 You should tick neither box, and refuse to mark the value down - you are the one who will get in trouble should Customs get wise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 Fernmeister : Because "Commercial Sample" is the one that makes the most sense of my options to check off. Clear now? Sir HC : That's what I was thinking too... dot : lol... I never thought about just not checking any box at all... - - - ... and I'm surprised no one's mentioned the obvious. I totally forgot there is a little box that you can check that says "Other" along with a space for a description. So... there's the solution. I just get so used to mindlessly checking boxes I wasn't really paying attention. Anyhow... thanks for the brain rattling. devi- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members atrainlp Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 I'm probably a little late putting an opinion in here but I ship a lot internationally too and always use the "other" box and just put in "merchandise" or "used goods" and have never had a problem in 2 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members MBET Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 Check neither box and then write down the items value. That is the legal and honest thing to do. Anyone buying internationally understands that there are various fees for customs and importing that have to be dealt with. It's part of the cost of buying internationally. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dot-dot-dot Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 Originally posted by atrainlp I'm probably a little late putting an opinion in here but I ship a lot internationally too and always use the "other" box and just put in "merchandise" or "used goods" and have never had a problem in 2 years. I believe that the "other" box is for items returned for repair (on which no duty should be charged) and suchlike - normal commercial shipments should leave all the boxes unchecked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Anonymous Posted October 20, 2005 Share Posted October 20, 2005 Originally posted by atrainlp I'm probably a little late putting an opinion in here but I ship a lot internationally too and always use the "other" box and just put in "merchandise" or "used goods" and have never had a problem in 2 years. Kewl. Sounds like the right way to go. I'd definitely feel better about checking Other and writing "merchandise" than nothing at all. It's really amazing how hard it is to find info on this through Google and the USPS website... very vague what I have been able to find. devi- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members henk Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 I live in the Netherlands and I often order pedals from the United States and I can assure you that if dealers didn't check the 'gift' or 'other' checkboxes on the CN22 customs declaration form, or didn't specify a lower value it would be a very, very expensive adventure due to the massive amount of duty fees and taxes we have to pay. I mean, I know it's cheating the system which has its rules and whe're supposed to observe them but without this 'cheating' a lot of people would not be able to afford anything. You wouldn't beleive what I had to pay the last time I got a parcel from Analog man opened up by customs after they did their black magic on the amount specified on the enclosed invoice Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members dot-dot-dot Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 I understand that, but I think it's rather unfair to ask a pedalmaker or retailer to commit mail fraud to save you a bit on import taxes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members henk Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 It's not a bit, and to be honest, I never asked for it. Most of them just do. I would have to say thanks to all of them for giving us a break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members d0zerz Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 I'm in canada. When I get things shipped from the US I ask them to mark it as a gift in an attempt to minimize customs.. If it's ordered from an online store I don't bother (or expect them to) as it's obviously packaged with an invoice and stuff. If you're shipping tons of stuff out I woudn't mark it as a gift...that trick I suspect would only work for individuals who ship things that look evidently like they could be gifts. Maybe wrap the package in giftwrap first Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members henk Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 I don't expect them to either, but I appreciate that some of them do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members skr3ddy Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 What; is the Netherlands {censored}ing customs office gonna come after me??? {censored} them. {censored} the government. {censored} taxes. {censored} customs. Cheat those thieving bastards any way you can. {censored} them; they didn't earn that money! The customer already paid me for it, and the postal services already got paid to deliver it. Customs can suck my ass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blaghaus Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 Originally posted by skr3ddy What; is the Netherlands {censored}ing customs office gonna come after me???{censored} them. {censored} the government. {censored} taxes. {censored} customs. Cheat those theiving bastards any way you can. {censored} them; they didn't earn that money! The customer already paid me for it, and the postal services already got paid to deliver it. Customs can suck my ass. I had to pay 8 pounds when I picked up the Top fuel! tee hee. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members skr3ddy Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 Originally posted by blaghaus I had to pay 8 pounds when I picked up the Top fuel! tee hee. Those bastards. How did they infer the value??? Or do you pay customs for a $50 item? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members atrainlp Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 Just another thought..... Like I mentioned in an earlier post - I've shipped different items internationally for a couple years with no issues. Recently though I had 2 items "disappear" with the USPS Global Express service. I don't know what the story was (an actual mistake, a thieving postal worker here or abroad or what) but the result was the same - a lot item and a lot of frustration. On one item I got jacked for $500 (a Paypal issue) and on the other the buyer lost over $1000 because of an insurance technicality. On to my point - knowing that there are a lot of dishonest people around I've started to think more along the lines that it may be to everyone's benefit (except the recipients government) to put a lower value on something. Putting a $1000 value on something seems like a red flag saying "STEAL ME!!!!!" One of the items I shipped that was "lost" was a guitar sent to Italy. The USPS wouldn't pay the insurance claim because under the "restricted items" list for Italy is "Bells and other musical parts." I'm all for ethics, etc. but after seeing close to $2000 worth of stuff disappear I'm having a little bit different attitude as to what being ethical with international shipping means. Just some random thoughts........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Speeddemon Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 Originally posted by dot-dot-dot I understand that, but I think it's rather unfair to ask a pedalmaker or retailer to commit mail fraud to save you a bit on import taxes. that 'bit' was Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blaghaus Posted October 20, 2005 Members Share Posted October 20, 2005 Originally posted by skr3ddy Those bastards. How did they infer the value??? Or do you pay customs for a $50 item? yeah, anything under $40 and theres no tax. No worries though dude, its fine. It was worth it to get the pedal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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