Custom fees from the US?

Demoniarch · Joined: 12 Mar 2008 Posts: 4632

Used to get hit with the customs charge when ordering from The End Records a lot a few years back.
Since then I have not had that misfortune since.

It's like you pay them for them to open and inspect your package to say, ahhh, indeed, it is not a bomb. Seal it up boys and charge the guy an extra $20 for our efforts.

Thanks. Wink

Blood Music · Joined: 24 Apr 2012 Posts: 275 Location: Helsinki, Finland

This isn't exactly true. The customs fees are generally VAT (within Europe) with an extra on top. The extra is to pay them for their time, but in my experience, it's only like 1-2 EUR.

For Europe, the VAT collected goes to the local (state) government, as virtually any purchase from a retailer within EU. I do believe this is just:

a) an extra way for EU countries to collect taxes to pay for hefty benefits (free health care, free university, etc.)
b) a way to prevent unregulated imports for redistribution at cheaper prices.

There used to be more leeway, but I'm pretty sure they got used to lots of people marking things down low as GIFT, and illegally skirting the system. That's why the minimum is 20 EUR now and difficult to avoid.

Customs work the same elsewhere. At least for USA, the importation is much more lenient, but I believe it's still in place to prevent high volumes of unregulated trade and cleverly avoiding government tax involvement.

That's all.
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Weltering in Blood · Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 3:06 am Post subject:

another one this morning, from the US and this time for fucking 337SEK/€40!! Shocked

Contemplating letting it return to the seller and getting a refund.

is this happening to anyone else in the EU??

I've one more package due from the US (The End Records) and I think that'll be that. If I pay this 337Kr that'll be close to €100 in customs fees alone for the last month. Fuck off.
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The_Elite · Joined: 13 Sep 2007 Posts: 2453 Location: London

I've had it happen a few times to me in the UK as well- years of never having a problem and then suddenly a few customs charges. I've pretty much stopped ordering from the US/Canada because of this simply because it's so random I can get a big package of lps without a problem and then get charged on a single cd.

Weltering in Blood · Posted: Tue Mar 19, 2013 3:32 am Post subject:

klaw · Joined: 25 Mar 2010 Posts: 367 Location: Denmark

Can't speak for how it is in sweden, but here in Denmark if the value of a package (from outside the EU) exceeds about only 14 USD, then there's a risk it'll get caught by customs.
Obviously they don't check every single package; I recently got some records from the US, value marked as 20 bucks and I received it without any problems.

Another time I had ordered a bunch of stuff from a US distro, value was marked below 14 USD (actual value was way more!), but it got caught. Guess they were suspicious of the size. I then got an invoice from the distro, stating that it was all promo items for which I had paid nothing. I mailed the invoice to the customs, they accepted it and I got my shit with no further hassle.

If a package is rightfully caught, you'll have to pay import tax/duty, handling fee to the customs and what not. It's ridiculous.

I ALWAYS tell the seller to write a low value (i.e. below 14 USD). Again, I'm in Denmark, so you should probably check what the allowed import value is in Sweden and get your stuff marked below that.

tormentedFist · Joined: 14 Jun 2012 Posts: 59 Location: nidaros, norway

wasteland · Joined: 07 Jun 2009 Posts: 504

I had no idea about any of this shit. When I send packages to the EU I mark them as a gift but I usually put the actual value of the items on the customs form. No more.
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Evil Fifi · Joined: 25 Jan 2008 Posts: 367

manes · Joined: 25 Sep 2008 Posts: 541 Location: Italy

I thought it was just the Italian custom. It has happened to me twice in 25 years, due to the incompetence of the sellers, who didn't fill in the shipping form with the gift option and a low value like I had told them to do. The first seller even indicated the value including the shipping costs, for a total of 30$, and I paid a 15 euro tax. Second time the tax was of 12 euros for a 22-23$ cd. Sometimes the US sellers don't wanna lie to the custom because they are patriotic, that's what they say...
Then containers full of goods and sometimes people from China get in the country with no controls at all.
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.aske · Joined: 24 Oct 2012 Posts: 229

manes · Joined: 25 Sep 2008 Posts: 541 Location: Italy

What are you talking about? You might be delusional dude
I didn't buy any 200$ item and for sure I will never insure the shipping of a 25$ cd from USA, since I have never had a missing package from that country since the 90's and, anyway, the final price would not be competitive. Tell me one person who insures a 25$ cd from USA.
Then, if I paid the tax to the custom, is that a custom tax or something else? Just tell me, custom employee.
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bitewerks · Joined: 27 Oct 2008 Posts: 454 Location: TX

"Paying taxes is patriotic."

I don't think I have ever put the actual value on a Custom's form. Does US Customs ever charge import taxes in the US- I assume, it'd be on VERY valuable items?

Mz412 · Joined: 07 May 2007 Posts: 2564

manes · Joined: 25 Sep 2008 Posts: 541 Location: Italy

Patriotic: I swear dude, some told me that
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