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Extra customs fees for usps priority express international?

smeet

smeet

Gold Supporting Member
Nov 27, 2006
9,195
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Sammamish, WA
www.reverbnation.com
#1
I just sold a bass to somebody in France. He had asked for USPS priority shipping. When I got to the Post Office, priority express was only $20 more, so I used that for faster shipping and improved tracking. The buyer expressed worries that there might be extra fees imposed on his end by customs because I used priority express instead of priority.

It's supposed to get there today, and the buyer is saying it's blocked in customs for extra fees. It there ANY possibility this is because I used priority express rather than just priority? The buyer is implying that this is the case.

And if there are extra fees, do you think I should be liable for all or part of those fees?

Thanks for your advice.
 
#3
It got there and there were some fees. The buyer was cool about it, so I offered to split the fees with him. I probably should have confirmed with him, but I was about to send it and the guy behind the counter said it was a better way to ship so I thought I was doing the buyer a favor. Why would I need to ask him if he wanted faster shipping and better tracking at no charge, it's a no-brainer, right? Oh well, lesson learned.

Apparently in France it's unpredictable, sometimes they will assess fees and sometimes not, but more often with priority express than with regular priority.

It's no big deal, the sale is done and everyone is happy. Thanks for the good wishes. :)
 
#5
France includes shipping fees when computing the VAT due, so an extra $20 in shipping will cost roughly an extra 3 Euros in VAT.

But that should not have blocked it in customs. When I imported stuff from the US into France, I'd just get a VAT bill from FedEx (or whoever) in the week or so following delivery. Where I DID get stuff blocked in customs was when the person shipping it to me (a client of mine) had low-balled the value to the point where they became suspicious, opened the box, and checked the published prices.
 
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#6
I'm preparing to ship a bass to an overseas buyer, and I'm planning on using USPS Priority International, not Priority Express. The buyer has asked me to declare the value for much, much less than the bass is worth to save on fees/taxes/etc, and I'm a bit nervous about it. Aside from the fees (which I do not want to be responsible for), I'm worried about what happens if the bass is lost/stolen/damaged. The buyer has bought/sold several high-end instruments on TB with positive feedback, but I'm still a bit apprehensive. This isn't a Squier I'll be shipping - it's a high end boutique bass in a hardshell case. Thoughts or advice?
 
#7
Pretty much every European buyer has asked me for that. To be clear, it is a risk if the bass ends up getting lost. But it doesn't indicate the buyer is trying to cheat you or anything. I've been lucky, having had 10 or so international sales with no problems. I'm not sure what would happen if the bass were lost/damaged in transit. Some of the buyers I am confident would have taken it on themselves to reimburse me the difference. But there are no guarantees.
 
#8
smeet said:
Pretty much every European buyer has asked me for that. To be clear, it is a risk if the bass ends up getting lost. But it doesn't indicate the buyer is trying to cheat you or anything. I've been lucky, having had 10 or so international sales with no problems. I'm not sure what would happen if the bass were lost/damaged in transit. Some of the buyers I am confident would have taken it on themselves to reimburse me the difference. But there are no guarantees.
Click to expand...

Even if it were lost/stolen/damaged, none of the responsibility of reimbursement should fall on me, in my opinion. I plan on packaging it well (as I do all my transactions), so if something goes badly, isn't it on them? I'm not worried about being scammed with this transaction - communication has been great so far. My concern is declaring a bass that's worth almost 2K for next to nothing, then having it damaged, etc. But if the buyer is cool with assuming that risk, then that's what I'll do.
 
#9
friskinator said:
I'm preparing to ship a bass to an overseas buyer, and I'm planning on using USPS Priority International, not Priority Express. The buyer has asked me to declare the value for much, much less than the bass is worth to save on fees/taxes/etc, and I'm a bit nervous about it. Aside from the fees (which I do not want to be responsible for), I'm worried about what happens if the bass is lost/stolen/damaged. The buyer has bought/sold several high-end instruments on TB with positive feedback, but I'm still a bit apprehensive. This isn't a Squier I'll be shipping - it's a high end boutique bass in a hardshell case. Thoughts or advice?
Click to expand...
My advice would be to be very, very, clear with the buyer that (a) whatever the value declaration you make at his request, you're not going to provide a false invoice showing that you were paid less than he sent you - that would put *you* in a bad legal position, and (b) any adverse consequences of the low-balling, in terms of insurance coverage or seizure by customs, are entirely the buyer's responsibiity. He/she will probably be cool with all that, and if they aren't, they shouldn't be asking you to help them avoid taxes (which is what this is all about - VAT in Europe on music gear can get up to around 20%, depending on the country).
 
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