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Shipping and Customs Declaration.

There were many instances when I sold an item to an overseas buyer who will request that I under declare the value of the item so as to avoid their country import tax. If the item is a few thousand dollars, I always ship the item with insurance and signature confirmation. And if the buyer request to declare a low value on the item, I would request then to sent me an email releasing me from full liability in the event the item got lost or damage during shipping.Also Buyer will assume full responsibility for any custom tax incurred.

Will the release of liability covers me from any refund or claim the buyer might file in the event the item got lost or damage during shipping???

I know this issue have been discussed in a another post on "sniping" recently.

I would love to hear your opinions and views on this.

Thank you.


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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Dane on January 28, 2015 at 3:08pm

Canada is a different case, though, as the $20 includes not only Customs fees but municipality and provincial taxes, as well, which you would have paid on products purchased there, even if they didn't have to go through Customs.

Permalink Reply by Anthony on January 28, 2015 at 9:36pm
I just st wanted to add that I sold several autographed albums to a buyer in Canada a few months back. When I mailed them I was asked to declare a much lower value on the items which I agreed to to help the buyer with taxes. Naturally I insured them for their proper value and within a week of mailing them I was notified by someone at USPS that my package had been opened and inspected at customs and that the customs officer was really upset with me and my declaration on my customs form declaring such a low value for the items. I was told that the USPS postal authorities would act on my behalf but I was only going to be given 1 chance to rectify the situation by truthfully telling them the items value. To be honest I was a little scared and didn't realize the seriousness of my actions. I was informed (whether it was true or not) that if I didnt tell the Canadian customs inspectors the true value of the items, meaning, how much the buyer paid for them, that my items would be confiscated and it would be a long drawn out process to get them back. Apparently, the inspector realized that some of the autographed memorabilia had a much higher "value" than what I had stated and also they had found out what I had insured them for. If I remember correctly, I insured them for about $4,500 and declared a value of $500. In the end I came clean with them and ended up offsetting the buyers expenses he had to pay on taxes as that was our original agreement when he purchased them was when we reached the agreed price I would declare $500 in taxes. Long story short, I would never do it again.
Permalink Reply by michelle on January 28, 2015 at 9:54pm

I really feel for you if that was the case Anthony but it is quite unusual for customs to  actually open a package up imo.   However custom duty on anything going from USA to England is just obscene if the purchase is more than a small amount of dollars which is where the problem lies

Permalink Reply by Dane on January 28, 2015 at 10:04pm

For the last year and a half, every package I received was opened by US Customs. :D

I actually wonder if I somehow ended up on some *list* out there.

Permalink Reply by Paul on January 28, 2015 at 10:02pm
I hope customs authenticated the autographs for you Anthony. There's no PayPal protection for sellers by the sound of things.
Permalink Reply by Paul on January 28, 2015 at 9:46pm
Hi Anthony.
It sounds like the post found out the price you had insured the items for and the decrepancy you had declared on customs form. Therefore open the items to see value. Is that correct?
Permalink Reply by Anthony on January 28, 2015 at 10:19pm
To be honest, I'm not sure why they opened the package. From what I was told the customs inspector was hell bent on me declaring a higher value. At one point in the discussion I asked them to just send the package back to me so I could send it Fedex or UPS. Surprisingly USPS officials were ok with returning it back to me but the customs officer wouldn't release the package out of his custody. He made it clear the only way to get it out of his hands was to sign a correct declaration of value or the items would be confiscated. It was a pretty unnerving situation to say the least.
Permalink Reply by Dane on January 29, 2015 at 12:11am

I fully understand why the Customs officer gave no latitude. Think of it this way (in a bit more extreme of a case): If you "accidentally" sent prescription drugs to your aunt in another country, would you expect to just have the package returned to you, in the event said drugs are illegal in the destination country?

As for FedEx/UPS, they're even worse. If you insure the package, they will automatically declare the full insured value. At least USPS doesn't normally share insurance information with Customs.

Permalink Reply by Dan Gregory on January 29, 2015 at 12:28am

Here in New Zealand every item sent and received with a value of $80 or more is usually inspected and opened. We pay customs charges on anything imported over $400.

My brother sells on eBay and elsewhere and is often asked to lie on the customs form but now refuses. He had items that were inspected that he under declared. He had to go to a meeting and was interviewed and taped where he admitted lying on the customs declaration. 

He was given a warning and now declares everything at the true value. Even a year or so later after this happened he still has every item he sends or receives opened by customs.

Permalink Reply by N.Steiger on February 2, 2015 at 10:36am

You can have a notarized letter from the buyer and it doesn't me anything, he can still file a claim and will win. Period.

I use the global shipping program. It releases me from the hassle of shipping internationally. Ebay calculates the shipping and pre paid customs fee's for the buyer and the seller doesn't even deal with it. The buyer pays what ever ebay comes up with and the also the domestic shipping rate so you just ship it to ebay's shipping center. Once it arrives there you are not liable for lost items. It's really great. There are some issues with it, for example. You can't combine shipments... and you can't edit any shipping information like if the buyer wants an expedited service but all in all, it has made my life way easier. And I don't have to launder thousands on international shipping payments through my paypal account anymore. Because ebay takes 10% and paypal take 2.25% of what ever shipping fee's you charge so with this we never see the shipping money we don't get charged.

Permalink Reply by Mark Roberts on February 2, 2015 at 10:46am

I had complaints that the Ebay Global Shipping is way more that what the normal shipping would be internationally.  The people who purchased some items from me asked to not use it.  Have you not gotten complaints that it was too expensive from your customers?

Mark

Permalink Reply by N.Steiger on February 2, 2015 at 2:33pm

That is because the buyer pre pays the customs for the respective country if applicable. So they pay for Priority insured with pre paid customs so it is more expensive but it is far less hassle and it gets to them faster.

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