Thread: Global shipping program?

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Customs defines "antique" as being at least 100 years old. So that leaves out most razors sold.

Most folks think if it's marked gift or undervalued they won't pay customs duty. What many don't realize is the sender can't claim more than the declared value if there is a loss not to mention it is against the law.

Besides, most Customs people know all of the tricks.

Add to that the customs people can put their own evaluation on the item in question and disregard the declared value.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

Add to that the customs people can put their own evaluation on the item in question and disregard the declared value.

Bob

Actually it's all in THE book. They don't put evaluations in on a whim cause they might have to defend what they did in administrative court in front of a judge. That's how it works in the U.S

Originally Posted by thebigspendur

Actually it's all in THE book. They don't put evaluations in on a whim cause they might have to defend what they did in administrative court in front of a judge. That's how it works in the U.S

The book on every single vintage straight razor model made taking into account condition would be quite a book in itself . I believe here on this side, and I could easily be wrong, 3 appraisals are gotten and the middle gets the nod. Placing a value on brand new still in production items would be easy though.

Bob

You declare a piece based on it's value and the book classifies the item based on what it is and the material it is made from.

The problems arise when someone lies about the contents and they open the parcel and find something that doesn't jive. A customs official can't just assign a value out of the blue. They also aren't going to hold something up as a common item to get values. That's reserved for really valuable items like rare antiques worth really big bucks.

You're right they go by current selling prices as a benchmark. Used items would be reduced a substantial percentage. If it turns out your W&B is worth more, well you got a break. A Govt isn't worried about nickle and dime items and amounts.

For me in Germany GSP has some pros and cons, the way PB ships is more or less illegal after asking the german customs this morning (had to receive a packet with soap samples from CA there). At the first look its expensive and theyre telling to pay all taxes for the buyer but in fact thats a lie, when a GSP Packet is shipped from the US to the EU in most cases it arrives in the UK where the VAT is payed, but the problem is that the British VAT isnt the same like the german or other european taxes, good for the UK but bad for the others so when a GSP Packets gets caught by the german or other european customs the buyer has to pay the taxes again because PB isnt allowed to pay them (in Germany only a few carriers are allowed to pay the taxes direct instead of beeing the owner/buyer). If it dont gets catched by the Customs its a good thing because the money that is payed for PB is usually less than the customs taxes and the buyer hasnt the problem to drive around and making the paper work with the pedantiv bureaucrazy (-ies).
The main Con for me is that the packets arent really insurred, its a intricate and opaque system between PB and Ebay but im sure that they will make changes, it couldnt last long until there will be court decisions of that.

When I originally researched it PB was only the receipt center in the U.S and they prepared the parcel for shipping but Fedex actually did the shipping. It makes no sense for them to ship to the UK when they have hubs all over Europe.

I can only say what the custom office said to me and it makes sense in my eyes as most Taxes are below the Level PB wants, for example in Switzerland the import taxes for lower price objects are 7%, PB wants 20%, in Germany Import Taxes are 19% and PB isnt allowed to pay them to the Customs so who pays the taxes?
FedEx is one of the carriers (together with UPS) that is allowed to pay Taxes directly to the german customs instead of the buyer but the customs say that the packets arrive over the UK and then be shipped by Hermes Europe and their Partners (who are strong related to Ebay). The Sense behind this kind of business is to get the Brokerage and the Money that is effectivly paid to much for Taxes that are lower in reality than shown and paid in GSP.
The inner european visible trade is taxfree and there arent national customs on ports and airports outside their own countries so who would check in the UK if a german destinated Packet from the US is corectly paid? Another Point of Interest is that the german buyer (and other european buyers) doesnt get a document of paid tax, a big problem for all commercial actors and the reason why they cant buy via GSP from the US, when i dont get a document of paid tax theres only one explanation to me is that the tax has never been paid.
I got three Packets by using GSP, all three arrived in the UK, all three werent dispatched by the german customs, all three hadnt more import informations than the usual CN22 document, all three hadnt documents of paid tax and came with Hermes Postal Service.
But as you said theyre using FedEx, i will search if i find some infos on a envelope i still have about the import airport in the UK, im sure that if it would really be transported via FedEx a Destination would be printed on it.

My wife has a store on Ebay, she does around 50k/year gross sale and she uses global shipping. 99% of our sales come from the US and its too much of a pain to fill out customs forms, stand in line and do alternate shipping methods for that 1%. I can understand the frustration and why many would not buy from a seller who uses it, but for us using anything else is a waste of time.

Originally Posted by azpatriot66

My wife has a store on Ebay, she does around 50k/year gross sale and she uses global shipping. 99% of our sales come from the US and its too much of a pain to fill out customs forms, stand in line and do alternate shipping methods for that 1%. I can understand the frustration and why many would not buy from a seller who uses it, but for us using anything else is a waste of time.

Yea, I can well understand your POV as a seller with the bulk of sales within the US. Never had a problem with that only with people trying to tell me as a foreign buyer that it is a great system for me as a buyer. It just plain isn't for the sort of goods I buy. There are sellers that don't use GSP that I do buy off of so it all works out. There is no problem as a Canadian buyer if you don't buy from someone using the GSP.

Bob

I live in Canada and getting items from people who use this program isn't cheap on our pocket books. I much prefer to get items from people who don't use it. Duties and such are a cash grab.....period. And that added section for duties is (censored)! 99% of the time I don't dinged for duties when it goes via the post office. UPS or any of the other companies....watch out....They will nail you with brokerage fees and such. I know all out this. I am a courier and see it happen all the time. I guess if a person is doing high volumes and such....this is a good thing to use. But if you are small time seller.....Take the time and do your patrons a favor and not use it.