Does straight razor belongs to dangerous sharp object prohibited item list in EU?

Hi forum members,

I live in Germany and I want to buy some straight razors from the US.
The situation is that it is problematic to buy things from outside EU, and I use a US mail forwarding company. However, it tells me that straight razors are prohibited items - dangerous article / sharp objects, and will not be able to help me to handle that to bring those over to the European Union (EU) from the US.

What is your experience with shipping or receiving shipment of straight razor, in particular related to in EU countries?

Thanks for your help!

Best,
TJ

I normally get them delivered to a friend in Luxembourg... the customs officers are way friendlier and relaxed than in Germany :)

I want to have a friend in Luxemburg who can receive international shipments for me as well! :/

I really don't know what to do if the custom officer here (in Berlin) tell me that these straight razors are prohibited items (which is NOT!).:jedi:

There seems to be no problem shipping them in the post from various EU countries to North America. Must be an import problem with certain EU countries.

Bob

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Originally Posted by menuhin

Hi forum members,

I live in Germany and I want to buy some straight razors from the US.
The situation is that it is problematic to buy things from outside EU, and I use a US mail forwarding company. However, it tells me that straight razors are prohibited items - dangerous article / sharp objects, and will not be able to help me to handle that to bring those over to the European Union (EU) from the US.

What is your experience with shipping or receiving shipment of straight razor, in particular related to in EU countries?

Thanks for your help!

Best,
TJ

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I don't know which forwarding company you are referring to - but they are wrong. I've had numerous razors sent to me from all over the world and never had a single question. The USPS will ship them if properly packaged - I generally get a standard sized box when I buy from US sellers. Obviously you may find that you have to pay import duty/tax/VAT/handling or whatever, but this has never put me off.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by menuhin

I want to have a friend in Luxemburg who can receive international shipments for me as well! :/

I really don't know what to do if the custom officer here (in Berlin) tell me that these straight razors are prohibited items (which is NOT!).:jedi:

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Send a PM (private message) to RobinK. He has been at this for years, lives in Berlin, and has gotten straight razors from all over the world. He can probably tell you whether there is anything to worry about, and if there is, he will know the workaround. :gl:

You should be able to email German Customs asking if straight razors are prohibited from being imported and also the German Post to see if they have any shipping restrictions on them.

Bob

Since you have straight razor manufacturers in Germany, How do they send their wares to customers?

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Originally Posted by Splashone

Since you have straight razor manufacturers in Germany, How do they send their wares to customers?

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Send them out dull ! .......... :rofl2:

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Originally Posted by Splashone

Since you have straight razor manufacturers in Germany, How do they send their wares to customers?

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Got mine from Revisor in the mail.

Bob

I just pack them well and ship them,on the custom docs I declare mens shaving supplys,have never had an issue thru USPS.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by menuhin

I want to have a friend in Luxemburg who can receive international shipments for me as well! :/

I really don't know what to do if the custom officer here (in Berlin) tell me that these straight razors are prohibited items (which is NOT!).:jedi:

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By the same logic, a food processor cannot be received because it has sharp blades.

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Originally Posted by pixelfixed

I just pack them well and ship them,on the custom docs I declare mens shaving supplys,have never had an issue thru USPS.

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While I've never sent a razor to Germany, I have sent them to the UK, Puerto Rico, Guam, and India and I've always sent them as 'Shaving Supplies' and have never had a problem.

Now! When my mate Tom in the UK went to send me his razor for honing he made the mistake of listing his razor just as that; A Straight Razor. It took him close to an hour talking to the head of the post office to convince him that he wasn't shipping anything dangerous/after that he's sent razors as Shaving Supplies.

I hope this helps/give it a try as you never know unless you do try. :shrug:

In sending razor over the pond I've listed them as "barber tools" on the customs declaration. So far, so good.

Well I have razors coming in from all over the world, and I also ship razors all over Europe and always declare this to the counter staff and tell them exactly what I'm sending as long as the razors are correctly packed and boxed there's absolutely no problem.

Don't ask, don't tell.
Yes, they are on that list for the protection of the post employees.
Make sure your razors are wrapped and packaged securely, and you shouldn't have a problem.

You'd have the same problem buying nitric acid for example. Shipping ocmpanies cannot bend the rules if they officially know what you are sending. If they don't know, there is no problem as long as you act responsibly and make sure that whatever is in the package cannot cause problems.

I always ship my razors with the customs forms reading "Antique Barber Tools"

The restrictions on sharps are supposed to be to prevent the import of knives and other "weapons" (though I suspect its just as much production protectionism)

I'm pretty sure that antiques and collectables are exempt and also tariffed at a different rate when going to places that charge.

Have not lost a package yet! (knock on my wooden head!)

The biggest issue with German customs would be the import tax or them deciding to confiscate/destroy the contents after inspecting the parcel. I had both happen in the past, which is why I do my best to avoid dealing with them now ;)

I buy a lot of razors from US and ship to UK I've never had a delay or any issue of any kind at all.

Maybe next to email German customs though and get confirmation then that it's ok, last thing anyone wants is a beautiful antique razor destroyed by some philistine

I ordered a pocket knife though amazon and was notified that items from the knife vender could not be shipped to a P.O. box. I had it sent USPS to my physical address with no problem.

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Originally Posted by MichaelP

The biggest issue with German customs would be the import tax or them deciding to confiscate/destroy the contents after inspecting the parcel. I had both happen in the past, which is why I do my best to avoid dealing with them now ;)

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If you live in Germany then you are part of the EU so you can buy razors from anywhere in Europe and there is no import duty, it's only countries outside of the EU, so that leaves you pretty much a fairly huge market in it's own right to buy razors from.

Jamie,

I would tend to agree, however the original post was about importing from the US to Germany... if I buy from within the EU, I get stuff delivered directly to me (or to a colleague in the same country as the item). If it's from outside the EU (US and Japan, mostly), I get stuff delivered to a friend or to the office (both in Luxembourg). I avoid getting razors/blades delivered to the office as all parcels have to go through security ;) Going to the German customs administration to clear a blocked parcel pretty much means taking half a day off work... 45 minutes drive both ways, unspecified wait and red tape once there.

Also, Germany does put import taxes on certain categories of goods (smokes, booze and coffee for example) even from within the EU once you have gone over a certain threshold. In a similar fashion, several categories of items (weapons, ammunition, medication, fireworks, some antiques) can't legally be imported in Germany even from other EU countries (as a private person). Blades longer than 8.5cm may get confiscated/destroyed by customs.

There's lots of silly and illogical legislation in Europe for bladed items... a knife I can buy and carry in Luxembourg/Germany, I can buy but not carry in France. A knife I can legally buy/carry in Germany, I can't import it as a private person. It's a mess when you cross several borders every day for work :)