Girls I need your help on something please

powderpuff100

powderpuff100

Life is a beach
O.G.
Aug 8, 2006
4,910
16
#1
I bought a Calcaire City. It is in Italy. I paid 60.00 for shipping and insurance. Will I have to pay customs fees if I declare the value? If I insure for the full amount, and I paid around 1325. will I get hit with some huge fee? I am not familiar with this at all. I've shipped to Canada and bought a few things from Canada, France and the UK, but the only time I got hit with any charges was when I got sunglasses from Italy and it was a big fee. Around 40. on a 275.00 pair of sunglasses. Any info would be appreciated. I have already paid a lot for this bag and I didn't anticipate these problems. :confused1:
 
#2
EEK...that's a good question and I don't have the full answer. I do know that customs allows $900 per person on a trip, but I also have traveled in SE Asia with a woman who UPSed boxes and boxes of purchases home and she didn't seem to have a problem.

I'm going to Italy in March. I'll be in Florence. If you haven't resolved this, I will gladly be your mule. :smile:
 
#4
As I understand it, whether you get hit with customs varies quite a bit, almost randomly, depending on what was disclosed with the shipment and whether customs agents decide to focus on the particular package. Apparently commercial shipping through fedex and UPS will almost always get hit with customs because fedex and UPS make full disclosure and automatically pay the customs and bill your for it later (plus a charge for their own service fee... thanks a lot!). But other forms of shipping may or may not, depending on whether customs agents decide to open the package and question the value declared for the item.
Assuming worse case scenario that you are hit with customs fees, it will probably be in the $150 range.
 
#5
Thank you Deco. :smile: So what should I do? Let he insure for full amount, whichI already paid for? or don't insure, declare a small amount or gift? I still am unclear what to tell her. I don't think she is using UPS or Fed Ex.
 
#8
I buy bags from boutiques in Italy and they always send them viz FedEx and sometimes UPS and I always get a bill for customs later. It sucks but I don't know how to get around it. I ordered this last time and they used a harmonized code (?) which is suppose to be 5.6% verses 9%. So it's a little cheaper. All that's a little confusing to me but I hope it helps you.
 
#9
Just make sure that if she marks it as a gift that it is in big bold letters. I didn't have to pay customs but my bag came with a red mark on it. If they think it is a sample for re-sale they will and think they have every right to do as they please with it.
 
#11
I've been reading horror stories about customs marking bags and other items to prevent these "gifts" from being resold so something else to consider...

You already paid a lot for that bag, might as well suck it up and pay for the insurance, etc so you get your bag in one piece and in the same condition. That would be more important to me than saving some money in the long run. Good luck with your decision!
 
#12
I bought my FB hobo from Italy and the seller marked "used bag - gift" and made sure there were no price tags, receipts, or indicators of its actual value. It's my understanding that you can have it marked "gift" and still insure for full value.
 
#13
How about marking it as a gift and insuring it for a much lower value, so that if you get hit by customs, you pay less. I'd still insure it (for a low value) cos usually when insured, it means the package is trackable and a signature is required on delivery, so it won't end up at your neighbour's. But the flip side is of course if it does indeed get lost or damaged, you can only claim for the declared amount. Hope this helps!
 
#14
I am having a bag sent from out of the country and this time I had it marked for about half of what I spent. I am hoping for no problems this time. I am not sure if it matters as Fed Ex said they were not responsible for anything that customs does. So I am not sure if you insure it and customs puts a hole in it that they will refund you money. You may be able to fight customs for the damage but I am not sure. I am cheap but I figured that I would rather pay something this time around and hopefully not have any problems.
 
#15
Now I am really getting worried. :confused1: This bag was not cheap and it could arrive with a hole in it? No more overseas purchases on ebay for me. So mayn different suggestions, I dont know which option to take. Which is the least likey to have customs damage it?
 
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