HELP !!! my bags was seized by US Customs.

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avatary

Member
Feb 12, 2010
11
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#1
I sent 2 Tory Burch bags from Canada to US 3 weeks ago by Fedex, several days later, I got phone call from Fedex, they told me that there were some documents missing and I need to provide more documents in order to clear the Customs, I printed the copy of the invoice from ebay and faxed to them, 2 days later, I got an email from one of the buyer saying Fedx was trying to deliver the package to him with COD $165 which was too much for him. He refused the package. I called Fedex, they said either me or the buyer need to pay the COD in total amount of $274, or they will just destroy the packages . I sold these 2 bags for total only $269, and I have to pay $274 Taxes/Brokerage fee. That is ridiculous. I didnt pay... at the meantime, I sent 2 letters to the buyers, and told them the situation, also I full refund them, cause I dont think that is the buyers' fault. One week later, I called Fedex and told them I will pay the fees, but Fedex told me the US Customs had the packages, I need to call them instead, I did call, one of the officer told me the bags were counterfeit unless I could provide them more documents to prove the authenticity. I knew my bags were 10000% authentic, cause I got the bags from my friend who works for Tory Burch. (most of my bags are factory second or sample sale).

I called US Customs many times, and asked them what i should do and what kind of documents i need to provide, they told me that they are going to send me a letter. Its been more than 10 days and I still have not received any letter from them.

I am so frustrated right now. I dont know what to do. Please help. Thank you very much :smile:


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#2
Did FedEx say why the customs were so high? I recently dealt with UPS and the brokerage fee was only $15 and I'm not aware of any taxation that would be 100% of the purchase price...
 
#3
Wow, that sucks.
I bought and lv bag on eBay from a japan seller and customs held onto my package and I had to fax the invoice that I paid for the bag to them (the seller lied about the value trying to get me out of fees I guess but customs caught on and wanted to know how much I paid). I ended up having to pay about $40 of customs for a $500 bag.
But I wouldn't understand why your customs fees are so much
 
#4
Shipping from the US to other countries via Fedex or UPS can always cause problems because they charge incredibly high brokerage fees. This will be charged on top of customs fees/taxes/duties; for Canada these would be 6% tax + 6-14% PST + 0-20% duty + the Fedex Brokerage fee. I can definitely understand the charge being a shock to the buyer, because the Fedex charge was probably unexpected. THAT SAID, it's the buyer's responsibility to pay all of the import fees.

Call customs again - if you don't get someone who's helpful, hang up and call back until you do. Tell them you haven't gotten the letter that they were supposed to send you and you again need to know what kind of documentation to provide.

There was a similar situation on tPF awhile back (but with bags going to Australia) and it eventually worked out okay.
 
#6
Thanks for all you guys help.
I did ask them to return to me, but right now, US Customs seized these 2 bags claiming the bags were counterfeits ???? They will not release the bags unless I could provide other paperwork. They said it was not a duty/tax problem, it was trade mark issue (even though they asked the buyer to pay duty/tax ....??) . I called US Customs again yesterday and they told me I should get the letter from them by next Monday.
I will keep you guys updated..
Thanks again for all your help.
 
#8
^ Unfortunately, stories like this is why I stopped selling internationally. (even to Canada)
OP, I don't have much to add here, but I feel for you and I hope this gets resolved very quickly. Sending hugs your way. :hugs:
 
#9
What a hassle. Hopefully you will get some direction from US customs on Monday. I know it is too late for this transaction but shipments to the US tend to be a lot smoother - and cheaper with Canadapost/USPS that with the couriers. And Canadapost now offers signature confirmation on Xpresspost USA.

It seems that the couriers are set up to do high level importing and exporting. The way they handle one of ebay type shipments seems to be way too much overkill.
 
#10
I would have never refunded the buyer. They should have known that they were going to have to pay fees. As a seller I would have offered to pay half of the fees, which would have been a good idea, rather than to refund the full amount, and then be out the bags and the money.
 
#11
Sounds like you're going to need a letter of authenticity but without the actual bags in hand, I don't see how you can get someone to authenticate. What a terrible situation. Ugh I hope some customs official hasn't decided those bags would make a nice gift for his wife...
 
#12
I am so sorry to hear you are going through this crap with the US customs. I had 4 Bals that they "seized" saying they were counterfeits and it took me almost 4 months to get them back (with 3 dustbags gone missing though). From what I understand their authenticity verification protocal is very specific and looks at things such as how something is packaged as well which quite frankly makes it unfair to be used against pre-owned merchandizes. So if you say your bags were factory seconds or samples, this is quite possibly why US Customs thinks they are counterfeits.

In terms of the process of getting them to release your bags, they will send you a form in the mail (the real snail way!) asking you what option you want to take - give up the bags for them to destroy or submit a petition stating reasons why they should grant a release. If you choose to petition the seizure, you will also need to sign a waiver promising not to sue the USCBP in the future, and this waiver must be notarized by a notary/lawyer.

In terms of proof of authenticity, I don't think anything besides original store reciept or a letter from the manufacturer would be accepted as "proof". Since your friend works for TB, it would probably help to have her or another company rep speak with US CBP or write them a letter on company letter head, then most likely they will speed up with the review as well.

If you still don't get a letter in the mail anytime soon, I would suggest calling US CBP again and see if you can get a scanned copy emailed to you. This is because you only have a short time frame to submit your petition. You can also email them your petition, then have the original copy mailed in, this will speed up the review process as well.

Good luck and please feel free to PM me if there's anything I can help with.
 
#14
Great informational post.

missucc said:
I am so sorry to hear you are going through this crap with the US customs. I had 4 Bals that they "seized" saying they were counterfeits and it took me almost 4 months to get them back (with 3 dustbags gone missing though). From what I understand their authenticity verification protocal is very specific and looks at things such as how something is packaged as well which quite frankly makes it unfair to be used against pre-owned merchandizes. So if you say your bags were factory seconds or samples, this is quite possibly why US Customs thinks they are counterfeits.

In terms of the process of getting them to release your bags, they will send you a form in the mail (the real snail way!) asking you what option you want to take - give up the bags for them to destroy or submit a petition stating reasons why they should grant a release. If you choose to petition the seizure, you will also need to sign a waiver promising not to sue the USCBP in the future, and this waiver must be notarized by a notary/lawyer.

In terms of proof of authenticity, I don't think anything besides original store reciept or a letter from the manufacturer would be accepted as "proof". Since your friend works for TB, it would probably help to have her or another company rep speak with US CBP or write them a letter on company letter head, then most likely they will speed up with the review as well.

If you still don't get a letter in the mail anytime soon, I would suggest calling US CBP again and see if you can get a scanned copy emailed to you. This is because you only have a short time frame to submit your petition. You can also email them your petition, then have the original copy mailed in, this will speed up the review process as well.

Good luck and please feel free to PM me if there's anything I can help with.
Click to expand...
 
#15
THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOU GUYS HELP.
I finally have received the letter from US Customs, I am going to fill out the form and submit a petition to them, my friend said she may help me to get a letter from Tory Burch. but i am not sure if an invoice plus a packing list from Tory Burch factory is enough or not. I will prepare all the documents and fax them to US Customs on Monday and see if they need anything else.
 
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