Also an underdeclared value for customs.
It may just be me but I feel like something may be missing from the story.
HELP!!!! US Customs Seizure
- Thread starter missucc
- Start date
It may just be me but I feel like something may be missing from the story.
^^^ A seriously underdeclared value would be possible concern but the OP stated that she declared 80% of the value which had been her original purchase price. There are many many items crossing international borders with seriously underdeclared values. It is not likely that reducing the value on used items by 20% is going to cause any kind of blip on the radar screen.
If she purchased these on the secondary market, (ebay or bonz etc.) rather than full-price at Barney's or some similar retailer, 80% of her original purchase price could be a rather low figure for 4 Bals.
But she says she declared 80% of invoice value, which could be a low enough number to cause customs to notice.
i don't think it would be a low enough number. customs doesn't know if maybe OP traded other bags to make it a lower price.
i sell all my authentic bags for less to just sell them fast. it's the SELLER's decision what to charge. and a lot of ppl in this economy sell for LESS than what they're worth in order to just SELL. i know i do.
i sell all my authentic bags for less to just sell them fast. it's the SELLER's decision what to charge. and a lot of ppl in this economy sell for LESS than what they're worth in order to just SELL. i know i do.
Like I said earlier, it appears to me that we do not have all the information. The exact declared value would be one of those things.
You are exactly correct that customs doesn't know if OP traded other bags, apparently there were a few things that customs didn't know, hence the seizure.
One way to avoid customs problems is to correctly declare the value, which OP states that she didn't do.
We just won't know exactly what happened until some more pieces are filled in. I'm interested to know if she underdeclared at the buyer's behest.
Not that I have to proof anything to anyone. But I really appreciate the support from all you lovely ladies so I don't mind sharing the additional details.
The invoiced amount was $2800 including shipping. Shipping alone costed close to $100 via UPS w/ insurance and signature confirmation. I declared $2250 out of my own decision. Because the transaction was negotiated as a lump sum amount, when I was asked to itemize each bag's value on the declaration form, I just roughly guess-timated their individual worth. This was at the UPS counter 5 minutes before their closing time so I was a little rushed. Then I added up the total at the bottom I realized it didn't sum to the invoice amount. But I figured whatever, I didn't feel like filling out another form from scratch again so maybe just let the buyer get a lil' break with duties. So I just went ahead paid for the shipment and insured to the declared amount.
In hind sight I should've taken the customs form more seriously - lesson learned I guess.
Anyways, I finally heard from Carol. She said she was stuck with no power for 2 days due to storm in her area. In the mean time PP decided to limit my account access, so no buying or selling for now - not necessarily a bad thing, I swear I am so frustrated and need retail therapy so bad I could literally drain my bank account with eBay being just a click away.
The invoiced amount was $2800 including shipping. Shipping alone costed close to $100 via UPS w/ insurance and signature confirmation. I declared $2250 out of my own decision. Because the transaction was negotiated as a lump sum amount, when I was asked to itemize each bag's value on the declaration form, I just roughly guess-timated their individual worth. This was at the UPS counter 5 minutes before their closing time so I was a little rushed. Then I added up the total at the bottom I realized it didn't sum to the invoice amount. But I figured whatever, I didn't feel like filling out another form from scratch again so maybe just let the buyer get a lil' break with duties. So I just went ahead paid for the shipment and insured to the declared amount.
In hind sight I should've taken the customs form more seriously - lesson learned I guess.
Anyways, I finally heard from Carol. She said she was stuck with no power for 2 days due to storm in her area. In the mean time PP decided to limit my account access, so no buying or selling for now - not necessarily a bad thing, I swear I am so frustrated and need retail therapy so bad I could literally drain my bank account with eBay being just a click away.
Oh good I'm glad you heard back from Carol.
I was reading online that all shipments valued over $2000 are more likely to be inspected, and that the buyer would have to file a "formal entry" so that may be the reason your shipment was stopped, just as a guess. It also may be a reason the buyer is not communicating, as it states that the importer (buyer) may be billed for CBP examinations.
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/basic_trade/internet_purchases.xml
Is Carol able to help?
I was reading online that all shipments valued over $2000 are more likely to be inspected, and that the buyer would have to file a "formal entry" so that may be the reason your shipment was stopped, just as a guess. It also may be a reason the buyer is not communicating, as it states that the importer (buyer) may be billed for CBP examinations.
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/trade/basic_trade/internet_purchases.xml
Is Carol able to help?
Thanks for the link. It does say though, that when shipped through a courier like UPS they have brokers to do the paper work for you. But I wouldn't be surprised if the lack of communication from the buyer played a part. Ever since I shipped the packaged I have sent her numerous emails informing her of updates I receive from UPS. I initiated the conversation with UPS pushing to know what's going on because web tracking kept saying "sent to clearing agency" then never updated for more than a week. Buyer never responded to any of my messages. After several emails to UPS I was finally told that customs was awaiting IPR verification and that they actually phoned the buyer to inform her of that. So apparently I was the only one kept out of the loop. When I finally got a response from the buyer it was to tell me UPS called her to inform her of the seizure and that she wanted a refund immediately. So of the 3 emails I got from her, they were all asking for nothing but a refund. My requests for her to send me any docs or info she gets, my requests for her to pursue an appeal from her end of the border (for efficiency sake), my offer to provide whatever she needs as proof or to speed things up, COMPLETELY IGNORED AND UNRESPONDED TO.
I am still waiting for a firm quote from Carol. Her fee schedule is based on value of items. I need to know if her fee would be based on cost/bag X 4, or cost/letter based on total value. The way I understand it to be is each letter is roughly $50 to $80, so if the cost is per bag then I don't think I want to pay $300 for it. CBP would not confirm whether 3rd party professional authentication is considered as "proof". If they don't give it much weight then its really no different than me submitting a letter stating which features on the bags indicate that they are authentic.
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I always thought UPS had their own brokers, but I had also heard that the buyer gets charged a brokerage fee. The buyer may not be an experienced importer. I know that while I ship overseas quite often, I've only bought once or twice from another country and wouldn't know what to do.
I hope you get your bags back. It sounds like the buyer has just completely washed her hands of it at this point.
It was probably that, that it was over 2000.
Maybe next time you shouldn't send more than one bag at a time, though shipping would be so much more, you should make that clear to the buyer that they need to pay for individual shipping for each bag to avoid this happening again.
I hope it works out and you get your money back. God knows money troubles are super stressful, especially when you sent the items. I really pray that everything works out for you.
Please keep us updated! I know a lot of us tPF girls are in the buying/re-selling market and we want to know about situations like this
Maybe next time you shouldn't send more than one bag at a time, though shipping would be so much more, you should make that clear to the buyer that they need to pay for individual shipping for each bag to avoid this happening again.
I hope it works out and you get your money back. God knows money troubles are super stressful, especially when you sent the items. I really pray that everything works out for you.
Please keep us updated! I know a lot of us tPF girls are in the buying/re-selling market and we want to know about situations like this
I think the buyer may have just freaked out. She may have thought she won't have to pay import duties or brokerage fees or such. Regardless, if I were the OP, I won't refund her until I have bags in my possession.
p-WA
It sounds like OP may not have a choice in the refund matter. But I agree, I'd make the entire process play out, not just issue a refund unless I had the bags back.
so buyer escalates dispute to a claim....
7/28/2010 17:47 GMT-04:00 - Buyer: Seller sent items that were stopped by US Customs Border and Patrol for being counterfeit. Seller refuses to refund the money ($2800). Seller sent items to me that were deemed counterfeit by US Customs and Border Patrol, which is not the fault of the buyer (me). I should not be penalized (by losing $2800), because the seller sent items that were confiscated by US Customs. This is the responsibility of the seller. Not of the buyer. The seller sold the items as authentic and they were found to be fakes by a third party. The seller should take the matter up with that third party and refund the total amount to me. Please refund the $2800 to my PayPal account. Thank you.
So I guess I should be penalized for having the pleasure to deal with a non-responsive and non-responsible buyer who ought to have known the bags are 100% authentic. This was not an eBay transaction so if there were ANY doubts wrt authenticity buyer would not have bought because there is no SNAD claims for off-eBay purchases.
7/28/2010 17:47 GMT-04:00 - Buyer: Seller sent items that were stopped by US Customs Border and Patrol for being counterfeit. Seller refuses to refund the money ($2800). Seller sent items to me that were deemed counterfeit by US Customs and Border Patrol, which is not the fault of the buyer (me). I should not be penalized (by losing $2800), because the seller sent items that were confiscated by US Customs. This is the responsibility of the seller. Not of the buyer. The seller sold the items as authentic and they were found to be fakes by a third party. The seller should take the matter up with that third party and refund the total amount to me. Please refund the $2800 to my PayPal account. Thank you.
So I guess I should be penalized for having the pleasure to deal with a non-responsive and non-responsible buyer who ought to have known the bags are 100% authentic. This was not an eBay transaction so if there were ANY doubts wrt authenticity buyer would not have bought because there is no SNAD claims for off-eBay purchases.
Make sure you tell paypal that the buyer has not cooperated, and that the investigation is still pending. Phone them and tell them. Sometimes it helps.