My personal experience bringing 3 Hermes exotics into the USA from France

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#16
WOW!!!, on everything... your VAT experience, your butterflies ( I collect taxidermy butterflies too), your customs experience, traveling with a dog and most of all your great haul from the mothership, and exotics to boot! This is one of the better posts I've read in a long time and with a moral to learn from. Thank you.
 
#18
thank you for this great advice, especially as am travelling to Paris in a few months.

You should certainly take pride in the fact that you did the right thing in making the declaration and it seems as though 'all's well that ends well.'

Enjoy your new pieces and I hope you're not too jetlagged.
 
#19
laurayuki said:
So helpful and educational, I think it gives all of us something to go on next time we go to Paris or other countries for a shopping trip. It definitely pays to be honest! so glad your little pup and the butterflies made it home safely too! can't wait to see pix and the blog!
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i had no idea you were on here!! revelation moment. how funny. i can't wait to post my qeelin reveal, your jewelry is such an inspiration to me :heart:
 
#20
Kitty S. said:
Thanks for sharing the insights and spending the time to write down all that details!
Just out of curiosity, if your Hermes bag is not newly purchased (let's say if you decide to travel one of your exotic bags), do you have to declare it before you leave the country, so they won't tax you on the way back?
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it's good you mentioned this as i forgot to!

the morning of my flight the member Bethscloset texted me to remind me that if i was traveling with anything of value from the USA to France, I needed to bring all documentation that proved I had purchased it before the trip.

So for example, I brought in my carry-on every receipt for my Cartier pieces, Hermes fine jewelry, and CITES for my watch strap and CDC-- for every significant piece i would not want to pay unnecessary duties on. I had the little certificates with the serial numbers for each bracelet and ring with the date of purchase, and thank goodness as customs actually looked at the inside of each piece for the serial number to make sure they matched. if i hadn't have had the receipts for those pieces, i would have had to pay duties on them too! since a lot of them look 'new' and could have been purchased on the trip. they paid no attention to expensive costume jewelry like from chanel or clic clacs, but anything that was 'real' i needed proof of USA purchase before arriving in France.

** this is all done upon your return, it isn't like you can show them before leaving the USA 'here is what i am traveling with, make note for when i return'. so no declaring before leaving, unfortunately.
 
#21
LamborghiniGirl said:

it isn't like you can show them before leaving the USA 'here is what i am traveling with, make note for when i return'. so no declaring before leaving, unfortunately.
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Hehe, that made me smile just picturing it:)
Thanks again for the detailed reply. I wonder if there is a cut-off on the value of a piece, e.g. over $10k?
 
#22
LamborghiniGirl said:
...........
1. I arrived at the airport 3 hours early to leave time for long VAT de-tax lines. I am glad I did! Even though the line was very short (only 5 people) I was held at the VAT office for about an hour. This wasn't even customs-- this was to get the VAT stamp on my receipts. For some reason, Hermes in France won't give you the full-page CITES document like we are used to when buying a CDC or bag. If you are buying less than 5 items, instead they put these official CITES stamps on your invoice with the names of the animals (i.e. alligator, mississippi crocodile, whatever). I figured I would have trouble with this at customs, but oddly the VAT officials didn't want to give me the refund without it. They also insisted on seeing and touching and feeling each of my purchases :mad::mad::mad: and it was clear it had NOTHING to do with their job, I could understand if customs needed to inspect the skins but the VAT tax refund office had no legitimate reason to touch my stuff. It was simply curiosity. They did put on fresh gloves which I appreciated. They also asked what about my income, employer, etc etc. which also seems more normal from customs, not that de-tax kiosk. Bottom line, they finally decided to stamp my receipts from Hermes. Hermes had marked the spots to stamp, on my receipt to keep AND to send. They didn't want to stamp my receipts I kept, but I absolutely insisted upon it as the 'Hermes Guide to Detax' the flagship gave me said it was important.
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Actually those people ARE custom agents. They might not look very "official" and I agree that they have very lose manners plus they don't make it very clear who they are, but that's the way it works there , and they are entitled to inspect items and ask any questions......They could even take you into a private room for further investigation if they wish....
 
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#23
perlerare said:
Actually those people ARE custom agents. They might not look very "official" and I agree that they have very lose manners plus they don't make it very clear who they are, but that's the way it works there , and they are entitled to inspect items and ask any questions......They could even take you into a private room for further investigation if they wish....
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Thanks for clarifying. They absolutely communicated with US customs so that seems more logical if they are French customs! Again, I appreciated their courtesy to even put on fresh gloves.
 
#24
Awesome, glad you made it though tiring it must be. You are certainly brave to do all of that - dog, butterflies and jewellery. And proves that honesty pays.
 
#26
Creasy peasy what a chapter. I knew the doggie hassle just getting a canine into the UK is not an something one does on a whim. Don't know if it is as insane for France. Honestly, as I was reading I was thinking what next a cavity search. That would just be the grand slam, take me away in a straightjacket. You have more patience than I. All I can say is am glad you lived to tell the tale and in this day and age anyone trying to pull a fast one must have lost some marbles. This is the age of technology so the chances of pulling a "fast" one are none to slim.

Will we be seeing some reveals after you catch up on sleep? Hope so!!
 
#27
Congrats on your fortitude to have gone through the entire experience. I really wonder about the very personal questions in light of the face that you were totally up front about your purchases. Sometimes officials take liberties to satisfy their personal curiosity.
 
#29
Thanks for the information. My brother had quite a different story.

Leaving Spain, he kept piling up all the items that he purchased, it took up all of the counter, that the officer just gave up, exclaimed "Stop, enough!", took all the receipts and stamped them without referencing the items.

In that "pile" were jewellery from Cartier, watches from IWC, Richard Mille, some exotic Bs and Ks from H, and footwear from Louboutin and Saint Laurent.

He called this tactic "Shock and awe".

He didn't even declare these upon arrival, and not one officer questioned him upon entry. Even going through customs, he only declared a pack of peanuts he'd bought to eat. Most likely reason they left him alone, he dressed like a bum.

Sometimes its good to be the book that gets judged by its cover.
 
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