Shipping croc bag to USA: Special rules??

[contributor]

Hello! Kwanpen of Singapore is having a 30% off sale to celebrate their new website. With the pandemic I'm not traveling to SG so I'd like to buy online and have it shipped to me in the USA. Questions:

1) what is the customs duty on croc bags?
2) Kwanpen provides a CITES export permit from SG but do I need some clearance from the USA?

Thank you!

 

[bagolicious]

Customs and Import Restrictions

Many countries have restrictions on what you can bring into that country, including food, pets, and medications.

travel.state.gov

I understand the dilemma. I'm usually in Singapore and the region over some months and would have just been returning home around now but am now grounded due to the pandemic. I'm always hesitant about either buying and bringing back certain items or having them sent from the region to the U.S. I have never had a store send a crocodile bag. However, back in the early 2000s, I did buy a small crocodile bag at Kaiyo in Singapore, got the official paperwork, and brought it home. Another year, I also bought another small bag from them.

You really need to do some research and make sure that there won't be a problem getting it into the U.S. But, one never knows and in more recent years, I personally don't chance certain items either being sent from the region or me trying to bring them back to the U.S.

I recently bought (online) a Thai "pinto" (tiffin box) handbag by Nasha Made in Mars-Bangkok as it was one that I had been wanting for a couple years as I'd seen it in Bangkok on the last two trips. Nasha started up in 2014. Nasha's products come in regular leather, python, and another snake leather and sometimes a combination on each bag. I knew that python has been banned here in California since 1971 although I wouldn't be interested in python anyhow. But, Nasha also makes bags in another snake skin and who knows if that could have come into the country although I'm not really interested in snake skin. But, sometimes with handbags from the region, a combination of skins are used in the same handbag. I personally stick to regular leather. I'm stating this for folks who might want to buy handbags overseas whenever travel starts up again or for those wanting to order online. It's important to do research.

I hope you figure it all out and post back as I'd also be interested to know as laws and regulations do change from time to time and what might have been OK then might not necessarily be OK now.

 

[A bottle of Red]

@bagolicious can you carry a snakeskin bag in California? (Like if it was shipped to another state or bought elsewhere? )

 

[bagolicious]

Python controversy: banned in California – Bay Area Fashionista

Banned in California: This Season's Snakeskin (Published 2000)

Style hunters in Los Angeles are finding ways to get around California's 30-year-old ban on sale of python skin, this season's hottest trend in clothing and shoes; photos (M)

www.nytimes.com

Seller Beware: California Bans Fur and Alligator Skin Products

On October 12, 2019, California became the first state in the country to ban the sale of Products Containing exotic Animal skins and furs…

www.lexology.com

I personally don't own any python items. I remember when the ban went into effect in the early 1970s. If one already owns a bag made of an exotic skin then that's one thing, but buying bags of certain exotic skins is another as there are banned ones in this state.

 

[A bottle of Red]

Interesting to note you can't import it- which might mean you can't buy it in another state & use it in CA? Idk.

 

[bagolicious]

Read the article that's dated 2000. It's explained there.

 

[phoebesf]

I am planning to bid on a couple of alligator handbags on oversea Christie’s, does it means I will have problem of shipping it to San Francisco?