Tips for shipping from EU to US wanted

[old_sir_henry]

Hi,
I have to ship some chainsaw parts from EU to US and was wondering
if anyone has advice for filling in the customs form CN 23, especially
what to fill in for the value of the shipped goods in order to possibly avoid
import toll?
HS code will probably be 84369900
Would you recommend to declare the items as gift, even if they are
NOS OEM parts?

I'm posting this since it might be of interest for others facing the same task

 

[dall]

@AlfA01

 

[Nighthunter]

Don't know about those forms, but when I sent some saws from Ireland to the USA, I labeled them as used parts and that it was a gift, I had no problems, maybe Dan @AlfA01 has some more info to help you out

 

[Wonkydonkey]

Ohh, all I can say is,,, Apon being sent a chainsaw bar,,, from the USA to the uk ..the decimal point was not visible. So $8.00 looked like (you guessed it) $800 and even as a gift... I was needing to pay more than £100 in taxes for a bar that cost f-all.
I declined and it got sent back ..

So lessons to be learnt... what ever you put the price of the said items on the declaration.... make sure the decimal is clearly visible .. or move it to the lefty side abit to make the tax man angry and not the recipient

 

[Canadian farm boy]

Maybe @ajschainsaws could have some more info as well.

 

[Wonkydonkey]

Maybe @ajschainsaws could have some more info as well.

Yeh, I know he has sent bucking billy a saw and stuffs here and there...

 

[Canadian farm boy]

Yeh, I know he has sent bucking billy a saw and stuffs here and there...

I actually got a saw from him a couple weeks ago. All I had to do was sign for it upon delivery.

 

[ajschainsaws]

You will use deutsche post or DHL international paket they are the best option
You shouldn’t have any problems if you list it as garten werkzeug ersatzteile
And for the customs document list it in good detail and realistic costs for the parts

The secret is keep plenty of information on the outside too stop them looking
On the inside
Use regular coloured boxes , parcel tape , don’t draw attention to the parcel
Keep it plain

 

[AlfA01]

I avoid private carriers like the plague. They are infamous for hidden charges and regularly endure customs fees.

I go simply with the postal service and fill out the customs documents so the items appear as a gift.

US customs doesn't usually grab packages according to their contents...they only seem to levy taxes on merchandise.

I mark the item as "Chainsaw Parts", "Gift" and I use the real value (for insurance) when shipping to the US.

Make sure you use a private address also and don't give any inclination of a business shipping the item.

 

[AlfA01]

I avoid private carriers like the plague. They are infamous for hidden charges and regularly endure customs fees.

I go simply with the postal service and fill out the customs documents so the items appear as a gift.

US customs don't usually grab packages according to their contents...they only seem to levy taxes on merchandise.

I mark the item as "Chainsaw Parts", "Gift" and I use the real value (for insurance) when shipping to the US.

Make sure you use a private address also and don't give any inclination of a business shipping the item.

Totally different process when doing this in reverse....everything I ship to the EU is $25 no matter what it cost. Lol.

 

[old_sir_henry]

Thank you all, these are good advices to obey.

everything I ship to the EU is $25 no matter what it cost.

but you are in EU, aren't you?

 

[AlfA01]

Thank you all, these are good advices to obey.



but you are in EU, aren't you?

Yes, I live in Greece. I'm from the US originally, but have lived here for the last 10 years.

 

[ajschainsaws]

I avoid private carriers like the plague. They are infamous for hidden charges and regularly endure customs fees.

I go simply with the postal service and fill out the customs documents so the items appear as a gift.

US customs don't usually grab packages according to their contents...they only seem to levy taxes on merchandise.

I mark the item as "Chainsaw Parts", "Gift" and I use the real value (for insurance) when shipping to the US.

Make sure you use a private address also and don't give any inclination of a business shipping the item.

As Dan says avoid private companies at all times we’re quite lucky as several of our delivery brands are owned by the Deutsche post group so it’s well organised

 

[Wilhelm]

I have sent at least two dozen packages to the US.
In order to send the very first I went to my local post office and got lucky to encounter a patient and helpful employee.
I wrote all the quotes and details down and concluded that shipping packages under 2kg/5lbs is the best option as those are not being considered as value packages.
If I send chainsaw parts I write down "Chainsaw parts" in Croatian and English, I check the "Gift" box and I sign the customs declaration.
I don't specify what parts are in the box, nor their condition, nor ANY value.
I also don't have to specify a HS code.

As far as I know all packages I've sent to the US arrived at the recipients unopened by the US customs, and as far as I know no one had to pay for any customs fees.

All my packages feature a tracking number and as such require delivery confirmation.

With the above been said, shipping gets complicated and more expensive once the weight exceeds 2kg.

This applies to the Croatian Post, DHL may be different.

You best check things at Your post office first.

For me private carriers have proven themselves to be a crap shoot for international shipping.
Hidden fees, slow on delivery, high customs fees.

 

[Wilhelm]

I just checked, for small packages under 2kg I only have to fill out the CN22 customs form.
View attachment 200008

I check gift, write chainsaw parts in the description field and sign at the bottom.
No value, no weight, no HS tariff number.

I have sent packages as large as a shoe box under small packages, there IS a size limit though.
I often ride the limits on both package weight and size just to stay in the under 2kg package class.
Shipping for this class is about 19€/21$.

 

[Wonkydonkey]

You can see, Gift box is ticked, I guess uk customs is a bit different, they want the VAT..

 

[AlfA01]

View attachment 200019
You can see, Gift box is ticked, I guess uk customs is a bit different, they want the VAT..

VAT is charged on the value + shipping costs as far as I've experienced, Sean. When I get something from the US, I make a PP transaction for the amount that will be on the customs doc.

When the item arrives, you present the PP receipt to the customs authorities. It may have helped your situation, as they would have been able to see you paid $8.00, not $800.

Always helps to have the senders name on the PP receipt. I'm usually able to clear a 22-28 pound box for 40-60 EU, depending on the shipping cost total.

 

[Wonkydonkey]

Thanks Dan,,,
I just posted this up, as it may help someone else... I just gave up, I was not going to pay and then claim it back, I tried to call a number that was given to me by the post office. It just either rang and rang or it was engaged. So no luck there, I was hoping to get person that could tell me what I had to do and maybe a time frame on out come..

the guy in the post office, I actually knew though a long time friend. He said I had to pay within 4 wks and could not let it go until I payed the charge. If I did not pay it will get sent back...it got sent back.



I was offered a receipt by the sender for the cost ($8.00), but I declined. As I said before, I gave up as I did not have to £££s to gamble on getting it back and all the paperwork.....was an unknown mine field..
Sean

 

[Wilhelm]

This thread is about getting a package shipped to the US.

But while we are at it, getting anything shipped from the US to Croatia has proven costly and complicated.
The Croatian import customs will open nearly every incoming package, the customs fee is determined by the packages content.

 

[00wyk]

Ohh, all I can say is,,, Apon being sent a chainsaw bar,,, from the USA to the uk ..the decimal point was not visible. So $8.00 looked like (you guessed it) $800 and even as a gift... I was needing to pay more than £100 in taxes for a bar that cost f-all.
I declined and it got sent back ..

So lessons to be learnt... what ever you put the price of the said items on the declaration.... make sure the decimal is clearly visible .. or move it to the lefty side abit to make the tax man angry and not the recipient

Man, I have sent so much junk from the US to the UK, Portugal, Germany, Demark, and Ireland, it's not funny.
Never use decimals on a declaration form. Always round up to the nearest unit(many forms state this), use the currency of the country the item is going to(with the exchange rate in mind), and use a dash.
IE:
$800-
$8-
£8-
£800-

Etc.

As for sending stuff to other countries outside of your FTZ - lie lie lie. If you get caught, ya get caught. But you don't have to take delivery. If the item has real value and is new and you can't get it stateside - I would under declare it and hope for the best. Even taxes on under declared goods is less in the US than it would have been to purchase it in Europe. They take count of the items used value here if it is used. I've seen agents use Amazon to check values. Most European countries have a VAT/sales tax of 21-25%. They even tax labour at 13% here. I dunno any US state that taxes labor.

Here's Irelands official page concerning importing:

https://www.revenue.ie/en/importing...nal-use/buying-goods-from-outside-the-eu.aspx

They have a thinly veiled example of jeans. It's really about importing Levis, which are hugely popular in Europe, and usually cost €99 a pair in the shops here. Some folks will declare 4 of them for their actual US cost, and if you look at that chart there, you can see how suddenly instead of your package from the US costing €180, it is now closer to €300.

My sob story is I had a friend send me my own digital camera from the US. Declared as personal goods repatriated. Irish customs hit me for €110 back when the exchange rate was nearly $1.67 to the euro. He had put HIS name on it instead of mine. The package did have a few other things, and actual tax would have been higher, but wow - paying 180 bucks to get my own camera back stung. So, yeah, I always travel WITH my camera now.