Customs duties. . .paying ransom for your gear

Doug said:
Reminded by a statement in the US Customs link above... I recently received a Pentax 67II camera and TTL finder from Hong Kong, which arrived a few days later unimpeded by customs. It was $1660 plus $65 s&h and $20 insurance. Illegally, as a "favor", HK Supplies put a $500 value on the shipping sticker. And counterproductive too, as I think that limits value recovery in case of damaged or lost shipment.
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Yes, this is the stupidity that others (non-US) have to go through so HK "thinks" they are dong you a favor.

It's why I always tell bidders in my eBay listing that I will NOT understate the value.

I only ship "insured" and will not "eat" the difference by underclaiming the value to "accomodate" some international buyer who is trying to cheat his customs duty!

This is one more reason why we're better off here in the USA where we don't have such stupid duties on peronal buy/sells! 😀
 
I have bought quite a few FSU cameras from the FSU and never had a problem with customs. And don't expect to--the value of each of these purchases isn't much(<150 US$) and it's all used gear. The Arax camera and lenses I bought from Arax was valued at about 1500 US$. It came as one huge package wrapped in what looked like a pillow case with address, postage, customs declaeration afixed to the outside. and sealed with a crimped metal band around the unsewn end. I assume that the package was x-rayed hard but it wasn't opened. The only comment from my postal carrier was "next time you get to come pick it up from the post office".
As the song says, Shutterflower, "the waiting is the hardest part..."
I'd be bothering the seller more than customs.
Rob
 
rbiemer said:
As the song says, Shutterflower, "the waiting is the hardest part..."
I'd be bothering the seller more than customs.
Rob
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well, I've sent a pile of emails without replies. I will call them tonight. But they don't open until it's 2am Pacific.
 
I'm still waiting on the Fuji Natura S I ordered from Dirk Rosler in Japan three weeks ago. No fault of the seller, he packed and shipped my order promptly (great guy, by the way, good shopping experience with him). He says he's seen highly variable shipping times lately and I have no reason to disbelieve him. I figure the camera is hung up in Customs and it'll get here when it gets here. As long as it gets here intact, I can live with it. It's tough to wait when you really want to play with your new toy, though... 😀
 
An individual may make his/her own Customs clearance of goods imported for personal use or business. All merchandise coming into the United States must clear Customs and is subject to a Customs duty unless specifically exempted by law. Clearance involves a number of steps: entry, inspection, appraisement, classification and liquidation.
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Items imported for personal as well as commercial use are subject to duty if duty is required on that item. The fact that in most cases, nothing happens, does not mean that there is no import duty in the USA. I am not a lawyer, this is not legal advice. But this is not hard, folks.

Ever come back into the US and fill out a Declaration Form? Depending on what you bought overseas, you may have to pay duty on it, right then and there. NAFTA applies, as the title says to NORTH AMERICA.

Any person who says there are no import duties for items coming into the USA is wrong. They may have never paid a duty - either because what they brought it was specifically exempted or because they just slipped through the cracks - but that does not mean duty is not due. Speeding is illegal - most get away with it. But you can't say that speeding is therefore legal.

At the link listed by someone up above, click on "U.S. Import Requirements (doc - 64 KB.)" and read that.

Duty has to be paid if there is a duty on that item. If the item is valued at over $2,000, Customs may seize it until duty is paid. That's where the $2,000 limit being discussed came from.

There is a monster list of what is dutiable and what the rate is listed on that page as "The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States," but the link appears to be down at the moment. I have a copy of it at work, I had to use it to pay my duty on film (gee, I thought there was no duty) so I can look up camera stuff tomorrow if you like.

Best Regards,

Bill "Not a Lawyer, but Smarter Than One" Mattocks
 
yeah, Mr. Mattock - that is what I've been saying till everyone shot me down. Customs is a threat. Unlikely - but a threat nonetheless.
 
I don't know where everybody got this "there is no duty on personal items in the US" thing. It's just wrong.

Your Responsibility and Liability
The Internet has made it easy to find and purchase items from almost anywhere in the world. However, many people are discovering that getting a foreign-bought item successfully delivered to the United States is much more complicated.

When goods move from any foreign country to the United States, they are being IMPORTED. There are specific rules and regulations that govern the act of importing - and they can be extremely complex and confusing - and costly.
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And...

It does not matter whether you bought the item from an established business or from an individual selling items in an on-line auction. If merchandise, used or new, is imported into the United States, it must clear CBP and may be subject to the payment of duty as well as to whatever rules and regulations govern the importation of that particular product into the United States.
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I *do* think that the chances of your item having been intercepted and assessed duty are rather low - it is most likely something else. I don't want to scare you. I just wanted to correct an erroneous statement.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Most problems come from incomplete documentation. In your case a little CN sticker should suffice. Description of "used camera parts" or "used camera lens" has worked for me. They probably xray it and see it is as stated. I usually go for air mail. Hope it arrives soon. :angel:
 
Parahrasing a bit....

As "cpe_ste-croix" (sp?) would say:


&%$##@(%^$# UPS 😡
 
bmattock said:
There is a monster list of what is dutiable and what the rate is listed on that page as "The Harmonized Tariff Schedule of the United States," but the link appears to be down at the moment. I have a copy of it at work, I had to use it to pay my duty on film (gee, I thought there was no duty) so I can look up camera stuff tomorrow if you like.

Best Regards,

Bill "Not a Lawyer, but Smarter Than One" Mattocks
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Bill,
As of a few minutes ago, it was up but I also note that the site says it will be down tomorrow for maintainence/back-up.
From what I could tell, 35mm cameras are either free or 20%--there are two colums labled "1" and "2" and I couldn't find what the distinction was between them.
And the "general notes" are 444 pages so I have no idea which rate would apply to us RFF gear-heads. Or, frankly, if I was even reading the thing correctly--this stuff makes which-ever drone writes IRS instructions seem like Hemmingway 😀
There are general rules and there are tons of exceptions and special rates depending on the country of origin (and other things as well, I bet).
I did see that Customs does make a distinction between a person returning from travel abroad and someone buying/importing; there are some fairly clear rules and definitions about what(for example) I could bring back with me as a returning traveler. BUT the things I buy on-line(or mail order) and have sent to me while I'm here at home are a vastly different proposition.

No where did I find any distinction made between "new" and "used"

All the more power to you for getting your film from China!
Rob
 
shutterflower said:
Have you any stories about US customs taking your international purchase and holding it till you pay its ransom?

I suspect they may have done that with a shipment that I am waiting to receive - I know I'm already on their hotlist, on this address, for having tried to 'smuggle' Cuban cigars once from Spain through Skynet.
What kind of fee will they charge? ANd how long does it take to get the shipment through?

grumble.
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Yes, it's smuggling if you're an American citizen. On the books, the civil penalty for violating the embargo is a fine of no more than $55,000 per count; criminal prosecution calls for penalties of up to 10 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines, or both. If it's just one box, it's my understanding that they just confiscate it.

R.J.
 
lubitel said:
when I receive something over 35 euros in value in Germany I have to pay german salestax. thats 16%!
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According to the USPS website:

Germany will not accept any Global Express Mail or airmail parcel post insured item valued at more than $500. Items valued at more than $500 will be returned to sender.

source: http://pe.usps.gov/text/imm/immicl/immicleg_018.html#vnameref_1

R.J.
 
RJBender said:
Yes, it's smuggling if you're an American citizen. On the books, the civil penalty for violating the embargo is a fine of no more than $55,000 per count; criminal prosecution calls for penalties of up to 10 years in prison and up to $250,000 in fines, or both. If it's just one box, it's my understanding that they just confiscate it.

R.J.
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yeah. They just took them. Then the seller resent another box . . even though I said not to. They got through just fine.

I quit smoking those things years ago, but I'm still on that list. I pay the price going in and out of the country.

They sent me the scary letter. All the $$$$$ and jail time and all that. Well, no comment on my views about our foreign policy.

Now, I'm working on smuggling some very rare optical produce into our country.
 
shutterflower said:
OK, that makes sense. Obviously. Customs doesn't have the time or money to mess with the consumer. That is a good thing. But, they do enjoy messing with people's lives occasionally.
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George, was this package addressed to "GWM Photo", "Shutterflower Studio" or to you as an individual?

R.J.
 
rbiemer said:
Bill,
As of a few minutes ago, it was up but I also note that the site says it will be down tomorrow for maintainence/back-up.
From what I could tell, 35mm cameras are either free or 20%--there are two colums labled "1" and "2" and I couldn't find what the distinction was between them. And the "general notes" are 444 pages so I have no idea which rate would apply to us RFF gear-heads. Or, frankly, if I was even reading the thing correctly--this stuff makes which-ever drone writes IRS instructions seem like Hemmingway 😀
There are general rules and there are tons of exceptions and special rates depending on the country of origin (and other things as well, I bet).
I did see that Customs does make a distinction between a person returning from travel abroad and someone buying/importing; there are some fairly clear rules and definitions about what(for example) I could bring back with me as a returning traveler. BUT the things I buy on-line(or mail order) and have sent to me while I'm here at home are a vastly different proposition.

No where did I find any distinction made between "new" and "used"

All the more power to you for getting your film from China!
Rob
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Rob,

The columns refer to the tariff schedules for each country. The former Soviet Union and China used to be column 3 countries in the mid 1980s. The tariff was around 30% if I recall correctly.

R.J.
 
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