Terrible Experience with Shipping and Customs from Europe to the US

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Casual

Lifer
Oct 3, 2019
2,577
9,420
NL, CA
I got a huge 5" pig sticking knife sent to me from a weirdo in Finland, no problem at all.

They’ve been snagging modern folding knives as gravity knives for the last couple of years. It’s not consistent, but you get screwed when it happens, especially considering it can take months in limbo just to tell you it’s been confiscated or sent back.
 

sasquatch

Lifer
Jul 16, 2012
1,683
2,862

They’ve been snagging modern folding knives as gravity knives for the last couple of years. It’s not consistent, but you get screwed when it happens, especially considering it can take months in limbo just to tell you it’s been confiscated or sent back.
Try importing wet blocks of wood with bark on them some time.
 

cachimbero

Starting to Get Obsessed
Apr 9, 2019
244
288
55
Cordoba, Spain
,that doesnt work here,even if marked as a gift you can still get taxed for import duties/vat.
i just had a pipe from the UK marked as a gift but still got taxed 20% plus a handling fee then vat added to the total
I thought there was a free commerce treaty between the UK and the EU. Taxes from incoming merchandise from the UK into Greece?
 
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burleyboy

Part of the Furniture Now
Jul 30, 2019
862
4,473
Europe
I‘ve sent tobaccos across the pond several times. I never used Hermes and never stated anything about tobacco on the declaration.

I‘d always send via „Brief“ (this is much faster), if size and weight make it possible.

Otherwise I‘d use the Päckchen or Paket and write “collectibles” or “hobby accessories” on the customs declaration.
 

paulfg

Lifer
Feb 21, 2016
1,566
2,930
Corfu Greece
I thought there was a free commerce treaty between the UK and the EU. Taxes from incoming merchandise from the UK into Greece?
yes it is classed as outside of Europe so treated the same as items from USA or elsewhere in the world.
currently a duty free up to 22 Euros including shipping costs but this goes away 1 july.
I mam not sure what the free trade treaty covers but it doesnt seem to apply to anything I have bought from UK since January
 

cachimbero

Starting to Get Obsessed
Apr 9, 2019
244
288
55
Cordoba, Spain
yes it is classed as outside of Europe so treated the same as items from USA or elsewhere in the world.
currently a duty free up to 22 Euros including shipping costs but this goes away 1 july.
I mam not sure what the free trade treaty covers but it doesnt seem to apply to anything I have bought from UK since January
Thank you, better advised than sorry. Praying for Germany not banning internet tobacco sales anytime soon.
 
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pantsBoots

Lifer
Jul 21, 2020
2,132
7,517
Terra Firma
Oh...Gawd...

Shipments of tobacco to individuals between the EU and the US have been risky for a couple of years. It's seems to be getting riskier. Think of it as playing Russian Roulette with three bullets loaded. It might get through, it might not.

Last year shipment of a large order from Esterval's ran afoul of the USPS, who bounced it all over before suddenly sending it back to Germany. The tracking said "insufficient address". The USPS said that the return was ordered by US Customs. US Customs told me that they had nothing to do with it and that they never send stuff back. They impound stuff to sell at government auction or to destroy. Once in a long while they release the impounded item to the intended recipient after an appeals process.

Anyone ordering tobacco from outside the US should be aware that there's a good chance they will never see it. At least I got my money back because I had used my credit card, and the "insufficient address" worked in my favor. If you pay with a money transfer and things go pear shaped you're out of luck.

It's like the stock market, never put more at risk than you're prepared to lose.

Fantastic advice. A similar issue happened to me with a nasal (tobacco) snuff order a few months ago. The package was processed through customs, made it to my local post office, but then just sat there. When I went to inquire, I saw the USPS employee with my box in her hand, but then she said they were notified by customs that the package had been recalled "for unknown reasons" and had already been sent back (liar!). I contacted Customs and they said they did not operate that way and that USPS had refused to deliver and returned it to sender.

I assume some pencil-neck postal investigator is playing God with his or her new badge, chosing to interpret the PACT act as they see fit, and instructing USPS employees to shift the blame to another, less-beleaguered federal agency. Dishonesty is dishonesty and a rudimentary take from an attorney friend says it's bullshit - international treaty trumps interstate law (unless involving Cuban tobacco) and I essentially had my legal purchase infringed upon by the US government. I filed a formal complaint with customs, but that process is slow (was promised a detailed reply within 45 days and it's been more than 60). I know the package was never meant to be mine, but perhaps it will at least start a dialogue between USPS and US CBP about telling the truth.

Of note, this was not a personal package, but from a legitimate vendor. If the vendor claims to offer delivery guarantee, but doesn't honor that guarantee, do a charge back through your credit card (assuming that's how you paid); eventually, vendors who don't honor their own policy may get blacklisted if there are too many charge back claims as bank issuers usually treat those as fraud cases. If you are sending packages person to person, you can get creative on the customs declaration, but do not ever be dishonest - there is a bank of laws in most countries that give them the authority to nail your ass to the wall if they catch you blatantly lying.
 
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karam

Lifer
Feb 2, 2019
2,341
9,012
Basel, Switzerland
,that doesnt work here,even if marked as a gift you can still get taxed for import duties/vat.
i just had a pipe from the UK marked as a gift but still got taxed 20% plus a handling fee then vat added to the total
Hmmm I bought a pipe from the UK too a couple of weeks back, the customs declaration said "gift" and "ornament" in the description, and "£10" for value - which is actually not too far off from the sale's price.

I've heard from friends though that right after Brexit they had trouble with Amazon packages not being delivered. Of Amazon being Amazon, they instantly refund anything not delivered, these mishaps are not even fleas on the mammoth volume they do worldwide, but for individual sellers like us here it can be a problem.

I used to buy vaping gear from China, I got a couple of packages held, while others made it through. Then the Chinese shops became more sophisticated/dodgy and would send to a depot in Germany where it'd be repackaged and resent with different tracking number, after which all went through.
 

paulfg

Lifer
Feb 21, 2016
1,566
2,930
Corfu Greece
Hmmm I bought a pipe from the UK too a couple of weeks back, the customs declaration said "gift" and "ornament" in the description, and "£10" for value - which is actually not too far off from the sale's price.

I've heard from friends though that right after Brexit they had trouble with Amazon packages not being delivered. Of Amazon being Amazon, they instantly refund anything not delivered, these mishaps are not even fleas on the mammoth volume they do worldwide, but for individual sellers like us here it can be a problem.

I used to buy vaping gear from China, I got a couple of packages held, while others made it through. Then the Chinese shops became more sophisticated/dodgy and would send to a depot in Germany where it'd be repackaged and resent with different tracking number, after which all went through.
the 2 pipes i bought were marked at true value and what they were, used Loewes pipe and used Charatan's pipe but as a gift.
both had taxes plus 15 euro handling charges on values of 130 and 100 GBP.i cant remember the exact costs but between 40 -50 euros each was charged,
I also had a parcel from The US marked as clock parts (it was true) value at 160 USD and this came with the green customs label for free of tax on it.
Who Knows
 
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karam

Lifer
Feb 2, 2019
2,341
9,012
Basel, Switzerland
the 2 pipes i bought were marked at true value and what they were, used Loewes pipe and used Charatan's pipe but as a gift.
both had taxes plus 15 euro handling charges on values of 130 and 100 GBP.i cant remember the exact costs but between 40 -50 euros each was charged,
I also had a parcel from The US marked as clock parts (it was true) value at 160 USD and this came with the green customs label for free of tax on it.
Who Knows
Hah, no, the pipe I bough was £18 I think. I wouldn't mind paying what's due if it means I'll get what I ordered, would be miffed if I got nothing in the end.
 
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I don't think I am adventurous enough to risk sending or receiving packages of tobaccos across borders nowadays. When I first got on this forum, I had bought shipments from the EU with no problems, but then when I tried to send some of my own homegrown to one of youse guys in Canada a few years ago, I got phone calls from customs demanding way more than the tobacco would have been worth commercially, and the package was destroyed. That happened twice, the second time I marked the customs order as "agricultural sample," but somehow it still got pegged. I just assume now that the government uses spiritual mediums , high tech scanners, and dogs.
 

pappymac

Lifer
Feb 26, 2015
3,272
4,267
I spent $250 buying tobacco from Esterval's last year and received the package six weeks later with no problem. After that, by reading about Sablebrush's experience and some others, I decided that buying from Esterval was akin to taking money to a casino - you may win but chances are better that you may lose. And like Sable said, don't spend money you can't afford to lose.
 
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karam

Lifer
Feb 2, 2019
2,341
9,012
Basel, Switzerland
I don't think I am adventurous enough to risk sending or receiving packages of tobaccos across borders nowadays. When I first got on this forum, I had bought shipments from the EU with no problems, but then when I tried to send some of my own homegrown to one of youse guys in Canada a few years ago, I got phone calls from customs demanding way more than the tobacco would have been worth commercially, and the package was destroyed. That happened twice, the second time I marked the customs order as "agricultural sample," but somehow it still got pegged. I just assume now that the government uses spiritual mediums , high tech scanners, and dogs.
Wouldn't that send audible alarm bells ringing both sides of the Atlantic, or anywhere else in the world? As a biologist/biochemist by training I know that the introduction of foreign species in an ecosystem can really wreck it. The examples are too many, but I bet you're familiar with the decline of the American chestnut, kudzu, Dutch Elm disease, phyloxera and so many others. When I visited the US I had to declare I bring no agricultural or food products with me on my landing card, and going back to Greece I had to do exactly the same, I think it makes sense really.
 
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Jan 28, 2018
12,952
134,613
66
Sarasota, FL
I don't think I am adventurous enough to risk sending or receiving packages of tobaccos across borders nowadays. When I first got on this forum, I had bought shipments from the EU with no problems, but then when I tried to send some of my own homegrown to one of youse guys in Canada a few years ago, I got phone calls from customs demanding way more than the tobacco would have been worth commercially, and the package was destroyed. That happened twice, the second time I marked the customs order as "agricultural sample," but somehow it still got pegged. I just assume now that the government uses spiritual mediums , high tech scanners, and dogs.

It likely would have been safer to list it as tobacco vs agricultural sample.
 
Wouldn't that send audible alarm bells ringing both sides of the Atlantic, or anywhere else in the world? As a biologist/biochemist by training I know that the introduction of foreign species in an ecosystem can really wreck it. The examples are too many, but I bet you're familiar with the decline of the American chestnut, kudzu, Dutch Elm disease, phyloxera and so many others. When I visited the US I had to declare I bring no agricultural or food products with me on my landing card, and going back to Greece I had to do exactly the same, I think it makes sense really.
But like it's Canada. It's not like pollen, seeds, birds, insects, and animals don't understand these political boundaries. I mean, it's not like I'm sending some Kudzu to Argentina. puffy
But, yeh, I get your meaning.
 
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It likely would have been safer to list it as tobacco vs agricultural sample.


You do know that people mail seeds across the borders all the time. I get seeds from Canada all the time. Hell, one of the biggest suppliers of seeds in the US is in Canada. OSC and Berton Seeds are where most farmers get their seeds, unless you want to pay Burpee prices, and industrial ag folks don't. I get packages marked ag samples all the time from them. No problems.
 
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