I need urgent help!

[Trendyxpressions]

I have a problem that I need urgent help on. I sold a watch for $380 us dollars to a customer in Canada and I was unaware that there would be a customs charge. When I went to mail the watch off, the lady at the post office told me that I had to put the value of the item on the customs form (but wouldn’t I get charged more for this) and she also told me that if I put the item as a gift, then the customs charge would be lower. My question is, is their anyway that I can avoid a high customs charge? And when I ship the item off, will customs open the box and ruin the gift wrapped packaging I did? This is my first time selling to someone in Canada and I’m not sure if it’s better to just give her a full refund, rather than her get a large bill from customs that is almost the same price as the watch. Can you please help me! I have to ship the item off first thing in the morning because PayPal has placed a 21 day hold on the funds.

[Quasi_Mojo]

Gifts sent to individuals in Canada are exempt from duties and taxes if:
* the item is worth less than $60 CAN (see Bank of Canada exchange rates)
* the item includes a card or notice indicating that it is a gift.

If the gift is worth more than $60 CAN, the recipient will have to pay applicable duties and sales taxes on the value of the gift over $60 CAN.

The $60 gift exemption does not apply to
* tobacco, alcoholic beverages, or advertising material
* items sent by a business, company, or association

The $60 gift exemption can not be combined with the regular $20 mail exemption available for all items.

Mailing Gifts to Canada - Stay Clear of Duties and Taxes When Mailing Gifts to Canada

Being a Canadian, what I would recommend you doing is contacting the buyer and see if you can send it to them using FedEx International Priority. It will initially cost a bit more, but there will be no Customs/Duty charges when the package is delivered. It's door-to-door service and you also get tracking. I've ordered several $300+ items from the US and I've found this to be the best way to receive them. I think I was only once sent a letter from FedEx, months afterwords, asking for $10 for additional taxes.

If you use and type of Ground shipping (UPS, Purolator, etc.), other than USPS, the buyer will get dinged big-time for taxes and Duties/Customs.

[kar_crs]

I would still recommend using USPS International Priority mail.

On the customs form mark as gift and put the value to like $30 to save your customer money on customs charges. After you have shipped it simply send your customer a message via email stating that you have marked a value of only $30 so that they wouldn't charge him/her customs fees and so that they don't mistakenly think the actual value of the watch is $30 and they got ripped off.

I hope this helps

[Quasi_Mojo]

But what if something happens during transit?
If it's only valued at $30, how could you file a claim for the full amount?

[kar_crs]

Most likely nothing will and if the buyer did not purchase insurance then they couldn't file a claim anyways.

[Quasi_Mojo]

Well, Trendyxpressions...

Perhaps you can contact the buyer and ask them if they want it shipped using option A (FedEx) or option B (USPS marked as a gift valued under $50 CDN). Whichever they pick, it'll be their choice and they shouldn't ding you with a low shipping score.

[ebayhateluv]

HI:
I know it costs more--but heres what I do when shipping overseas--
a.) I use ups
b.) they have a "customs value"
c.) they also have a "carriage vlaue"

So-for customs sake-the Commercial sample-raw ,material is worth maybe $10 bucks..
So--fro "CARRIAGE" value--this i smy insurance--the items cannot be duplicated, so the carriage value is $400+....