got a seized letter from US customs

[sunday1206]

My package from China has been inbound to custom for 12 days .
I just received a letter from US customs in my PO BOX today.
My goods are DVDs

Here is the letter says :
On September 14,2010 U.S customs and border protection officers seized the following counterfeit merchandise shipped to you from china ............

5 pages in all....

Now what can I do ? Should I close my PO BOX ? or just forget the letter ?

[oompaloompa]

forget the letter, your goods just go on the bonfire

if you are paying monthly for the box, you might want to close it, or ask if you can change box number for free.....as there is a small possibility your old box number is now blacklisted for a while..

[sunday1206]

Thank you for the suggestion.
I think I will change a pobox anyway..
but here is another question :
If my packages are seized many times by the same address. what will happen ? by any chance any agencies will enquiry me ?

[rsot]

Many times, of course - hell 1 time is a chance that an agency will inquire about you.

BUT low risk with one time but the more times that happen...you can figure you're playing with fire.

All the best.

[oompaloompa]

1 time v low risk,

but multiple, dont test it out...just swap address for 6 months then you can go back to original one if you want...

[teedon]

6 months looks ok,but if possible,try to use it after more long time.Just use another new address and new name.

[SaiJin]

OP: put up your flag please. thanks

[MERMAID]

Originally Posted by oompaloompa

1 time v low risk,

but multiple, dont test it out...just swap address for 6 months then you can go back to original one if you want...

if I buy only 1 or 2 packages of DVDs a month is fine?is not dangerous? we are talking about 100 pcs

[rsot]

Asking how to do stuff on an old thread ha - 100 pcs is always a flaggable danger.

[teedon]

100 pcs per month is too less.It is ok for 1 week for this quantity.

[MERMAID]

Originally Posted by teedon

100 pcs per month is too less.It is ok for 1 week for this quantity.

100 of the singles dvds or 100 of the heavy box set?

[Anil9875]

I was wondering what happen beside getting the letter and having your item sent up in smoke. I asking if the cops came, or there is any legal action that happen to you...fine...etc..
I got the same letter.

[Axcend]

are you on the east coast or west coast? I just had a package go into customs (no big deal, about 1/5 does with no problems and I get one almost every week, this week i have 4 coming in. Curious if there is going to be a crackdown on the east coast like they have going on in san fran (or is it LA?)

[jeffweico]

Originally Posted by Anil9875

I was wondering what happen beside getting the letter and having your item sent up in smoke. I asking if the cops came, or there is any legal action that happen to you...fine...etc..
I got the same letter.

The rights owner is notified of the seizure and your information is turned over to them. Wheter or not they decide to pursue you depends on the rights owner. Some do nothing, others will sue you.

[Kicked by ebay]

I have same problem. I no get letter yet. But item stay in custom for 5 days now. I am scared. Will this go away? If I get sued... .. . .. . .Can I just.... go away?

[kris]

When you say "go into" or "stay in" customs, what exactly does this show up as, on the tracking information?

I have a package coming into Canada via the USA, and it said "Shipment On Hold" for about 18 hours in Ohio. Then shows it coming into Canada as "Clearence Delay" and 4 minutes later "Clearance Processing Complete" but hasnt moved from that status for about 24 hours. Never seen this before. It normally moves from Ohio to my house within a day.

Also, it normally shows "Depart Facility" in Ohio, Washington, and Vancouver, and this time it does not. It shows only "Processed at location" at each one. Would you find this worriesome?

[easytiger12381]

I have a bit of a theory that I might try if I am ever contacted by a rights owner for a parcel seized. The items I buy from DHG@te have no brand logo on display anywhere-it is blocked out I presume for copyright reasons. I do not know if this is the same for others with their type of products.

Therefore I need to be aware of what the brand packaging is etc or ask a seller privately to see what logo is on them. My theory is that if I was ever contacted by a rights owner I could try and argue that I thought I was buying unbranded goods. If they checked on DH G@te they could see for themselves that no brands are mentioned.

If this would work at all I can only see me getting away with it once obviously. (Well at this delivery address anyway) There is bound to be holes in this theory and if anyone has tested it before I am interested to know what happended. Obviously if the brands names are visible on your products this is not an option as it is clear that you were aware of exactly what you are buying.

[jnm0685]

Back in 2005 I use to buy 500 pcs of dvds a month, with no problem, we are talking San Francisco customs before dhgate flooded the industry with phakes and finally customs send me the famous letter, my business when down after that, the golden years of ebay got over 2000 Positive feedback, withdrawing 3k a month from paypal with no problem. Don't pay with western union ever pay with credit card or paypal ignore the letters make sure you combines addresses for example send 1 shipment a week to different addresses too many packages going the same place raise suspicion.