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DVD's Seized by customs...
 

Hey all, so I got a Title 19 letter in the mail from U.S. Customs for some dvds from asia and I'm a little confused about it. Do I need to fill it out in order to get it abandoned or can I just ignore it? It went through DHL too, I thought they were suppose to be much better, but my supplier use to ship USPS then soon after changing to DHL customs seized two big boxes. I'm not terribly worried about getting them back as I've already worked out a deak with my supplier. My biggest questions are,

Does anything have to be done on my part? Am I going to have to pay penalties for not filing it as abandoned?

And my second question is, does this red flag customs or anything to my address? Is it going to be harder for me to continue getting boxes from Asia under the same address?

And finally, if items get seized again in the future, are the penalties more severe after its already happened before?

Thanks for all your help, kinda scary stuff some times, but with some good advise from the pros on here, I think I can feel at ease.

I'm going through the same exact thing right now with DHL not DVDs though, if anyone has some input it's appreciated. Same questions as OP.

When your package got seized thru DHL what did it say when you looked it up online at the DHL site for the tracking information?

Definitely only ship through USPS. Just ignore the letter and they will just trash the stuff or whatever they do with it.

All it says is "Please contact DHL Customer Service."

The agent that called me said customs has examined the shipment and detected possible contraband. He gave me two choices to dispose of the shipment and have nothing to do with it or get a letter of authority from the brand manufacturer from the seller.

I chose to dispose of the shipment and get a refund, but what I'm worried about now is if my address is flagged and if customs is taking a closer look at my activities.

^^^

most likely your name is on their database, use another address to accept shipments

What city did the package land in in the US?
Did your package originate from a city in China or from Hong Kong?

If your seller fowards it to hong kong and marks them as chinese dvds you should be good.

mine were from Hong Kong and landed in Los Angeles were I live. Do I really need to change addresses? I really don't want to, but I guess i will buy a P.O. Box if necessary. Just a hassle instead of me just answering my front door and having them bring it in

The seller must have marked the package wrong, since I had 2 dhl packages go through LA just recently.

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yeah, well the thing is, I have had tons of packaged come from this same seller, the same way it always does, this was the only 1 seized which leads me to believe it was some kind of random search thing, hopefully, the "random" search doesn't become a "guaranteed" search now that I've gotten 1 package seized

just send the invoice statement from shipper and receiver to clear the custom,and do not mark the value too high for the packages.

2 Months ago I had the same thing... A Package landed in San Francisco was seized by the customs. Sent me a letter bla bla bla which I decided not to answer to at all.
So I figured well must be a random check once in a blue moon. Ordered another package... Guess what Got another letter the goods are co$%#%rfeit and seized.

Since then I stopped sending to my home. I think once your name get flagged They will get you every time.

My experience

@zeevik03
there are ways around this..just talk to yer supplier..i wont mention what other method but others here know about it..ive had 2 packages held at my main address held in customs 2 months ago,ive got my last 10+..just talk to yer supplier

maybe we should share the good experience to people here,so let more people can make more profits.

Just try to use a few different to receive your goods,also the package should be not too big.This way can reduce the possiblity to be seized.

How big is too big?

I have recently found a good supplier that ships DHL and I noticed through tracking that they leave through Hong Kong which I am assuming is a good thing based upon the post...but also have them listed as Chinese DVDs??? That doesn't raise a red flag?

Thats how 1 seller used to mark them and they didn't get seized, that was a while though, I order mostly small packages EMS now.

What is a small package? How many pieces?
And really, EMS is considered the safest right now?
Is is because of the size of the packages?
I've learned a lot reading this thread including why they line all of the boxes with that annoying styrofoam...LOL

It depends on how big the item is, most of my packages are about the size of 1 or 2 shoebox's, my seller won't even let me order large packages DHL due to the risk of it getting seized.

Wow, the 2 shipments that I've gotten from Hong Kong each roughly the size of 2 cases of bottled beer (24 bottles each)...so they were good sized and they sailed right through in 4-5 days...I don't know, maybe I just got lucky or maybe I'm dealing with a supplier that knows his stuff