Something I’m selling on ebay has attracted the attention of someone from Norway. I want to be able to tell this person exactly what the shipping cost and any cost associated with shipping will be.
According to the US Postal Service, if I use First Class mail, it will be surprisingly little to ship (this item is about the size and weight of a small coin). Are there other fees associated with shipping out of the US and/or into Norway from out of the country? Customs or something?
I couldn’t really find definite answers online, probably mainly because I have no experience or real knowledge on the subject of customs and international shipping, so anything you can tell me would be extremely helpful.
Thank you very much. I hope I’m putting this in the right place.
The shipper will also need to fill out Form CN-22 (pdf) and should expect to stand in line at the post office and see a clerk to complete the transaction. The customs paperwork can be filled out online but I’ve only ever seen Priority Mail Int’l, EMS and the guaranteed EMS as available to purchase online…nothing in first class int’l. You can get the exact postage rates for the parcel here if you haven’t already found that (although you will need the parcel’s weight)
For international shipping you must fill out a customs form. No charge for that. You just note what is in the package and its value. If you want insurance or delivery confirmation that will be extra.
Thank you, you guys. I don’t mind filling out forms/standing in line, as long as I don’t pay through the nose to do so. So it turns out shipping there isn’t nearly as expensive as I feared (good thing it’s a very small, light-weight item, though).
Actually, the USPS has been rockin’ the international thing with Priority Mail International and now that they’ve got flat-rate boxes it has made things really economical to ship worldwide. The small flat rate box (max 4lbs) is about $12.50 to go just about anywhere in the world, delivery is usually 6-10 days. The larger flat-rate boxes are a bit more expensive-- but for example I sent a 35lb gel cell battery to Australia for about $50. UPS quoted $610 and FedEx wanted $840 for the same shipment :eek:
Just send it Priority Intl and say it’s a gift. You can print the postage and custom forms on-line. You then put all the paperwork in a plastic pouch with a slit in it and paste it onto a Priority Intl envelope. Easy, peasy.
Small hijak: people like to complain about the post office, but the system for sending priority mail could not be much easier. I’ve sent hundreds and only had one go awry. the USPS rocks!
I don’t think an eBay item is a “gift”. Why lie for the benefit of the recipient? (The recipient needs to pay duty for a purchase, but not for a gift.)
By the way, only Express Mail has online tracking. The recipient may expect it, and be willing to pay the extra cost. I’d check first if I were you.
Eh, apparently some countries like the UK and France levy duties on gifts. I’ve had a couple of steamed buyers who got hit with VAT plus some other BS on item value + postage even though it was marked gift
Absolutely untrue-- Priority Mail has online tracking for international as well. Only exception is the small flat-rate box. Everything else is fully scanned, you will see updates from it leaving the hub to the airport to customs entry and exit.
Being a Norwegian ebay addict I’ve had plenty of stuff sent from the US. If the value of the parcel is more than 200 NOK (about 32 dollars), then the customer may expect to pay 25% VAT on the price + shipping cost AND a customs handling fee. If the item is marked as a gift the value can be up to 1000 NOK (160 dollars) before VAT and fee incur. the worst that can happen is that customs don’t believe it and they make the customer pay what he’s supposed to.
I’ve had kind sellers lie on the price statement or just scribble the price so it was unintelligible. This may however cause problems with insurance if the parcel is lost. Lots of sellers mark any items going abroad as gifts.
Eh, some of it was customs and brokers fees. They wanted ~$100 apiece for paperwork completion and brokerage alone. I am perfectly capable of filling out paperwork myself and don’t need to compensate a shipping company at the rate of about $400 per hour to fill it out on my behalf :rolleyes:
