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Mailing coins to foreign countries from US


sweetlife

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I've discovered that sometimes if you mark a package traveling out of the US as coins, not only would the recipient pay duties on the package but also sometimes they are restrictions on sending coins to other nations, or the package must be insured and certified, etc. So I just use tokens as the label.

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i use "game token" on the ones i send outside the u.s. seems to be ok. the post office lady thought i was nuts when i told her we send these things all over the place.

 

lara

B)

 

Yeah, I think the staff at several local post offices think I'm a loony, although giving the ringleader at the nearby PDC (aka Processing and Distribution Center, aka the biggest USPS warehouse within 100+ miles of your home) a postal jeep coin helped! :anibad::D:laughing:

 

Anything sent internationally, I'm now in the habit of listing as a gift, described as "game token (xx)", and I try and reduce the per coin value down to keep the total value below US $20.

 

If that is too high of a value for you international recipients, please let me know, as it is hard to tell what a good value is given the weak US dollar in the international market these days. :D

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Anything sent internationally, I'm now in the habit of listing as a gift, described as "game token (xx)", and I try and reduce the per coin value down to keep the total value below US $20.

 

 

If it's any help, that works perfectly for anything that we've been sent from the US in the past, (we're in the UK). I'm not sure of the guidelines for the rest of Europe though, sorry :laughing: . I don't imagine that there would be too much of a difference though.

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It is good to make sure the amount is easy to read, otherwise the customs may mistake it for a much higher value and make the receiver pay alot. Believe me, I know. :laughing:

 

I believe it is best to keep the value low, even if it maybe is worth a bit more. To Sweden I believe anything below $80 should be ok, but I´m NOT sure of that amount, maybe Mousekakat knows that better, she has done a lot of sending and recieving. But below $20 is absolutely OK.

 

What to say of the content, to some countries you may not send coins, so game tokens, novelty tokens or just something to show it is for fun and not commercial is good to state.

 

I use the same on all my sendings almost. Game token, gift and 60 SEK, no matter what the real value is. Sometimes I have it written on the envelope, game tokens, no commercal value, but I try to always put the customslabel on, they are for free so I might aswell put them on.

 

Hopefully all my sendings have came through to all of you. I try to send the sender a e-mail to let them know I have got their package and I appreciate those doing the same to me. Or post a picture in Whats in my mailbox-thread.

 

grodan Karin.

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yeah

Just to add my 2 geocoins worth. I have only ever had to pay custom dues once and that was on my personals - a big package!!! straight from the mint. I didnt have to pay on either of my other coins via the us or germany. I think the idea of token rather than coin probably is to limit theft rather than custom dues. (I have only lost one coin in the mail and that was in england)

 

Posting the other way from the UK to other countries have different rules (Canada demand return address, Us doesn't for instance) so I put custom slips on all and hope for the best

 

Bob

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I think the two most important things are labeling the package as a gift and not using the word "coin".

I never had to pay customs up to now, but the packages have been checked by the customs office whenever it was marked as "other" on the label.

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I recently had one package come back to me from Italy which had a customs form on it and attatched to the package was a letter saying that they get a lot of these types of coins and that I needed a form that started with a D something? I am debating whether to send it without a customs form now so maybe it will bypass them? Not sure?

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A single coin, no customs form, but more than a couple, where the package bulges a bit, customs form!

 

I had a short stint working for UPS here in Sweden and dealing with customs fees here, so I learned a little bit.

 

This is for Sweden, so I'm not sure about the rest of the world, but it's probably a safe bet that it's similar.

 

We are given an amount that is duty free. For Sweden it's anything under 500kr, including the shipping costs!! Which is important to know, since they can get ya that way, too! That amount is per person, which is why those of you who have sent us coins before have been asked to send them to "Familjen Olofsson," instead of Naomi Olofsson. Familjen is family in Swedish (see, ya learned a bit of Swedish today, oh, and that j is pronounced like a y here...). I have people do it this way because the customs department doesn't have a way to verify how many are in a family and it guarantees a higher duty free limit. I also ask folks to put a low declaration amount on the form anyway, just to be sure.

 

If you're shipping something other than coins, make sure that you take price tags off and do NOT ship them in their original boxes. Original boxes tend to tip off customs to charge something!

 

Lastly, game tokens = good, coins = bad. Always a gift, if you want, you can also write on it no commercial value.

 

OH, and tape the living daylights out of stuff... customs doesn't seem to be as interested in breaking into packages heavily taped :D

 

Anyway, those are some of the tidbits that I learned while working at UPS. Hope it helps!

 

Naomi :laughing:

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In the UK the postion is as folows;

 

"If you purchase goods through the Internet you should be aware that customs duty and VAT will be payable, as follows:

 

customs duty - if the amount of duty is £7 and over

import VAT - if the value of the goods is £18 and over

Please see Notice 143 A guide for international post users, paragraph 3.3 for more details.

 

UK duty payable on excise goods received via post from abroad.

 

From 19 July 2007, excise duty is due on all excise goods (including tobacco and alcohol products) received via post from abroad, including occasional gifts and goods ordered online. This applies to goods sent from EU and non-EU countries."

 

For the purposes of duty, toys (ie Gaming pieces/tokens) are assesed at 0-4.7% of the declared value so a few geocoins are unlikely to reach the £7 threshold. See this 'easy' to read page for details....

 

It appears that Her Majesty's finest have cottoned on to the 'gift' thing... :laughing:

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The reason not to ever call them coins on the Customs Declaration is that "coins" = "currency" and I believe that many postal services strictly prohibit the movement of currency via the postal system. I know it is explicitly forbidden within and to/from New Zealand. (It may even be an offense to do so). I always list them as "Game Tokens" on the declaration.

 

I think is is about 500NZD that our Customs start to see dollar signs at.

 

I have been told by the local Post Office not to list a value in the packages I send of more than $250 as that is the insurance limit for them and that if I listed more than that it would raise suspicion. I list actual value in case I have to use my copy of the declaration as evidence when claiming for a lost package.

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Would all this include packages say that we send thru UPS or Fed Ex from US to overseas? Or is this just for postal service? Im just trying to understand so we dont stick it to someone.

 

If sending a large package would it be better to split up into several small packages?

 

Thanks in advance for answers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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Would all this include packages say that we send thru UPS or Fed Ex from US to overseas? Or is this just for postal service? Im just trying to understand so we dont stick it to someone.

 

If sending a large package would it be better to split up into several small packages?

 

Thanks in advance for answers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Yes, all kind of shipping services. Fed Ex and UPS too.

 

Split up packages can be better if it keeps the value of each package down. (But it can be more expensive for the sender though.) But, if divided into several smaller ones, send them a couple of days apart to be sure. I have heard of people getting several small orders from the same sender be put together by customs and charged VAT for the whole amount. One by one they would have slipped through.

 

Also, gift or not gift, it depends on the value if VAT is charged.

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Hi, I am sure there are incoming limits to oz as well, I just don't know what they are, we have had a few parcels recently, one was opened by customs, as there was a slip inside, but nothing came of it. To send out of oz we HAVE to put on a declaration, and provide ID for every parcel sent, this regulation came after 9/11, prior more things could be posted, but they are way fussier these days. I have always used gift and sending geocions as game tokens appears the way to not attract too much attention, and listing a nominal value so as to keep the parcel nappers away. Note to self... better not order any more coins for a few weeks, let the postman have a rest :rolleyes:

cheers

Gayle & Mark

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In the UK the postion is as folows;

 

"If you purchase goods through the Internet you should be aware that customs duty and VAT will be payable, as follows:

 

customs duty - if the amount of duty is £7 and over

import VAT - if the value of the goods is £18 and over

Please see Notice 143 A guide for international post users, paragraph 3.3 for more details.

 

UK duty payable on excise goods received via post from abroad.

 

From 19 July 2007, excise duty is due on all excise goods (including tobacco and alcohol products) received via post from abroad, including occasional gifts and goods ordered online. This applies to goods sent from EU and non-EU countries."

 

For the purposes of duty, toys (ie Gaming pieces/tokens) are assesed at 0-4.7% of the declared value so a few geocoins are unlikely to reach the £7 threshold. See this 'easy' to read page for details....

 

It appears that Her Majesty's finest have cottoned on to the 'gift' thing... :)

 

One other point to note on the £18 threshold - this has to include include the cost of the postage as well as the contents, so if the item is heavy, i.e. several coins, even if the declared value is say $30 - but the postage is an additional $18 - the total that Customs will calculate for tax is $48 - well over the £18 threshold, VAT will be added and the post office kindly add their £8 handling fee - I once purchased 4 coins from the US, the vendor put the full amount on the customs form, together with the VAT payable and the Post Office charges the coins came out at $18 a piece :)

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