Customs customs duty in USA

I do not know if marking as "gift" matters to customs or not. But my understanding is that dolls are not subject to customs fees in the USA, ever. I always have my packages marked as "merchandise" for 15 years and have never paid customs fees. This is a big advantage because if my doll is marked as "gift", insurance is not valid, so if it arrives broken the sender cannot be reimbursed.

 

That's very strange. Did the buyer send you a copy of the bill? Unless something changed very recently, there was never any import fee for any dolls. Mostly because of two things: the $800 import limits you mentioned and any "toys" categories are considered tax exempt for import. Did UPS add extra shipping fee? I never had that issues with FedEx or USPS.

 

Hmmm.... I'm not really familiar with the intricacies of the postal service, but I've never had to pay customs fees on any of my overseas purchases, including all of my dolls. Three of my doll orders have been over $800 in price, too. (I just checked, and they were all sent via FedEx. But I don't know how much that would affect things...)

 

I live in the US and I've never paid custom fees for gifts or merchandise, from any delivery service.

 

https://hts.usitc.gov/view/Chapter 95?release=2022HTSARev11 To be specific- this is the law in toys shipped to USA.
Basically- its duty free. There should be no charges to receiver in USA. So its always best to mark the box “toy” or “doll”.

 

So, as far as I understand there can be a customs fee in the United States for someone receiving a bjd here, but it's not common. I think the value threshold is very high already ($800-$1600) and if it is misdeclared then they would have to suspect that it is so, reclassify the "toy" as something more accurate which is a collectible or cultural/art piece and figure out the real value, then tax you for it. I did know somebody who claimed to have been taxed on a very expensive Volks doll from Japan (second hand shop).
Even if everything I said is true, the customs rate here, if it does get charged, is nothing compared to many countries. I think it's 3%? But there could also be a difference in the rates anyone is charged based on the carrier they had deliver the package. When I was staying in Canada for example I was asked to grossly overpay customs when it was delivered by FedEx. FedEx has a history of doing this, but using private carriers like that it's always possible, so I'm not sure what the cause is exactly if a customer in the us was charged, maybe it was a choice the courier made on their own.

 

I can't speak for the US but just to mention in the UK the fee threshold for gifts is lower than for goods. So it's not always the case marking as a gift is better, depending on the country. I'm still getting some sellers sending me things as a 'gift' when I don't ask them to, and it means I pay fees when I shouldn't have if they had marked as 'goods' so that's a bit annoying. If you don't mark them as goods it's best to check what the buyer is ok with imo

 

Since Brexit that changed (gift £39 and under no fees, goods £135 and under no fees) Tax and customs for goods sent from abroad

 

The link I sent is more correct since that is the UK government website. The person you spoke to is mostly right but a little wrong. They are right about how gifts work. But VAT on goods under £135 is meant to be included at point of sale, so you will not pay any VAT at the border on goods under £135. I can confirm that, since when someone mistakenly marked a £60 parcel as a 'gift' I got a fee, but I sent proof of purchase that it was not a gift to Royal Mail and they refunded me the fee. So if it's a gift it must be marked under £39 to avoid ransom, and if it's goods it must be under £135.

Yes sorry this went so off topic, lol. But I think it's good to discuss because a lot of people are unaware or confused on the new UK rules. They think simply marking as a gift is good because that works in some other countries but the amount is really important.