EUROPE customs

No legal ways, mostly.
It's also not a one size fits all situation across the whole of Europe I'm afraid, the different countries handle things differently. So it might be helpful to clarify where you live (like I'm in Germany).

Generally though, you cannot actively do much. Most companies do lower the value on packages by default, but unless you're lucky that it slips through that is pretty much all there is.

 

Hard to say depending on where you live, you can try to go through a dealer but unfortunately many of them are based in UK which is no longer EU so you'll still get slammed with fees so be sure to check location before choosing a dealer. Personally I just eat the fees

 

Unfortunately I don't think there is a way to get less custom fees, unless you buy the dolls second hand from ebay, but then you can't be sure about their legitimacy.
So far, I got custom fees on US, UK and Chinese orders (in ireland), but I just eat the fees :/
It would be nice if we had an EU dealer though.

 

Like said above, you may be able to find better deals through a dealer. Here is a link to the Doa list of companies in Europe

/doawiki/index.php?title=Dealers_&_Distributors_(Europe)

 

Unfortunately that's really out if date, I think only Angelesque (UK) still exists and I've seen some bad reviews for her

 

Oh boy, fair enough. Don't listen to me, bad advice

 

My only other idea is to keep an eye on the second hand market. You might be able to find some good deals

 

Oddly enough I had to pay customs over packages from Korea but not from Chinese dealer [Alice’s Collection]. Korean company declared full value of items and shipped through regular mail service, I had a lot of paperwork to complete, ugh. I paid significant customs over three packages (app. 30%). ACBJD lowered declared value of package and shipped via DHL and they were responsible for managing customs. I declared actual value for the packages upon DHL request, but no customs were paid both times.

It definitely depends on the country, but it’s also possible that bigger delivery companies have it easier dealing with customs on the recipient’s behalf?

 

Not from Portugal but from the Peninsula. When I was living there, I ofren paid around that 100/150€ for custom fees for 1/3 dolls. Unfortunately, customs policies are getting more strict nowadays, specially in the EU. Big parcels with high declared value are spotted at once. There's no way to stop those fees, sadly.

It's always safe to keep in mind to save +100€ extra while planning to buy a doll.

In the UK, I paid up to £80 for a 1/4 doll (from Iplehouse, for reference)...so yea... yikes!