Customs Who is resonsible for Customs fees - package mismarked?

There are no custom fees on dolls in America. You will not have to pay anything.

 

I don't think it would be the seller's fault if they marked it "goods" though. I don't see how "goods" is inaccurate or marked wrongly - it's unspecific, yes, but technically this item is goods. I mean, it's not as if the seller is being untruthful, and sellers can't be expected to know the ins and outs of the customs code of every country.

If you and the seller had agreed beforehand that the package needed to be marked 'doll' and then the seller forgot to do so, then I would say it's the seller's fault.

 

Unless you specifically asked the seller to mark it down, then logically it should be the seller's responsibility.

 

IMO it's the buyer's responsibility to pay any customs fee. You're the one importing the doll and it's your country that's charging the fees.

 

Most sellers on the boards here, and the companies, mark dolls as dolls or doll items. You will not pay a cent, and even if the seller did not mark it as a doll, you still have to pony up the money. Otherwise, they send it back.

 

If the package is not marked as doll (which would mean there would be no fees, according to US law), then rather than trying to get the seller to pay fees if customs charges you, I would suggest getting in contact with customs and contesting the fee. Figures in the human image (which includes dolls) are not supposed to have customs fees, whether they're marked as "dolls" or "goods" or "toys." If customs charges you fees, then they have made a mistake.

 

I'm not sure on customs in the states. But if the package is worth that much, and it IS goods, so what if you have to pay customs? You are legally obligated to. Asking the seller to mark down is asking them to commit a minor fraud for you.. while they do bear responsibility if they had previously promised to, if they did it without instructions regarding it, it's the buyer's responsibility.

 

Do you actually know if the delay is with the US Customs?? Or you are just not seeing any update on USPS web site??

When an item gets to US, it does not physically go to the customs only the paperwork does.

In the past I have had item whose status showed in customs clearance (and I called US Customs and got yelled at and got absolutely no help from US Customs because they cannot trace your package your custom entry does not really reflect the USPS tracking number, thus they are NOT willing to even bother with entertaining your question or search) but the package actually got delivered to me later that day or the next day.

A package still needs to be routed after it cleared customs thus may take sometimes before it gets to you. Thus I would not so quick to assume that US Customs is trying to charge you a fee

If they will, they will contact you directly. And if that happens you can ask them to inspect the package thus they would know what kind of item is inside and thus proof that it is duty-exempt

 

That's really interesting, Kiyakotari, that items in a human image don't get charged customs. I wonder why. I've never had to pay customs on anything I've ordered from overseas, even Amazon and so forth, but then again I've never bought anything so expensive (other than my car and my house, of course). Thank you, nanlady, for pointing out that it would be asking the seller to commit fraud. I had someone once buy something from me on ebay and then freak out after the sale because I wouldn't lie on the customs forms!

 

She was wrong. As Kiyakotari explained, dolls are specifically exempted from Customs duty by US law. (When I brought my ShinyDoll Akali back from Japan, the Customs officer actually used her duty-exemption status as a pop quiz for his trainee assistant!) If you should be charged duty because the package isn't marked "doll" or "doll items," then you can absolutely contest the duty charges with US Customs.

I really doubt that that will happen, though. At certain times of the year, I've often experienced long and unexplained delays at the US ports of entry for doll shipments--January is one of those times. I've had doll packages get held up for as long as ten or twelve days, for no visible reason; the tracking didn't update during that whole time, but eventually the package got moving again and was delivered without any problems (not opened by Customs, not damaged or interfered with in any way). My guess is that from time to time the Customs staff are shorthanded, or else flooded with packages to deal with . . . or both.

 

My package was marked incorrectly, I have to pay the fee and then contact the customs office with my proof of what I paid and the customs form attached. Then they will re-assess it and hopefully I will get some money back. I know its different in UK, but this is my situation.

 

Good luck with getting your lovely doll!

 

Like Cynthia said, sometimes packages just sit in Customs for a few days or more. ^^;; I did a trade with someone in Canada and my doll outfits were worth only about $200, but they still sat in Customs for about a week. I was not charged any fees.

The only time I've ever heard of people in the US being charged any sort of fees is when an item is sent using a private courier service like Fed Ex or DHL which will stick you with "brokerage" fees, but they're not actually Customs.

Good luck and hopefully you will get your doll soon!

 

I will say that none of the packages I have ever had come through that enter customs ever show as actually being in customs. They'll almost always just say incoming and list the airport they are at. I've had boxes chill at JFK for over a week, and I assume it is because Customs has a backlog for whatever reason.

 

Don't get mad, but I think you're overreacting just a little bit USPS tracking sucks, they never update "as soon as new information is available" like they say. I've mailed a doll to US a few months ago and it's been stuck on same "incoming mail" status for a week and it's only been updated after a note was left for the buyer and she had gone to PO to receive the package. Chances are your package is out of customs already and will be delivered any day now.

I assume it's not EMS shipping, but Registered Airmail?

 

This. Sometimes the tracking says "inbound into Customs," but more often it's just "incoming" + airport.