Bruce: HELP! Customs eats up your overseas clients...

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Most of your overseas clients appear to be annoyed from their countries’ customs, being too greedy, making the phero products a lot more expensive, slowing down delivery.

Originally pheros already cost a lot and using them on a regular basis makes it an expensive habit. But it is worth the fun one gets from it, isn’t it? Especially after a while when one knows how to use the stuff properly and what to expect from it (and what not to expect&#8230 [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img].

In order to make it more affordable and increase sales, you make the stuff cheaper by giving (sometimes heavy) discounts on the regular prices, Bruce. Bundling them and making many special offers. But that is lowering YOUR margin though offering an excellent and quick service, good products and maintaining this forum for the phero community.

Unfortunately for non US-customers the strong (=expensive) US$ makes phero products even more expensive. And even worse, the overseas customs authorities easily increase prices for foreign customers up to 25% by charging customs!!

So for your foreign customers it does make a BIG difference (25%), how much customs is being charged! And btw, customs slows down delivery a lot! Instead of 5 days to an EC country (much luck, no customs, went through) it can take up to 3 weeks until delivery (both times standard mail).

It ALL depends on what is written on this green (customs) tag on the envelope: if it says something like 10.00 US$ and “skin care product” (which is not wrong) instead of the true amount and “cologne”, almost no customs or no customs at all would be charged, what will cut costs a lot and improve the speed of delivery very much too.

Nobody can do a thing about the exchange rate to the US$, nor about the high prices of the raw chemicals. But is there a way not to feed greedy overseas customs too excessively? I would be very happy, if there would be a solution to this problem.

Well, I imagine it is difficult to ask someone to write out wrong amounts on tags. But it does not bother the US customs, as the pheros are exported from the US. It could only bother custums authorities of the foreign country…

Is there a way of eventually doing something on this problem? Thanks a lot for eventually considering any solution, P.E.

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Here in Finland the Customs tax is 6,5 % + VAT 22 %, so that makes it a massive 28,5 % in taxes! I order DVD\'s from Australia and they usually put lower amounts into the Customs tag. They also give you 9 % tax-free discount.

So I too would say that a LOT depends on that Customs tag. [img]images/icons/crazy.gif[/img]

[CJ01]

Bruce has already been, on occasion doing just that-reducing the $value on the label BUT this is not always working as well as we´d like it too. Trouble is, customs just open anything that comes from non-EU countries and charge you and if you´re really lucky they won´t steal anything.

My tip is to place more than one order you pay more for postage but it still tends to work out less than the taxes.CJ

[aaron]

Oh BUM!!!! My order was about $200 worth...Gordon Brown\'s going to be rubbing his hands with glee with what he\'s going to stick me with [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img]

Marty....try oredring your DVDs from dv-depot in Canada. They ship DHL, takes 2-3 days and they label the customs docket \"used software\". Never ever been charged duty or VAT from them. And their service is as impeccable as Bruce\'s.

It\'s strange how the small companies really take care of their clients.

ps...apologies to Bruce for going Off Topic. Just trying to help out a fellow DVD addict. Worst thing is that i feel I\'m gong to become a pheromone addict as well [img]images/icons/tongue.gif[/img]

*stands up* \"Hi, my name\'s Aaron and I\'m an....\" (Oops! Sorry, wrong room [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img])

[CJ01]

hey aaron I´ve never had problems with customs when I lived in the UK. Admittedly most of my packages came from the continent but a good number came from the states. The UK is alot more relaxed about certain things it seems, not as much bureaustuff. I think you might be in luck: CJ [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

[Nutt]

I think one of my orders from bruce was VATed, I agree that you definatly won\'t get into trouble doing this bruce, and it saves us a lot of money and hassle.

how about doing what one company does and lable it as \' cosmetic sample \' with a low doller value ( randomised from $1 to $20 or something [img]images/icons/laugh.gif[/img] )

im sure all you international customers would appriciate it, and many companys do this.

[CJ01]

Yes that just might work in some cases I know I won´t get lucky but still.

[Naughtymonkey]

VAT = value added tax. Its a consumption tax a bit like your state taxes like in washington that catches out all of us tourists when you think you paying whats on the label until the till tells you otherwise!

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Thanks for the tip Aaron! [img]images/icons/laugh.gif[/img]

I\'m not blaming Bruce and don\'t think anyone is. The price seems to be more important to the customs than the size of the packet (unless its huge).

A friend of mine said quite rightly - if the tag looks like it was written by your granny, then you\'re in the clear... [img]images/icons/crazy.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

[aaron]

If marked as a \"gift\" and valued at about $24-£30 most packages get thru from the US unscathed I\'ve noticed (at least in the case of DVDs).

[PHP 87]

What is \"VAT\"?

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We do alot of worldwide shipping with our business, and what we found out how to get around most of the customs problems. Ship the product in a box seperate with no literature about what it is, but i don\'t know if it is possible with pheros with it on the label. And on the customs declariction put sample products or cologne. No where in the package telling what the products are used for, so when the customs opens the box they have no idea what it is. The customs opens all boxes, but not normal letters, so in a seperate envolope put the reciept, instructions, and advertisements or what ever else you put in it.

That is how you get rid of most of the customs problems. Also if you use UPS the package gets there alot quicker, because UPS keeps the package with them and delivers it, the global priority or global express leaves the US, but when it gets overseas, that country is control of it, and they are the one that delivers it.

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bump! gready customs still eats up a lot of some peoples money...

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Hi all,

Remember to take into consideration that if a package worth several hundred dollars goes missing the courier company can only be held liable for the marked package price (at least for international orders) so if you put value of contents at 10 bucks your insurance is for 10 bucks.

skint

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Marty, if your total order is less than about 1000 FIM (last year) = 170 EUR, the customs wont bother to open the package. So as long as you order just a little at any one time, no fees are charged. Of course, if you need a lot, postage could soon outweigh the benefit.

Nimimerkki kokemusta on.
(Sorry couldn\'t resist)
Finn

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Altrough no duty are paid, I\'ve ALWAYS paid VAT and some more handling fees on my orders.
Portuguese Customs open everything!!! [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img]

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i had problmes on my second last order, they held onto my order, sent me a letter saying allthis crap and how they cant allow me to have it. Bruce ended up having to send me Andro and Attraction which is made wher ei live, in australia. But my last order got through but was missing a few things.

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Kiitti Finn! [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

My order was about 73 €, so I should be in the clear. I just have to be patient and only get a few phero-products at a time...

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I\'ve had one in three parcels opened by customs (in Australia). From my experience getting things from the states, in oz if the value is below $200, the don\'t charge import duty.

Ken

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Bump!
Hi Bruce, those posts show, that many of your customers get charged an aditionally 20%-35% money (customs plus VAT) and a lot of additional time to wait due to slowly working customs.

Is there a way how to avoid that? It would make purchases a lot easier and cheaper. One could buy more often and more stuff. Please try to find a way. Thanks a lot!