SFR, Inc.

[MissTiffany]

I would like to hear from anyone who has had problems with a international order, or anyone who knows what things need to happen to keep problems from happening. Shipping internationally is so expensive I want to make sure I fill out everything correctly and do not add to the problem.

On my form it asks me if the item being shipped is: gift, documents, commercial sample, returned goods or other. I always select other and put Dragon Dice Game. It also asks me to put in the value of each item shipping. I put the website price in that slot. I do combine items some times since there are only so many slots on this form.

Other than that I don't know what else I can do. I hate for orders to be delayed or have huge custom fees on them.

Anyone have any input?

Tiffany
SFR Shipping

[Deeghter]

Well, mark it as a gift, put in a value of 1 Dollar and don't put the invoice in the packet!!!

(you better don't follow my advice, if you wanna do a LEGAL job!! LOL)

Well....to improve things....you might add some Oreos or root beer, we don't have that in Germany....oh, yes, almost forgot: your cheese dip for potatoe chips is much better than the stuff we get here, LOL.
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www.dragondicer.com
SFR's German electro-punk-bluegrass artist Deeghter @@ My S&JW Memorial Space! Tanx, Steve!

[anset]

Hi,

Here are some things for shipping to the European Union:

1. Every box must have a "pro-forma" invoice of the whole shipment. Please note that customs will remove these so we never see them.

2. Every box should be labeled something like "box 2 of 4" indicating how many boxes there are and how many boxes are in total in the shipment.
It is better to ship multiple boxes as one shipment so we only pay the "handling fee" once.

3. Putting "Dragon Dice Game" is ok, but it does not tell customs what is in the box. So they have to open them up and decide for themselves.
Internationally used custom codes exist; every type of product has a code and that code sometimes leads to extra duty to be paid and sometimes does not.

Dragon Dice could fall in two categories:
1. Game made of plastic -> Extra duty must be paid for hazardous materials entering the European Union. About 7% If I remember correctly.
2. Parts of "family game" or "board game". -> No extra duty.

For that last one, I'm looking for the English translation of the Dutch word "gezelschapsspel".
It should describe any kind of game played for amusement. It includes boardgames, card games, role play games, etc.. I do not know the correct English word for that.

Anyway, since Dragon Dice are, well, dice, they can very well be a part of a board game, so you can use that description.
Until now I have been using that and never had any trouble.

Each of those descriptions also has a number, but these change from time to time.
If you remember, I asked you to put one of those numbers on my last shipment.
Putting the description instead of the number should be better, in case the numbers change.

Just make sure you do not say it's made of plastic or wood, or we'll have to pay extra.

If I think of more stuff, I'll put it here.

Wkr,

Anset

[goldbh]

On average in the UK I have found that:
If you are charged customs duty it works out at 23% of the total value of the goods AND the shipping e.g. if you bought $80 of dice and $20 shipping you would be charged $23. There is no charge if the goods are worth less than £18 (UK rates) there is also no charge if the customs charge is less than £7. Gifts can be up to £36 in value with no charge.
It is sometimes worth ordering smaller value packages regularly rather than one high value package, but then you have to juggle this with the cost of shipping etc etc....
The 23% is an average based on import, customs, VAT & handling.

And it all makes me

Any further correspondence on the above subject will set me into a huge rant
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DDice Count: 0, Nil, Zilch, None

[Autpost]

Maybe interesting news from today: (German only)
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/Goldene-Zeiten-fuer-Eigenimporte--/meldung/106159
http://www.zoll.de/a0_aktuelles/azr_kleinsendungen/index.html
December 2008: You can order product for up to 150€ without paying custom (instead of up to 22€). (Don't know if this is true for Germany only or the entire EU.)

[goldbh]

Thanks Autpost, I will look into this
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DDice Count: 0, Nil, Zilch, None

[uncle.sengir]

From what I've read elsewhere, this certainly does apply to the UK too. Fan-freakin-tastic!

[Autpost]

Bad news!
In April this year the German customs authorities announced that the maximum amount of product, where you don't have to pay customs, will be increased in December 2008 from currently 22€ to 150€. This announcement was very welcome by several thousend customers all over Germany.

However this information was wrong. (Or as they say now: It was not wrong, it has to be interpreted in a different way. (And if you click on the link in my last post above, the announcement has been removed.))

If I've got it right it looks like this: (I don't know if I use the correct English terms, but I'll try.)
Normally what you call customs is 19% import sales tax plus a few percent of customs tariff. If you order product for less than 22€ you have to pay neither of them. December 2008: If the product price is between 22€ and 150€ you don't have to pay the (2.5%??) customs tariff, but still the 19% import sales tax. So it is not an increasement from 22€ to 150€, you won't save much.

More info: (German only)
http://www.heise.de/newsticker/Keine-goldenen-Zeiten-fuer-Eigenimporte--/meldung/116958