Asking doll companies to mark the value of your package down..?

Customs here can be ridiculous: the HM Revenue and Customs website is hilariously unhelpful (I have no idea how much they charge and can't find it anywhere) but I've known people to get charged nearly /twice/ the original worth of the item. The way I see it, they should charge the VAT or less. Probably less, or some packages get taxed twice.
Oh, and don't pretend we live in a democracy: we can't "vote" for customs fees to be reduced. We can vote for one of several (or two) parties and none of them will do what we want. Representative democracy is not a choice.

 

I have to agree with all of this. I can make an educated guess on what parcels are likely to get pulled based on experience, but there is no sure fire way of knowing what you're going to be charged and I think it's this that has most people annoyed.

This has nothing to do with some imagined attitude that because it's a doll I shouldn't pay fees, and a great deal to do with the total lack of standardised fee base. I run the risk of paying fees on ANYTHING I import, not just doll things, as do all of us, so I don't see where people are saying this annoyance with the system is a hobby specific instance. I can assure you, it annoys me just as much when I get a parcel pulled for my other imports too.

Yes, customs raise necessary money for a country in a beleagured monetary environment, but placing random fees of sometimes over the value of the contents of the parcel onto the thing because her majesties customs man didn't like the look of the box is ridiculous and daylight robbery. There is NO reasoning behind which parcels get pulled and a cursory glance into the MANY customs threads here will show you that the way they calculate the fees changes with the wind.

The thing that annoys most of us is that we have NO way of changing this, Morgue is quite correct that democracy isn't going to help us here. Parcelforce, who handles 99% of the big boxes in this hobby are a PRIVATE COMPANY. They're free to charge whatever the hell they want as their insane "handling fee" and HM Customs are equally free to keep doing what they have been doing for the last 20 odd years that I'm aware of, through many different governments, none of whom changed a damn thing on this issue.

We're stuck with it, but expecting us to like it and not attempt every avenue possible to avoid it is pointless.

 

I've voted and...? Ooops, it seems that now I can only sit back and commit fraud while waiting for that sweet time when I can use my democratic right again.

Do you really think that the voters have any power over custom fees? Certainly not in Poland, but I doubt they do anywhere. Actually, I've never heard any politicians talking about custom fees in their campaign. Never mind that our politicians tell lies. The next time we can do anything about that will be after four years.

 

I don't know how it works in Poland, but I have an Member of Parliament and Assembly Member representing my area and my concerns and I know how to use them. If I have an issue with anything political, legal, financial... I can send a letter to my MP and AM and by law these people have to respond to their consitutents or they are not doing their jobs properly; I have had reasonable responses to whatever I have inquired in the past, perhaps my MP and AM are the only trustworthy ones?

I doubt that if you get caught defrauding the government out of customs duty you'll be able to leave court without a fine with a defense of 'Your customs fees are too high, I just didn't think it was worth paying'. It'd take a clever lawyer to get you out of that one.

This is actually the only hobby/community where I've experienced people actively circumventing the law to import their goods and moaning about costs incurred while doing so. In other hobbies, such as photography, people also incur import duty on camera and lenses and they don't like paying it either, but they don't try and get around it - it's more important to them to get the item they paid for (and good camera equipment can often be more expensive than a BJD) in good order and in good time, than risk losing that item in the post and having to settle for a pittance in insurance or getting caught for fraud by having the parcel marked down.

I don't enjoy paying taxes, (who does?) but I do like to stay within the law, that way if I run into difficulties, my interests are protected. I've paid ridiculous prices...but each time it's the Parcelforce handling fee that's tipped it over the edge, not the actual VAT or custom duty which were calculated fairly based on the declared value of the item imported.

 

Clearly the Welsh branch of the customs theives are far more efficient than the English side then because I've yet to have a parcel, BJD related or not, ACCURATELY charged. Not ONE. Nine times out of ten they take the $ value for £'s and the rest of the time they make it up as they go along since the value they charge me bears no resemblance to the value marked on the box.

The last box I had imported for example was clearly labled as $100 value, yet I paid £40 in customs charges. The exchange rate when it arrived was £1-$1.45, therefore, according to HM Customs never-followed own equations, I should have paid VAT of 15% on £68 (despite this being WELL below the new £105 customs free zone) which would have been £10.20, plus an £8 "handling fee" for the privilege of being charged and having my parcel held up for a week. Since even parcelforce admit they didn't charge me import duty, how exactly does £10.20 + £8 add up to £40.

They have NO standardised rate and THIS is what rankles with me. If they must tax me, then GET IT RIGHT. Until they can guarantee that my parcel will be fairly and accurately charged, I'll continue to fly beneath their radar as much as possible on the basis that it's simply unfair.

 

While I am not going to get involved in a debate with people over whether or not they feel the customs fees generated in their nations are 1) just or 2) used for something of which they approve, I do want to point out something that I have yet to see mentioned anywhere in this thread.

Customs fees serve a purpose other than to generate income for the government of a country. They are used to discourage the importation of goods not made at home, and thus in turn protect home-grown industries of a given nation. It is better for the economy of countries for you to purchase a doll made within your borders than to import one. The extra cost is intended to discourage the latter behavior. In short, the fees are high and frustrating on purpose.

You can argue that a BJD from Korea is not the same as a doll made in Poland or the UK or what-have-you, and therefore you cannot simply buy one made in your own nation. And you would be right. But from a governmental and economic point of view, there is no difference. Your desire to own a BJD as opposed to a home-grown type of doll is personal preference, not economic need.

Please understand, I am not arguing that all nations have accurate, justifiable customs fees. But do understand that there is an actual purpose for these charges aside from simple "highway robbery" and greed. Everyone benefits from the growth of their nation's economy. Customs charges are one of the many ways that citizens are asked to do their part in ensuring it.

 

I will TOTALLY beg them to mark the package value down, specially after the fee I had to pay to get my last doll out of the post office! 150 dollars! I was tempted to send the doll back, angry.
Because the fees here in Norway are 25% off the marked value if its worth over 150$..

Dont give a shit if its illegal or not. I`ve done worse.

 

I did ask them to mark my dolls down. The local customs office web page couldn't be more confusing if it had been written in hebrew - I have no clear idea what the tax free limits are. They have very differing information on that. So as far as I know, the sum I requested will be taxed.

Customs is one thing, I've heard enough stories from my friends about taxes double the value etc, totally random taxes (quite logical given that people aren't really clearly informed of the limits in the first place) and whatnot. So part of the reason why I asked was to at least stand a chance when I get double taxed, I couldn't pay the amount of four dolls to get my two to the government.

Second and more important reason is that while the customs are crazy people, they tend to do really odd things with high valued packages here. Since we live in a VERY small country, a lot of people rely on stuff from outside, thus we have loads of stories about local customs and their behavior. It is known for a fact that everything that is marked as high value, will get checked way more then you would like. They have some sort of drug paranoia and I know of several cases where expensive items have been downright destroyed to check if there are drugs in them anywhere. And no, you can't get the money back. Two people I know did start a case to have their items refunded, one dropped the case after a year of silence, the other is on his third year and still no go. With money values changing, even if he does get a full refund, it's not the same value anymore. With this in mind, also the fact that people here would not even dream of dolls that cost that much, I think it's safe to say I would most likely get my dolls in pieces if I had them marked to the full value. Having that expensive value marked on dolls from Korea is like a red flag to a bull for customs - I'm absolutely certain that they will interpret that as "omg-drugs-in-dolls!".

I'm not being overly paranoid, I know for sure that many people have had that problem and in here it's not an urban legend of any kind. Also some high value packages mysteriously vanish from post offices where they should be according to tracking. So no, I will not take that risk. Absolutely no way.

I would gladly let them mark the full price if I knew that a) my dolls will be safe - not stolen, not broken apart, not harmed in any way and b) that the customs are actually set percentage, always the same and never double of the true value.

Since they do not have respect towards me, I don't see why I should be the idiot to risk my items more then I will with marking them down.

 

I agree that if you want to make changes to the law you should vote. However, I just wanted to point out that customs and import duties were introduced by countries as a way to protect their domestic markets. This means it would be economically more attractive to buy home grown goods, rather than import similar goods from abroad. The fact that all goods imported from abroad are now subject to duty despite there being no opportunity to buy the same goods in your own country is an abuse of the system.

I am not advocating in favour of either point of view, but I personally object to having to pay taxes that I believe to be collected by monopoly organisations, so I cannot choose who gets my hard earned cash, which cannot be worked out exactly (they appear to be randomly aggregated) and which are levied on goods that are not available in the UK.

 

I would just LOVE to buy English. There aren't any. End of. I haven't even found somewhere to buy wigs in the UK. No-one molds dolls here. If they do they'd be very limited in choice and expensive. The best you could do is maybe a British company who import the dolls from elsewhere. Surely a suitable incentive to buy British would be the frickeng HASSLE of comunication with a company that may not speak proper English, then waiting a week or so to recieve your stuff and the increased chances of damage in transit. Custom fees are unessecary in that capacity. You know what else I hate? The congestion charge. It's not an incentive to not use those roads.... CONGESTION is the incentive.

I was thinking that if you put a high value on something that looks like it would cost less the customs men would ascribe it to drugs. That's what I'd think. "This doll looks like it's worth $60.. but it's down for $700... conveniently this value difference is pretty close to the street value of the amount of pure cocaine that would fit inside it's torso..." ETC.

But yes, English customs (maybe not Welsh customs) are random thieves. It's like if your postman read your letters and only delivered them if he thought they were interesting. Custom's holding fees are particularly evil: They charge you to charge you. It's like when you're driving through town and someone stands in front of your car, washing it without your consent, making you late and forcing you to pay them. Ever had that happen and /not/ toyed with the idea of running them over?

And the post office saying they "lost" your parcel is a joke. you can't /lose/ a parcel. They may as well declare it "stolen by postal worker", "taken home" or "looked like a nice present for my daughter".

 

Thank you for adding this. I know that it is impossible to buy British BJDs and I don't think there are British BJD dealers, only clothes dealers, however, in my experiences the calculations added up. My package was over the limit (calculated in pounds sterling value, not yen) and the tax was based on the old VAT rate of 17.5%. I can't argue with it when the numbers made sense.

I don't know whether it is an abuse of the system. England didn't produce wine or olive oil in the sixteenth century but importers still faced customs and import fees. Customs are not doing anything now that they don't already have a precedent for.

English customs and Welsh customs are the same people, Wales-bound dolls arrive in the same airport as England-bound dolls...and I have been charged customs fees, pretty bad ones. I just err on the side of caution, always. If 100 people ask a company to mark down prices and I'm the 101st customer to ask I bet I'd be the one to get caught. My luck just runs that way.

I hate, hate, hate Parcelforce's 'handling fee' but that has nothing to do with customs. Even if your doll got 50p in customs fees, you'd still have to pay Parcelforce for the privilege of 'handling' your parcel.

I don't drive, but I've been a passenger when that's happened and I've pressed the horn down hard I'm not a 'lie-down-and-take-it' person, but I just know my crappy luck. I can't ask companies to mark parcels down for me, even if I wanted to, because I'd get caught.

 

Oh, this topic really gets me going! UK customs are raking it in because of the dolls we buy.
There was a time when an item marked "toy" would get through without anything being charged.
But now, nothing gets through. Even to receive presents we have to pay excessively high charges. I bought some tiny hand made items recently and had to pay practically the same again to receive them. And they make mistakes too - I've been charged an amount way more than the doll in the first place because they didn't see the . before the 00s - got it back in the end but it took months of phoning and writing. And they make it very difficult to find out what the charges are meant to be anyway.
And all of this is part of the reason we can't buy dolls in this country. Doll sellers here just haven't survived because of the taxes.
So the best thing to do if you want to collect expensive dolls is probably to leave the UK!

 

Customs, I believe, is a form of daylight robbery. I think it is unfair that we have to pay the price of having a package shipped to the UK. It's bad enough that we have to pay the actual custom fee itself - but having to pay a handling fee too!!

Soon they'll be putting a charge on the air that we breathe!

Now, to answer the question of companies marking down packages. Well, I wouldn't ask a company to mark down a package because, at the end of the day, I know the risks of custom fees when I'm placing my order. Yes, I will admit that the custom charges are somewhat rediculous ... I think for a $600 doll it can range between $75 to $175 if a doll is shipped to the UK, which is jaw dropping (I won't rant any more because I did enough of that at the beginning lol). So, I add an additional price in my head just in case the doll is stopped at customs. If a company does mark a doll as gift then I am greatful because it will save me a lot of money.

However, there is a downside to everything nowadays. What if my doll is actually lost in the post? I've had it happen enough times in the past. TBH, I don't actually want to think about the risk of having lost such an expensive doll in the post.

So, quick answer: I woulnd't ask the company to do so but if they offer I will be greatful.

 

I think most people are tempted to do this or had done it because yeah... customs people are big bellied two faced lying crocodiles. Like here in my country... they'll charge you almost 50% or 60% of what you bought. O_O

It's ok to pay taxes if the guidelines were properly set. Customs are well aware that they are being stereotyped and doesn't want to do anything about it. Which is really sad ne? It part of their culture already.

 

I think that in my country customs employees are the masters of robbery. No way. And if you have to pay tax duties, you should pay it without saying a word, no matter what it's in the package.
Months ago, I was charged really ridiculous prices for clothing I bought from Australia and Canada. It wasn't express mail, either. On an airmail package I am likely to get almost the 100% of a tax for an item worth even less the price marked on the form. That's just nonsense.
Dolls are quite a problem, of course. I noticed that for head parts and dolls accessories marking the package down to 20$ doesn't oblige me to pay custom fees. So I can make it without problems.
As for dolls... Err, even declaring 45$ could be risky, 'cause I can get 45 euros of import duties. That's not really honest.
Italian customs just work by chance and luck, employees price the packages on whim, often judging the value by its weight and dimension. The bulkier it is, the more they'll be happy to charge you.
And don't even try to complain - they'll reserve theirselves the right to have the reason, and you have only to pay what they've decided for you.
Once, I expressed my displeasure toward a simple mailgirl, she started to cry and erupted in a great anger when I stated that the fees I was charged were illegal. I still remember her face when I did that. LOL.
And so, you know about the laws of your country and when you have to pay charges? Forget about it, because they will not respect the laws accordingly.
I have no regrets at marking every package down, then. I better save money for myself rather than doing charity to my country. I know enough about faults in the mail system, so I really don't care. I don't get respect as a customer? Then, I'll never give that. It even gets annoying when you have simply *to wait* your package inland because of their laziness.

 

As a retailer, I've admittedly marked packages down for international customers! Otherwise they get stuck in customs, or they get charged high customs fees. However if its for something more expensive than one of my wigs, I do ask the customer first. I'll mark it down, but if anything happens, I don't want to be held responsible when they can't make an insurance claim over 30$ for a 500.00 doll O.O
So I completely understand marking it down, on the other hand if a seller doesn't, I wouldn't hold it against them, as they're taking a risk if they offer full responsibility if the doll doesn't make it there in one piece and they have to take on the cost T_T

 

I've just had to pay around $20 in charges for two outfits that cost me $46. Nearly 2/3 of that was the charge the PO makes for 'handling'. Things have got to the point that I'm going to stop buying items from abroad on ebay or from US retailers. It's bad enough that the pound has dropped 28% against the dollar in 18 months - if I have to pay charges on top it becomes far too expensive.

 

I don't really care what the company marked it, the custom taxes here are outrages, so as long as the doll got to me safely, I don't mind them marking it down. Of course if the custom open the package and decided that the value was higher than was written, then they'll just charge me for what they think the things are worth.

 

If one were to ask nice and polite and accept that you might get a no, I cannot see anything wrong about asking to down-value. When buying a $4000,- doll (and yes I have, but not Bjd) the 25 % of Norwegian customs seem very high. And yes, I take the full responsibility of loss or damage. I pay the best parcel service with tracking and signature and have never in my years of collecting, have anything gone missing. It is actually safer to never to have the doll land in customs at all; to be opened up and fiddled with and run the risk of bad re-packing. JMHO

 

I am so thankful for Australian customs - generally you don't have to pay anything for items under $1000. I was actually a little surprised that luts marked down the value of my package without asking me, I'd rather it say the full value.

To those in the UK who complain about being charged for dollars as pounds, ask the company to write the value in pounds? Even if they won't mark it down, it's a fairly reasonable request.