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

I usually do not ask for my packages to be marked down. The only time I have is when one of my dolls had gone through the eastern customs boarder (one in particular that over-charges customs fees). I fully recognized that it is risky if my parcel was damaged though. I only have one more doll (a body) coming home after my Asa though, so I won't really have to worry about it in the long run anymore.

 

I wouldn't request it because then if something happens then I can't expect the doll company to deal with any damage or losses. If they mark it down without asking then I still expect them to take full responsibility though. I don't like customs fees but I don't seem to get hit too often and I'd honestly rather deal with it than take a risk. Basically I view this from a sellers standpoint mostly because I am a seller and I advise the same "If I mark down the package - you don't get a refund for damage or loss because there won't be sufficient insurance either." The company surely feels the same when you make such a request.

 

It irritates me when sellers mark my stuff down and I don't find out about it until it arrives on my doorstep. What would have happened had it got lost in transit? I've got into the habit of requesting that the seller marks the full value of my items on the form. I want the assurance to know that I will get back the full price I paid if something happens to my package.

I also would never ask a seller to mark down an item I ordered and I would expect them not to do it as a "standard" thing as not everyone likes that.

 

I'm in the UK, and I second pretty much everything that other UK people have said lol Personally I don't ask, and wouldn't ask, a company to mark something down. I want it insured for the full amount, because I would rather pay £25 in taxes than £200 to replace a lost item. THAT SAID - what I don't mind paying is the VAT element, as it would have been applied to the item had I purchased it in the UK. So if I was only charged 17.5% of the actual GBP value of my item, I would be a happy camper. But as others have said - this rarely happens. VAT is NEVER, EVER charged correctly based on the foreign currency converted in to pounds. Generally, they see $250, that becomes £250, they slap on some VAT which I can never figure out how they calculated, Parcelforce slap on their £13.50 handling fee (I have no words for how angry THIS makes me, especially considering I have to pick up the package from the depot EVERY TIME because they wait days/weeks to send out customs fee invoices) and we are left to be 'grateful' that we got our stuff

So I don't begrudge people who want to run the risk and ask for marking down. Leeke once marked a $300 doll as $20 and he sailed through without a problem. I was surprised, a little shocked, but I wasn't going to complain, I just chalked that one down to luck...

 

Yeah almaxaquotal, for UK buyers, sending for anything outside the EU is an act of blind faith really. You have no idea if or when stuff will arrive, how much you will have to pay in Customs, VAT, HANDLING FEES or of the company charged with actually bringing it to your door will actually bother with that last part!

Taking all those things into account, apart from the £75 fee on my Peaks Woods doll I have gotten off pretty lightly

 

What about second hand items? According to the law, these shouldn't be taxed; yet, they are. Here in ireland, the tax reaches up to 30% of the declared value, no matter what. I do not really think that the people sending their doll's heads here for face up need to pay an additional tax for that. Or the dolls sent as trades; why should they be taxed, when you actually did not pay for them? That's illegal too. The right tax for that would be just the 2% for border, yet the officers are going to charge the full 30% as if you were importing something brand new. Is illegal by their side too, and they do it without any shame. I am grateful when a seller marks the packages down, specially for second hand items; I do not think that it is llegitimate to tax them as brand new import, as almost any countries do.

 

I have to admit. I would ask the companies to mark down the value of the package and would remind them again of that to ensure the package would go through customs of the country and sent to my home without any problem. If they do not mind, I would be extremely grateful towards them. People would say that's just plain stupid and risky, but I have to mention. In Malaysia, we are charged customs when the imported item is above USD 200. Sometimes even items marked below that mark, perhaps USD 150 would get caught.

And then if our package is caught, we would have to drive all the way to the airport where the custom agency would be, which would take maximum 3 hours to reach if there is no traffic jam. Of course there is the agency who can do service for us and collect the item but that would be additional RM 50 service charge including the custom fee we have to pay. And I would have to wait additional three to four more days before I could finally collect him from the nearby post office.

For one doll of mine who was caught in the custom, I could not go to the custom agency to collect and had to ask the agency to collect for me. I had to pay RM 150+ to get him.

What I'm trying to say is, people would say it's wrong, and I would agree on that. And people would say, just suck it up, life is harsh. Yes, I understand that. But our government is not all goodey-goodey and I'm certain perhaps other governments in other countries are like so. Yes, I am taking a risk but I had dolls coming over with their values marked down, and they all came fine. I'm sure my other country fellows would say the same.

 

Yes, I want to know about this law too... as I had heard if you get someone to mark the customs declaration as 'Second hand *xxx item*' then it should get through. I asked the face-up artist to do this with my Kid Delf head - nope, still got hit!! If this IS actually illegal, then we should all be doing something about it...

(Although after the latest Budget, I have a feeling we are going to be hit worse, not just because of the VAT rise, but because the government are obviously on a rampant revenue raising spree...)

 

In the UK we are supposed to fill out a Bill of Export or Import (or somesuch, can't remember the exact name) for any item that is going in and out of the country, but is not actually being bought or sold. I obtained one of these for a doll project I was working on with several doll makers in the USA and it was a hefty document about 20 pages long!!!

You have to fill out another one when you want the item to come back into the country so sending out dolls to non-EU customizers is a bl**dy nightmare if you are UK based. All this paperwork is supposed to be lodged and accepted BEFORE the item is sent or recieved too, and you have to get their agreement that they will waive Customs Duty before too. Mad!

 

In all my years of buying things online with ebay, and owning 8 dolls, I've only been hit by customs fees once. And that was from something on ebay that wasn't marked down, customs here will charge you for anything above $400 in our currency (which sounds reasonable, but when they do charge you it's a lot, and comes with a nice extra holding fee or something, too). My parcel just went over the $400 mark and I had to pay about $200 in fees, I was horrified (and angry at customs for charging such a fee).

So it may be illegal, but it can end up saving you a ton of money. I've never even thought about specifically asking a company to under declare an item, but if I did then I don't think I'd have any right to be angry (especially at the doll company) if something happened. I am however thankful that from what people are saying many doll companies tend to say the cost is less anyway, because I would have had to pay about $500 extra for each of my own dolls if they hadn't been put at a lesser value.

I do kinda wish that I had a list of what companies do put a lower value and what ones don't though. Because then I would know if a customs fee was coming or not.

 

It is kind of them to do so....I rememeber only having to pay only about £30 a customs on a purchase from luts instead of about £90 (over $100)
Now obviously, for people who don't live in a country with huge import fees, it is no issue and even possibly hard to understand why someone who request a mark-down

and the VAT can now hit people for 20% up from 17.5% since january this year :/

and theres a handling fee...

That's 3 things on TOP of your initial postage fee

 

In the Netherlands, anything coming from outside EU borders is taxed, second hand items, gifts and services included. It's strange that you'll have to pay for your own birthday present, but it has something to do with the international market. Or so they say.

What gets me the most is that in Holland anything above $40, including shipping is liable for custom fees (19% plus another 7%). So wait, they charge me taxes... over taxes? All hail the Dutch and their love for money.

But unlike what I said before in this thread, I've never asked anyone to mark packages down and when offered, I usually decline. The package from Iplehouse I'm currently waiting for is actually the first that has been marked down, but it doesn't sit well with me. On the other hand, customs did seriously overcharge me once, so consider this a refund.

 

Where I live, the customs office is very, very thorough in their inspections. I never asked a company to mark my package down. Even if I was comfortable with breaking the law - and I am not, I am almost obsessive with acting according to the laws - it would make no sense whatsoever to have a package marked down. Because the customs check all bigger packages anyway. And if there is no receipt on the outside of the package, or if there is a receipt that doesn't seem to state a high enough price, the customs office will hold the package until you come over, bring the paypal/ebay/website shopping cart print-out, and pay the taxes. Which are rather high in Germany. It is similar to what Silk described - you have to pay taxes for taxes, too. So if I buy a doll, I already count the cost of the custom fee ínto the purchase. By the way, most companies mark the packages down by themselves. But that doesn't help escape the customs ^^ And because it isn't me who insisted on marking down, I would hope to get replacement if anything broke. Which is a plus in my eyes.

BUT! The whole absurdity of marking down a package to a country where the customs would check it anyway aside, I would never be angry with a company that wishes to act accordingly to the international import/export laws and refuses to mark down a package. It is their name, after all, that could be damaged in the process. Wasn't there an occurence of problems between Canadian customs and Luts because of that on some point?

 

Yeah, I kind of wish some companies wouldn't just do it automatically. I'm in the U.S., so I don't pay customs fees on my dolls anyway.

I've noticed my packages from one company are always marked down to a ridiculously low amount, and those seem to spend a lot more time sitting in customs than other packages. I mean, how could they not figure out that the huge box with a doll, clothes, and wigs is worth more than $20? >_< I guess I'm just lucky it hasn't caused any more trouble than a few days of delay. I'll probably have to go your route and start specifically requesting that they not be marked down.

 

I agree with this. I'm in the US so I don't have to deal with the customs issues but I don't think it's fair to pass harsh judgement on people in other countries who ask for such things. As long as they're willing to deal with the consequences of their decision of course. Now that I know a little more about customs I won't mark down a doll though not because it's illegal but because I wouldn't want to risk having the customer come back at me asking to refund them when they got us in this mess in the first place. Smaller items though, no big deal.

And just because somebody marks down a package doesn't mean that they will do other illegal activities such as oh say drug dealing. Sometimes people cut corners, everyone has once in their life. I suppose it's let he without sin throw the first stone type of deal. I'm sure everyone has done something in their life to bend the rules by accident or on purpose. Nobody's perfect and I am sure the people making harsh judgements aren't either.

Also, I never noticed if my packages were marked down. I'm glad I read this thread as I will now double check when ordering from international companies.

 

Malaryush, that's annoying indeed.

But nevertheless, I am happy with a low customs fee although it kind of feels like cheating. I always ask the seller to mark the full price on the box but Bobobie for example is one of those who usually mark down to a pretty low value despite my request. But since they ship by DHL, it has never been a problem since this company has an obligation to deliver within 5 days and handles customs by themselves.

It's to be sure about quick handling that I always request a full price marked on the box. But as long as the information that the courier needs for processing is clearly indicated on the box, everything should work fine. And often the outer boxes don't feature any pretty doll pictures and such and look like any other parcel.

 

I also agree. Though, I live in a country which has custom fees. Besides, it would also be a great way for the US to generate tax income which custom fees are.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like custom fees, I don't like to pay such money at all but the community must be supported and some effort is made to check what comes into the country from outside of the European Union.

I also strongly advise, as I often do, to use couriers for shipping dolls and parts. In my experience they're quicker and also safer than regular mail services.

 

I also agree. Though, I live in a country which has custom fees. Besides, it would also be a great way for the US to generate tax income which custom fees are.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like custom fees, I don't like to pay such money at all but the community must be supported and some effort is made to check what comes into the country from outside of the European Union.

I also strongly advise, as I often do, to use couriers for shipping dolls and parts. In my experience they're quicker and also safer than regular mail services.

 

The US does pay custom taxes on imported goods, just not on toys which dolls fall under.

What other people do is there business, I would just rather not have an item marked down in case something happened to the item and it was lost or severely damaged, I'd like to get as much money back as possible.

 

I live in the US, so I don't get charged fees...but I will not mark down a package. It's illegal (as told to me by my PO worker) and I am not risking it. I do think the high customs fees of other countries are unfair but we don't get to pick and choose what laws to follow based on what we think is "fair". It's not fair that my taxes go to welfare, foodstamps, public schools and unemployment when I don't use those things. But that doesn't mean I can refuse to pay my taxes or lie and hope I don't get audited just because I think those laws are unfair.

I think it's just an extra cost that needs to be considered when buying a doll. I hate that the only shipping method available to me from DollMore (and many other sites) is EMS, starting around $25 for even one item. It seems ridiculous to pay more than the item is worth for shipping, but I can't demand the item and refuse to pay the shipping.

I don't ever want my stuff marked cheaper than what it's worth and I would not be comfortable buying from a company or seller that I knew had a history of underdeclaring without warning. And if, in that case, something did go wrong, it SHOULD be the seller held responsible.

If a buyer asks for it, then it should be all on the buyer. As a seller, I would not sell to someone who demanded I mark an item for less that what it sold for. I'm just not comfortable with it.