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

With my experience, companies usually mark it down for the correct price, and I think I've had to pay customs once, for a $500 package. (I'm in Canada)

I've bought a few things from sellers here, and they've usually asked me what I want them to write for the value. The full doll I bought I asked the seller to mark for 2/3 of what I paid, but two heads that I bought were each marked for full, since they each cost more than the full doll I bought. (And I'd been wanting them forever.... if I had asked the sellers to mark it down, something would have happened. XD)

The other time I got charged extra was for the tiny I just bought, UPS charged $50 when they delivered it, which surprised me, because I usually don't pay (or use UPS, really).

I've never had problems with getting my packages, or having things damaged, but I do prefer having them marked correctly, or closely enough, that if something were to happen I wouldn't lose too much money.

 

What about if you send a doll head to a faceup artist here on DoA and their country forces them to pay customs fees. Do you mark down the value on your doll head, just pay the customs fee for them, or tell the artist to pay for it?

 

I imagine the artist should have thought of that prior to taking comissions.

If the artist lives somewhere where they know they're subject to customs fees, then they have to either suck it up and deal with it themselves, or charge more for the service and include it in the price, but this must be stated, i think. Itd be unethical for them to go "oh, gee, i got charged customs, you haffta pay it."

Also, no, in that case i wouldnt mark down the value, i'd make sure i marked it properly. See, if anything happened, who's to blame and who's getting reimbursed? No one, if you didnt mark it right....^.~;

 

Though I never have to pay for customs since I live in the U.S., I do understand why people would want the value on their packages to be marked down. They charge a hefty sum and not everyone can afford to pay it.

Personally, I think it's not the right thing to do because companies will be liable for it if anything happens. Even if the package is insured, you can only be reimbursed for what it was marked as so I think it's pretty risky. I have ordered from an overseas company before and told them not to mismark my customs form because if anything happens, I can be reimbursed for the full value at least. Of course the company probably misunderstood my message and marked my $500 package for $30. I was furious but only because many people ask them to and they're used to it.

If the buyer chooses to buy from the company, they know that they risk having to pay customs fees. You can't expect companies to automatically mark down the value so you might have to ask but what if something happens? You can't blame the company because marking false information on the customs form is illegal. You can't blame any one for it, only yourself.

If someone sends their doll overseas for a face-up, it's their responsibility to pay for any customs fees incurred. They're commissioning someone to give their doll a face-up so it's not the artists responsibility to pay for it.

 

I would mark the package as SAMPLE - TO BE RETURNED - NO SALE VALUE. That's how we did it back when I worked in shipping, anyway. Since you're not selling the doll head, or even exchanging ownership of it, they don't have a right to claim customs on it.

But definitely insure it for the full value!

[edit]Oh, now that I think about it, even if the item was free or a sample, we still had to write $1.00 on the customs form. Customs gets cranky if you try to send something without a value listed.

 

It wasn't exactly a problem, but when I hand-carried my ShinyDoll Akali into the US from Japan last fall, the customs agent in Detroit spent a couple of minutes snickering at the idea that a doll (a DOLL!) could be worth several hundred dollars. It's easy to imagine that translating into suspicion, in cases where the owner of the package couldn't be there to say "hand-sculpted, hand-poured resin, hand-painted art doll sculpture" in a firm voice. But "doll" trumped everything else: since dolls are exempt from US customs duty, all the agent could do was roll his eyes and send me on my way.

On a side note, my small-town post office took quite a while to adjust to the insurance values on the doll packages I was mailing. By this point, they're used to me, and they don't gasp "FIVE HUNDRED DOLLARS??" in tones of horror any more. In fact, one of the clerks questioned me pretty closely a few weeks ago, when I mailed out a BJD-sized package with only $100 declared value. (The overseas buyer had requested that amount, and stated in writing that she was willing to bear the risk of underinsured loss or damage.) They're going to keep me honest, that's for sure.

 

See, to me, a customs fee should be taken into account by the buyer from the beginning, and if they truly cannot afford it at that time, then they shouldn't order. The laws of a country don't change just because someone thinks the fee is too high or didn't budget for it like they should have. The law is the law.

I lived in the UK for years, and my delivered packages were subject to some really terrible customs fees. I took it into account before I ordered anything. Was it really going to be worth it to me, if customs charged my package? If so, I went ahead with the order. If not, then I didn't place the order in the first place. The cost of doing business is the cost of doing business, after all.

 

If you're mailing--that is, using Japan Post to send the packages into the US by EMS or surface mail--and the contents of the box are clearly marked "doll," then you won't pay Customs charges. US Customs does not charge any duty fees for dolls; it's the law. Packages shipped by national mail services go straight to Customs, and the standard Customs laws are applied.

If you're using a private shipper such as FedEx or UPS, however, those companies often charge "brokerage fees" even when the contents of the package are exempt from US Customs duties.

I'm starting to think this information needs to be a Sticky . . .

 

We are very lucky in the US not to have to deal with customs fees on dolls and toys.
We have shipped items to Spain, were customs fees are truly terrible. And, knock on wood, we've not had problems with items being marked for less for shipping.
I did get a good scare when a doll I'd ordered from Canada got lost in the US Postal system. It was marked 30.00 in value, but that did not worry me. I was more upset with the postal system because the box was trashed. The doll, TG, was fine.

 

I was surprised to see my doll being marked now, but now I guess I understand the practice a little more. I'd rather have her marked right, but I feel bad for all the countries who have to pay half or more just to get it though customs. I couldn't live without internet shopping!

 

woah! and I thought that Finland would be worst of Scandinavian countries o_O

We have ridigilous low 68$ limit for custom free orders (about 45 euros). And it is about 22-30% what it needs to be paid for a doll, including shipping costs. My local customs office is one of the thing that I absolutely hate most...I hate the place, the people in there, paying tax, everything.

The body for my 1/4 DZ boy came through customs. My full 1/3 DZ got caught and I had to pay tax for it. Its value was marked lower, if I remember right it was about 90 dollars or something. They did not complain about lower marked price and actually I have not even heard such case in here.
Now I am waiting new doll from Dollmore to arrive, I know that they do mark low prices but lets see do our lovely customs believe it or not...

 

I recently had a package, not a doll, show up very damaged, and the sender (a family member) had marked the value down lower than the actual amount and thus the insurance wasn't what it should have been. A real bummer. I couldn't replace it, and my insurance claim didn't reflect what we had paid for it.

So, I learned my lesson about trying to cut corners.

I have not sold anything as expensive as a doll. This thread has really opened my eyes to customs fees and the like so I understand now why packages would be marked for less than their real worth. I'd still be very hesitant to do it if someone asked me though, but maybe I'm just paranoid.

 

I don't think it's reasonable to blame the company for something that you asked them to do. I mean, even if it didn't have serious repercussions on the company itself, the fact that the buyer requested for the package to be marked down, makes it his/her responsibility if anything happens. About the customs' tax charge, again, that is not the fault of the company. It's not like they tell the customs to tax all expensive packages that enter the buyer's respective country.

So, no. I don't think they should be blamed or held accountable. However, if they marked it down but the buyer didn't ask for it, then something happened, or when they didn't mark it down even if the buyer asked for it (excluding the companies that specifically made it their policy to disallow marking down the price) and they get taxed for the package, it's different because they were responsible for causing the package to either get taxed or "un"-insured.

 

Yes please! Shipping Sticky, if there isn't already one up there! What a lot of nooks & crannies there are to navigate here in the international-doll-shipping scene... I for one had no idea that its very "doll"ness made it exempt from US Customs. But that sure explains why all the companies I've done business with clearly mark it 'doll', 'doll clothes' (etc). And "brokerage fees" for private services, another thing I'd never known about. It's no wonder beginners get so flustered.

 

I honestly believe once the merchandise has left the company warehouse, it is no longer their fault for anything. Of course if it is insured, then yet they should be a part of making a new one. But customs has nothing to do with the company itself. The product shouldn't be marked down, the price is the price, the person buying knows that and knows the fees they may have to pay!

 

Actually I had the opposite thing happen.. I ordered a NS Chiwoo head from Luts back in January, and they sent me WS by mistake. So when they gave me the info to send it back to them, they asked me to declare the value as only $10! I didn't read that part of the message clearly so when I sent it back I marked the actual value, but I was wondering why they'd ask me to only make it $10 when it was really worth $100+. Could I have gotten in trouble for that? Man.. :\

 

Is true!! It's really annoying if some companies would mark down the prices of the dolls without asking or informing the buyer!

I never order a doll before, and now I have fear and many doubts.. .I have fear that my package could not arrive to destination.. this is my real fear.. I would prefer don't mark down the prices of my future doll... because If something would happen to my doll, in this case is the company that should have to do something.. is not my problem...I think... they should send to me another package... or not?

I dont know what really happen in these cases...

 

Living in America, where we don't get taxed for dolls, I ask the company NOT to mark it down... they still do, though. "As long as it gets there" is not a good way to think, because what if it doesn't? You need to prepare for when that happens.