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

I haven't asked anyone to value down my packages, but I'm surely gonna do it from now on. I bought second hand a B&G body for Oliver for like 234 dollars and had to pay 125 in customs fees!!! I felt totally mugged!!

A friend of mine just recieved her Soo directly from Luts and she had to pay the half of the price that was written in the box (she paid like 40 dollars). If the package had the real price, she would have to pay like 250 dollars!!

 

Well, although Unidoll did mark my package with Luken 50 USD, I still had to pay a good 150 Euros to customs. Why? Cos they had me bring along an account statement and of course, on that, they could see the real price of the doll.

 

I wonder if you could ask to pay them in 2 payments, then you'd have a lower value paypal/statement to show that would match what the company put on the declaration?

 

sadly its both the fault of the person who asked and teh company but full blame will be placed upon the company if found out

it's bad if this happens anyway as one it is against the law and plus if it happens and gets lost it can effect the amount of insurance you can claim back

someone sold me a BJD recently as marked it down agaisnt my will without permission which i think is extremely wrong as its a risk that only the person themselves should allow even though its illegal

 

It isn't right for someone to be angry with the company if it is the buyer's own request for the product to be marked down in price on the customs sheet and something goes wrong. It is done at everyone's risk.

I don't think it is fair at all. The buyer is potentially damaging the seller's company buy encouraging them to partake in illegal activity. It could result in that company being disallowed from selling to the buyer's country and a loss of a lot of revenue.

I think buyers are angry if their requested customs fix goes wrong because there are so many high emotions surrounding the arrival of a doll...and if it goes wrong it's much easier to blame a company from over the sea than it is to blame yourself, even if it is your own fault.

I haven't had to pay any customs charges with either Gwellian or Alaw and I know I was really lucky this happened, but I wouldn't be tempted to ask for a lower charge to be written on the customs sheet because if something goes wrong I want to be able to make a genuine compensation claim. If the seller changes the price paid on the customs sheet without the knowledge of the buyer, then I believe it is the seller's problem if something goes wrong since they were responsible for changing the data.

 

UK tax is like legalised theft. If something is prced in dollars, they take it as pounds and so right from the outset you are taxed on double the true price. They also charge a handling fee, so it is not uncommon to pay more in tax than the item actually cost in the first place.

So, I would not feel averse to ask the company to show the dealer's price on the box if they are comfortable doing that. I am happy to pay tax if need be, but I don't like to be ripped off.

 

People never want to take the blame when their dumb ideas don't work.
If you can't or don't want to pay the customs, then you don't want the doll that badly IMO.
My solution: I only buy within the US. That usually means 2nd hand or through a company like junkyspot. If i wanted a doll that I couldn't find in the US, i'd concider the customs and shipping first thing to see if I really wanted the doll.

The dealers should let themselves be bullied into doing this though. They need to learn to say no. I'd rather lose a customer than lose my business all together.

 

I ask the companies to NOT mark it down, since I don't get taxed here in the US. I want full coverage if the doll should be damaged or lost, not just 40 measly dollars. Luts automatically marks it down. I don't know if that's nice of them or... what? Most countries get taxed, I guess, but I'd rather be taxed and have the insurance. I've shipped a doll to Canada and the buyer asked for the full price to be on there, even though they had to pay a lot in fees. :/ They wanted the doll to be fully insured, and I definately respect that. Better safe than sorry.

 

I would probably prefer them to mark it down- depending on where the package is coming from. I have had a package from Japan maked as $750 and I wasn't charged custom fees but every single parcel I have recieved from America has been charged custom fees D: Anyway, whats the chances of it being lost in the post, especially when its going by trackable EMS? Highly unlikely. (I bet thats let my open to bashing now. ^^
It is illegal to do that, and before anyone tries to say that I'm just trying to justify something wrong- What are the point of custom fees?

 

I always ask to mark down the price on the packages. I do not want to pay 60 % taxes for the things I get, period. But of course I take the responsibility if something happens to the package. Though if it is EMS, I can hardly imagine it gets lost.
I think it's very easy for people who live in countries where they don't have to pay custom taxes to be moral and law-abiding about this issue and to judge how badly others want their dolls. In this situation, I think, the choice is up to those who really have to choose whether to risk or to pay insane money to the customs.

 

I haven't asked for them to mark it down. It's along way from Korea to the Netherlands and even EMS packages sometimes show up rather hassled. I'd rather not take the risk and get him damaged while his value is marked down. I'll just suffer through the customs if they don't let him through. I want the doll, I'll pay for it. It's too valuable to take risks and honestly with so many dolls passing customs here lately I doubt they'd fall for the mark down.

 

if they asked the company to lower the value of the package down, well, it isn't their fault at all.
and i know customs only ask for 20% of the package price, and i think they'll make you pay more than that it's because they found out the real value of the package. people in my country that for example buy from LUTS often ask to mark the value down, and then get angry when they have to pay lots of money. i think, customs aren't so demented, if they see lots of huge box marked LUTS that cost like 40$ and then some that have the real price on, won't they get a little suspicious?

 

See, the only thing i can see stalling the suspicion there is the fact that its not like everyone gets dolls, and there are countless packages going through. Sure, one person might get to see two or three luts packages go through over the course of some time, but its very unlikely they'll care to notice that those packages have had different prices--its also very possible for people to order staggering amounts of stuff, in comparison to others who only order smaller amounts. If someone orderd a wig, as opposed to someone ordering three dolls, the prices would clearly be different--if luts did it properly, that is ^^;

 

I think marking it down, is stupid. Your relying on a perfect stranger (postman), to understand the value of an item and take care of it. I would hope that all my packages are in good, safe hands but when shipping your taking the chances!!!
I want all of my packages to be marked not a cent less than its worth.

 

I think if you have enough money for a luxury item like a doll, you have enough money to follow the law regarding imports. It's not like the government does it specifically to target us doll-owners; it's part of how they make money to support the nation and its functions.

 

Living in the UK, where customs charges are utterly exorbident, I always get my values marked down. I've had to pay sixty quid customs on a DVD before - I'd have to think how that scales up to an expensive doll.

 

Hmm, if you're willing to take the risk of package getting lost and the refund being 20-30 dollars...of course it stings to pay those high custom fees, but every coin has two sides. I never ask, though, as it IS lying and I cannot ask anyone else to lie for me.

 

wut?
I'm in England, and we don't get THAT heavy a charge. I had to pay £55 for TEN dvds before when I ordered a whole series.
Only ONE of my dolls has ever been caught going through customs and the fee was £45.
Technically the third doll I got should have had £67.55 fee, but the worker never asked for the money and walked off after I signed at the door.

 

I'v never been hit by customs. My boy hasn't been shipped yet, though I am a little freaked now after glancing at a comment on Luts marking packages down- seems like asking for something to go wrong

Slight tangent, but do people have any examples of how much UK customs has charged on dolls? I'v not found a database on something like this- would be cool to have one listing average costs, then the high end/low end for each country

 

Personally I've never asked for a package to be marked down, but I've noticed a few that turned up which looked like they'd been declared at a lower value than they should. If anything goes wrong in that scenario, though, I think it's up to the company/seller to sort things out, providing insurance was paid. Maybe I'm too demanding, I don't know. ^^

Salvagore: Although it sometimes looks like customs is plucking numbers out of their air (and I'm not entirely convinced that they don't!) there is a method to it. Here's the HM Revenue + Customs guide to how they calculate their charges:
http://customs.hmrc.gov.uk/channels...ent&id=HMCE_PROD_009989&propertyType=document
The main sting is that Royal Mail also adds a handling charge onto that which is fairly high on its own, especially if your item wasn't that expensive to begin with. I've only been hit once, which I guess isn't bad, but the total customs charges were over half of what I paid for the item, if I remember rightly. Guh.