International Shipping,Import Fees...HELP!

[fairfarmhand]

My brother is in Turkey this year and I'm ordering his Christmas through Amazon.co.uk.

 

I'm not sure how this is going to work. Will I be signing myself up for unexpected charges by doing this? Import fees? Customs?

 

HELP! Please explain!

[maize]

I believe if there are customs fees it is typically the recipient who pays?

[J-rap]

It is the recipient who pays, yes.  Fees differ from country to country.  I think most countries only charge if the package content worth is over a certain amount.  For example, in one country my dd was in, as long as it was under $75, she wasn't charged anything.   But if I were to list the content as over $75, she would be charged a high fee (over $150) just to collect it.  In another country, she had to pay a customs fee on anything above $20-worth, but the fee was so low (just a few dollars) that it didn't really matter.  You should be able to do a google search to find out what the fees are in Turkey.  If the fees are high, just make sure to list the worth of the contents below the amount that would incur customs fees.  I'm not saying to lie, but sometimes you can list things within a range, so go low.

Edited December 6, 2016 by J-rap

[Kareni]

I don't know about import fees, but I will recommend two companies whose services we've happily used since our daughter is in South Korea.

 

BookDepository.com has free shipping to many countries around the world.  You'll need to check if Turkey is one of them.

 

Another company we like is iherb.com which we use to ship food items as well as some toiletries.  You'll want to look at their shipping page to determine what the rates are to Turkey.  For South Korea, we can ship up to fifteen pounds of their items for $4.00. 

 

Examples of items, we've purchased ~

 

organic peanut butter

 

lavender shampoo

 

chocolate chips

 

jelly beans

 

peach tea

 

Regards,

Kareni

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Generally, the recipient pays any customs fees.  I always have to keep a bit of cash around at Christmas season in case they decide to charge for our gifts coming form family in the US.  They don't always, it seems to be pretty random.

[lulalu]

Turkey has high taxes. You would bless your brother by paying them. You can check that on Amazon. That way it is also a set price, if not done before the price of tax is up for debate.

[Lanny]

I've lived overseas (in Colombia) for almost 22 years.  I strongly suggest that you contact your brother and ask him what the regulations in Turkey permit, what import duty, if any, he will need to pay, whether he will need to pay VAT tax (Value Added Tax), etc.  Also, there may be restrictions, that prohibit certain items. What Shipping Carrier he suggests, etc.

 

 I would not be sending your brother anything without clearing it with him.  If he is working for the U.S. Government (we had family members who lived there for several years)  and has an APO/FPO Mailing Address, that's a different matter, but if he is like us and has a regular Shipping Address, then this could become very problematical.  

 

Look before you leap!

[Lanny]

Follow on:  Your brother may know of a company in Turkey that has a service for their customers, to receive packages sent to them, in the UK or in the USA. We have a service like that, that I refer to as our "Receiver/Forwarder", in Miami.  They consolidate small things for us (laptops, books, etc.) into one carton and ship them to our house. They send the cartons to Bogota, they go through Colombian Customs there, and then they send them in an overnight truck to Cali.  Very efficient and worth the money we pay them for their services. You need to be VERY careful that you do not send your brother something that is prohibited and will be confiscated, or that he will need to pay a lot of money for Customs Duty and VAT (Value Added Tax).  Look before you leap. Check with your brother before you buy anything for him!  

[J-rap]

I think this might be the same as what Lanny was referring to, but when our other dd was going to school in Costa Rica, the school used a third-party shipping site in Miami which didn't incur customs fees.  So, all we needed to do was send our packages to the address in Miami.  I'm not really sure how it worked apart from that, but perhaps your brother knows a company that would enable him to do that.

 

And do know that packages often are opened and searched (probably depends on the country).  Both coming and going.  Once, my dd sent a purse to my mother as a gift, from Costa Rica.  It clearly had been opened at Customs -- you could see how they had cut it open and taped it up again.  Well imagine my 80-year-old mother's surprise when she opened up the package and found boxes of of condoms in it instead!  We figured the contents of different packages had been mixed up at Customs.

[Lanny]

I think this might be the same as what Lanny was referring to, but when our other dd was going to school in Costa Rica, the school used a third-party shipping site in Miami which didn't incur customs fees.  So, all we needed to do was send our packages to the address in Miami.  I'm not really sure how it worked apart from that, but perhaps your brother knows a company that would enable him to do that.

 

And do know that packages often are opened and searched (probably depends on the country).  Both coming and going.  Once, my dd sent a purse to my mother as a gift, from Costa Rica.  It clearly had been opened at Customs -- you could see how they had cut it open and taped it up again.  Well imagine my 80-year-old mother's surprise when she opened up the package and found boxes of of condoms in it instead!  We figured the contents of different packages had been mixed up at Customs.

 

There are a number of companies here in Colombia who have those Receiving/Forwarding services in Miami. They are among the largest companies that transport priority envelopes and packages around Colombia.  I signed up for a free account with one of them, 4 years ago, and we are grateful for their services. One thing I appreciate is that if, for example, an Amazon Marketplace Seller, or an eBay Seller ships the wrong item to us (which hasn't happened yet), or, it is obviously damaged, they would (hopefully) catch it in Miami. The only time I remember that happening was when the woman inspecting a textbook for DD wasn't happy with the condition of the textbook and she called us on the phone.. I put DD on the phone with the woman in Miami and the woman explained (in Spanish) what she saw in the book (I think it was some highlighting or writing, etc.), and DD told her to go ahead and ship it to us.  One or 2 years ago, the regulations they operate under changed and now prohibit certain items, especially cell phones.  Approximately 6 months ago, I ordered a replacement battery for the TI 84 Plus CE calculator DD has.  The person who put that battery into our inventory in their system thought it was a Cell Phone Battery, which is a   Restricted item now. I explained to them that the battery was for a TI Graphing Calculator and they changed the description in their system.  WE MUST PROVIDE THEM WITH PROOF OF WHAT WE PAY AND THEY PRINT THOSE PAPERS OUT AND ATTACH THEM TO THE OUTSIDE OF THE CARTON WITH THE AIRWAY BILL.

 

i would not play around with Customs in any country. They see tons of different items and they have a very good idea about what people pay for things   Here, it is rare that I see that our cartons have been opened by Customs.

 

I would be extremely leary of any company that did not charge for Customs Duty. We knew of a company like that, years ago.    They probably packaged that into the rate they charged, per pound or per kilo, and then they bribed people in Customs to get things through Customs. I believe they were put out of business, years ago.   We have receipts, from our Receiver/Forwarder, showing what we pay, for everything, including Customs Duty. So, what we have here has been "Nationalized" whether or not we had to pay Customs Duty (10%) and/or VAT (Value Added Tax which is 16%) or if it came in free of Duty and VAT.

 

When my wife was Pregnant with DD, we returned from a trip to Orlando. Late at night, and very tired, because we'd been awake for 2 days, having  gone to Kennedy Space Center to watch a launch of the Space Shuttle "Atlantis" which was launched at approximately 6 A.M. the day we returned to Colombia. We had purchased a bunch of things for DD,  in Toys R Us or Baby's R Us, including a High Chair.  We went  on COPA from Orlando to Panama and then on a connecting COPA flight to Cali. When it was our turn in Customs, the man asked me what we had paid for the High Chair.  I told him  "approximately USD $120".  He asked the question in a very friendly way, as if he would like to buy one of those high chairs for his kid.  Had I lied, he would have confiscated the High Chair and who knows what else would have happened.  Several days after we got home, I noticed the Price Tag was on the carton. Obviously, he was looking at the price tag, when he asked me the question...   

 

Yes, I can imagine the surprise on  your mother's face, when she opened that particular carton!   Did she know that your DD had sent her a Purse?

[J-rap]

 

 

Yes, I can imagine the surprise on  your mother's face, when she opened that particular carton!   Did she know that your DD had sent her a Purse?

 

Ha, well she had an idea that it would be coming at some point, so she was pretty sure that that's what would be in the package! 

[Twolittleboys]

I live in Europe and used to order directly on the US B&N website. They would ship the books (or whatever) and I either had to go to the nearest customs point to open the box and pay any import duties (a hassle depending on how far away the customs office is as you also have to get your shipment home on your own then) or fill out paperwork, send it in, and wait for it to be processed and for the post office to deliver the package (easier but takes longer). IF the package clearly stated what it contained (e.g. books) they often delivered it to my house and the mailman would ask for the (already calculated) fees before handing over the package. In all these cases the recipient pays for duties (which may not be ideal if it is supposed to be a gift).

 

Now, I generally order over Amazon, mostly in-country (in which case delivery is fast and any shipping/custom fees are already included in the stated price. However, some things are not available on the German sites OR prices are significantly higher than on the UK or US site. If either of these are the case, I order at Amazon UK or US. There are no customs for the UK site (at least not yet). For the US site, a charge for shipping AND customs is added to the price. You can see it prior to checkout (so no unknown cost)and there is no hassle on delivery.

[Lanny]

@OP: This is OT, but it might be worth  30 seconds of his time, for your brother to read this:

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2016/12/07/cunard-line-p-o-cruises-cancel-all-2017-calls-to-turkey.html

 

ETA: After living in Turkey with his family, for 2 or 3 years, on assignment, my cousins son had to go back there, for 2 weeks. I forget if that was early in  2015 or 2016. He told his parents: "I NEVER WANT TO GO BACK THERE!". His parents had visited him and his family, 2 or 3 times, while they lived in Turkey.

Edited December 7, 2016 by Lanny

[nobeatenpath]

I live in Turkey - customs and fees can be totally random, but when you get them they can be exorbitant - think doubling the price of what you send him. And also if he does have fees to pay he will most likely have to go to a central post office and go through a big rigmarole to get his parcel - how good is his Turkish?

Of course it could just turn up and not attract any fees - tonight I received a parcel from the UK, with the value printed on the customs sticker on the front at an amount that could attract fees but I didn't have to pay anything.

 

[Lanny]

@OP    Read VERY carefully what nobeatenpath wrote in post #14...   I wonder, rather than you buying something for him, and having it shipped to him, which might be problematic (and costly), if it might be better for you to transfer funds to him, into his PayPal account (that assumes there are no currency controls that would prevent that) and then he can buy something that is there, that he needs and/or wants, and would eliminate your good intentions turning into a bad experience?  Possibly that is something for you to consider, especially if he does not have an APO/FPO Shipping Address.  ALSO, I think it is unlikely that he will receive it before Xmas. That's possible if it goes by air, but unlikely if it is a Surface shipment.   

[nobeatenpath]

Turkey doesn't allow paypal. I mean, you get around it by using a VPN, but if your computer thinks you are in Turkey it won't let you access it.

If he is with the American military and has an AFPO you would be better sending it with amazon.com. I am certain he is not with the British military so not going to give you details about BFPOs :) If there is anything I can do to help just let me know.

 

BTW Lanny your link is not helpful - I live in Istanbul and can tell you the article you linked is sensationalist, and her brother lives in an area nowhere near here.

[Lanny]

<snip>

 

BTW Lanny your link is not helpful - I live in Istanbul and can tell you the article you linked is sensationalist, and her brother lives in an area nowhere near here.

 

My cousins son lived and worked in Ankara. I believe they were there for 2 or 3 years.  I believe at first it was a very good experience for them and their kids, and my cousin and his wife went there to visit them, 2 or 3 times, while they were there.  You may be correct about the article being sensationalist, but those Cruise lines have chosen not to call on ports in Turkey at this time.  Also, I suspect that you are like us, and you know where it is safe to go, and where it is not safe to go. That helps, whether you are in Istanbul, or Cali, or Las Vegas.

[fairfarmhand]

@OP: This is OT, but it might be worth  30 seconds of his time, for your brother to read this:

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2016/12/07/cunard-line-p-o-cruises-cancel-all-2017-calls-to-turkey.html

 

ETA: After living in Turkey with his family, for 2 or 3 years, on assignment, my cousins son had to go back there, for 2 weeks. I forget if that was early in  2015 or 2016. He told his parents: "I NEVER WANT TO GO BACK THERE!". His parents had visited him and his family, 2 or 3 times, while they lived in Turkey.

 

My brother knows all this. He knows its a difficult place and there are big risks. He made a will before he left. He just loves The Turkish people and their culture. He also likes and admires many of the refugees there in his city.

 

He's single, no kids, and thinks...well, why not me?

 

It's hard on those of us left behind. But he weighed the risks and thought it over for years before moving there. As he told me, "There are millions of Turks who haven't gotten blown up! And the people in San Bernadino thought they were safe too...who's to say one place is really "safer" than another." 

 

I worry about him. But he's an adult and I can't force him to do anything he doesn't want too.

 

Although my kids did think about tying him up and throwing him in a closet. :)

Edited December 8, 2016 by fairfarmhand