US customs question

[JM]

I've just sold a HH Wested on ebay to a chap in the US. Having looked at the shipping options I noticed that animal skins are prohibited by a lot of the resellers that use DHL/Fedex/UPS as the courier. Upon checking further I found that shipping leather or textile goods to the US can be very difficult due to import restrictions - here's a quote from one of the shipping specialists

"Thank you for your email, I have spoken to UPS and they have said that the US have very strict rules about animal skins which they would class a leather jacket as. The kind of information they will require to know follows; where it was manufactured, what kind of animal it was manufactured from, which farm the animal was raised on and some other very specific questions. It seems that you will most likely get this stopped in customs and have a large charge for duties and taxes put on this product."

My question (for those in the US who have purchased from Wested) is what description does Peter put on the customs form, and what harmonised codes etc. does he use (if any?). I'm thinking of describing it as a film prop, marking it as a gift and hoping it doesn't get stopped.

[VP]

I got a similar response from Finnish customs when I asked about buying a roohide whip from the US (regarding some endangered kangaroo species blah blah blah), so when I got it I just said that it's a horse whip and they didn't ask any further questions about the material used.

[Raider S]

I really think they are talking about raw animal skins and not leather that has been made into a jacket.

I'm looking at the form that was on my Wested bag and for description it says 'Leather Jacket' and is marked as a gift.

Just say clothing and gift on yours and you should be fine. If you were shipping 100 jackets or tanned hides that would be a different story. One jacket won't be a problem.

[JM]

I really think they are talking about raw animal skins and not leather that has been made into a jacket.

I'm looking at the form that was on my Wested bag and for description it says 'Leather Jacket' and is marked as a gift.

Just say clothing and gift on yours and you should be fine. If you were shipping 100 jackets or tanned hides that would be a different story. One jacket won't be a problem.

I hope so. I spoke to UPS and DHL direct after receiving the information I posted previously, and they both said exporting clothing of any type to the US can be problematic. Basically I was told that an item such as a leather jacket *should* have the original source of all it's component parts identified (cotton, leather etc.) on the paperwork.

The annoying thing is that normally in the UK someone without a business account with UPS etc. (ie. the average Joe) normally ships through a third party who has a business account with the major couriers who books on your behalf (to benefit from cheaper shipping). In the case of a jacket like this it reduces the shipping cost by about a half (£55 dealing direct with DHL to £28 dealing with a 3rd party with a DHL account). The problem is that these 3rd parties have their own list of prohibited items, which usually includes animal skins, animal remains etc. I've phoned up a few this afternoon and they all confirmed that a leather jacket would be classed as prohibited, and if there was any loss damage etc. no claim could be made. If I dealt, with DHL/UPS etc. direct, it would not be regarded as prohibited, and so would be covered for loss etc. But then I'd have to charge £55 for shipping! What a pain.

[RCSignals]

From personal experience receiving items from overseas, I wouldn't use DHL or UPS.

Fed Ex, or Air Sure or Parcel Force or the Post Office.

[Dutch_jones]

Fed ex is horrible for europeans if shipped from the US
they sting you with customs a lot big price ! I don't like fed ex. I have had no problems with items sent through USPS thus far.

[RCSignals]

Shipping into the US, Fed Ex has never been a problem for me.

DHL especially has been, as well as UPS.
No problems with the Postal system, Air Sure or Parcel Force as I stated (the thread is about shipping from the UK)

There is also a value that can effect passage through customs, as I recall it's $200 or under. Over gets looked at more closely for tax and duty.