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Archive 2017 · seeking users' experiences: best way to ship gears to russia?

  
 
tntcorp
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · seeking users' experiences: best way to ship gears to russia?


question x-posted in general gear forum as well.

i'm wanting to ship a small camera kit to a friend in russia. shipping fee appears excessive based on a quick check.

any user's experiences or advice? will there be a duty or custom fee on used gears?

appreciate any feedbacks.



Nov 09, 2017 at 01:03 PM
Tom Robinson
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · seeking users' experiences: best way to ship gears to russia?


I ship to Poland and find the local Polish travel agency who usually gets packages together and ships them at one time by boat. I pack with clothes candies toys etc. I never mention camera in the declaration. That's an invite to steal.
Takes awhile to get there, but never had a problem. I think similar is available in your local Russian community. Good luck!



Nov 09, 2017 at 02:36 PM
Ming-Tzu
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · seeking users' experiences: best way to ship gears to russia?


Whenever I ship things overseas, I use the United States Postal Service (USPS). Cheaper than UPS or FedEx, and never had issues with the buyer not receiving the item. Not sure what "excessive" is when you mentioned the fee. I usually do Priority shipping with my own box, and it comes to about $45 or so flat-rate from NYC to anywhere in the world.

As far as customs and duties, that's a tricky subject because it depends on the country you're shipping to. I'm not an expert but, from what I understand and past experience, it's based on the amount you declare on the customs form when you're completing it on the USPS website (e.g. larger declared amount = larger customs and duties).

So your first step is to do a little research on the customs fees and duties for Russia. Figure out what the threshold is before customs and duties kick in, and adjust your declared amount accordingly. Obviously, I believe the risk of using a declared amount less than the value of the actual package contents comes if the items are damaged or the package is lost, although I'm not sure how that part of the process works since all my international packages arrived safe and sound.

After you and your friend decide the declared amount to use, you can create the shipping labels on the USPS website. The first page is pretty straightforward (e.g. name, address, zip, etc.). The second and third pages are confusing, especially if you've never completed it before. If you decide to do USPS, let me know and I can provide a bit of information, and what I usually do.

Note that I've never sold camera gear overseas, but have sold and shipped high-end watches over the years. My most recent international sale was last week to someone in Singapore. I researched the threshold for customs/duties in Singapore and found that it was $400, so after discussion with the buyer, I set the declared amount to $375. The package arrived yesterday and everything was good, except he had to buy some customs and duties. Why? I forgot to account for the USD to SGD currency conversion (e.g. so $375 USD was really $511.23 SGD), and it looks like the calculation also includes the cost of shipping (e.g. $84.32 SGD). Add both of those up and multiply by the Singapore GST of 7%, and you get about $51 SGD in duties and fees.

https://s33.postimg.org/h8obva1nz/Delivery_receipt.jpg



Nov 09, 2017 at 03:06 PM
tntcorp
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · seeking users' experiences: best way to ship gears to russia?


thank you tom & ming-tzu for the response. will research & find out the threshold value for duties. ~ $120 was the estimated shipping cost for 10 lbs package.

i'm giving the camera to my friend.



Nov 09, 2017 at 03:50 PM
Ming-Tzu
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · seeking users' experiences: best way to ship gears to russia?


tntcorp wrote:
thank you tom & ming-tzu for the response. will research & find out the threshold value for duties. ~ $120 was the estimated shipping cost for 10 lbs package.

i'm giving the camera to my friend.


Usually, I just put one pound as the package weight and let USPS charge me the difference if they think it's more. Sometimes, they do. Sometimes, they don't.



Nov 09, 2017 at 04:00 PM
runamuck
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · seeking users' experiences: best way to ship gears to russia?


Usually it is far cheaper to cut gears in the locality they are needed, provided the gear cutting machines are available locally.


Nov 11, 2017 at 03:03 AM
elkhornsun
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · seeking users' experiences: best way to ship gears to russia?


With the USPS there are agreements with most nations that provide for no special broker fees as with DHL, FedEx, and UPS. It is important to have the ship to address done so that the package gets delivered to your intended recipient.

You state the value of the item on the declaration form which is used when a duty is involved. Balance between duty and having accurate amount in event of an insurance claim.



Nov 12, 2017 at 05:03 PM
Andrew J
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · seeking users' experiences: best way to ship gears to russia?


i'm giving the camera to my friend.
---------------------
There is zero duty on gifts.



Nov 26, 2017 at 02:55 PM
Danpbphoto
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · seeking users' experiences: best way to ship gears to russia?


Be "upfront and truthful" with what you put on that US Customs Form. If the USPS suspects your package, it will sit at the US Customs Export Office until "judgement day".

Andrew is correct about "Gift" fees.
Dan




Nov 29, 2017 at 08:15 AM





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