Advice filling customs declaration to United States

[hillbilly-samurai]

Hello everyone,

I'm very new to selling on Ebay and have had a few inquiries about shipping items from Canada to the United States. I feel paranoid about filling the declarations form incorrectly because that would result in delay, withholding and potentially confiscation of the item.

Would anyone be willing to share some advice of their experience shipping to the states? I would really appreciate learning about some do's and don'ts. I've consulted some sources already about customs, so would love to learn from your personal experience.

Much appreciated!

[pjcdn2005]

It's fairly simple.  You need to state what the item is....CD, Book, costume jewellery etc.  I keep it simple and don't put the name brand or too much detail. I just think it it is better for it to be a bit ambiguous.   You also have to state the price the buyer paid.  If you are shipping something fairly expensive ($2000+ .??....I'm not sure of the amount...you might have to fill out a commercial invoice.

As far as I know, I've never had a problem with any of my packages going through customs. I'm sure there are things such as food items,medications/vitamins etc. that they may pay more attention to. 

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@hillbilly-samurai wrote:
Hello everyone,

I'm very new to selling on Ebay and have had a few inquiries about shipping items from Canada to the United States. I feel paranoid about filling the declarations form incorrectly because that would result in delay, withholding and potentially confiscation of the item.

Would anyone be willing to share some advice of their experience shipping to the states? I would really appreciate learning about some do's and don'ts. I've consulted some sources already about customs, so would love to learn from your personal experience.

Much appreciated!

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To add to @femmefan1946 points with the new eBay Labels system the included packing slip does NOT include purchase prices, tax, shipping paid, the customers phone number or email address for customs purposes. If you wanted to include a ps(either inside the box or with customs invoice) you can print from sellers hub. Much more detailed so you can confirm your customs information matches purchase information exactly and will decrease the chance of any possible delays when customs goes to process.

-Lotz

[femmefan1946]

If you are using a shipping label from Shippo or Paypal, the title of your sold listing will automatically show up as the item being sold, along with the selling price (value).

You may be asked for the Harmonised Code in which case use this.

https://www.canadapost.ca/information/app/wtz/business/findHsCode?execution=e1s1

If you are using a Canada Post label you will have to fill that information in yourself.

Here is the SnapShip page for Canada Post.

https://sso-osu.canadapost-postescanada.ca/lfe-cap/en/login?stepupId=smb_mode1,consumer,commercial_l...

Umm- well actually that signs you up for Solutions for Small Business but bookmark it anyway. There are discounts. And SnapShip appears as you fill in the forms.  (Most sellers don't use it, because it does not automatically fill with information from your eBay sale.)

Mostly however, paying duty and sales taxes is the responsibility of the buyer. With over 175 countries in the United Nations, you are not expected to know all the ins and out of every country's customs laws.

EBay at one point gave sellers a boilerplate snippet we could add to our listings explaining this.

Import duties, taxes and charges are not included in the item price or shipping charges. These charges are the buyer's responsibility. Please check with your country's customs office to determine what these additional costs will be prior to bidding/buying

Keep in mind too that US residents have a duty-free allowance of $800 USD.  And if there is "internet sales tax" -- really a state sales tax-- eBay will automatically work it out and add it to the invoice your customer receives so it will be paid before you ship.

[femmefan1946]

PS. Whenever you sell something value is as per eBay sold amount. Never manually over-ride even if a customer requests or mark as gift. If you include an eBay packing slip(Inside box) that is a confirmation of price the buyer paid so needs to match your customs documents.

This can't be emphasized too much.

If he wants to cheat on customs (especially since he already has that $800 exemption) he will be willing to cheat you.

[tiptoptreasurestop]

Everything I learned about filling out customs forms, I learned by watching reality TV shows about US Customs and Border Services!!
I am only 25% kidding. When you fill out the form, be completely honest, and describe what is in the package. If your description and what they see on an xray, or read as a weight on a scale do not add up.....out comes the box cutter, and Viola!! Delayed Package!

[hillbilly-samurai]

Thanks so much everyone for answering my questions. Really appreciate the help 😄

To ask another novice question, aside from a packing slip, is there any other documentation that you would include to help customs clear the item more efficiently?

I know that for some special products, extra documents are required, but for something like books, video games, or collectibles, is there anything you would include?

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@hillbilly-samurai wrote:
Hello everyone,

I'm very new to selling on Ebay and have had a few inquiries about shipping items from Canada to the United States. I feel paranoid about filling the declarations form incorrectly because that would result in delay, withholding and potentially confiscation of the item.

Would anyone be willing to share some advice of their experience shipping to the states? I would really appreciate learning about some do's and don'ts. I've consulted some sources already about customs, so would love to learn from your personal experience.

Much appreciated!

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When you fill in the Customs Invoice you can manually update the fields as required (See above suggestion for description), then it would be unit weight (weight per unit before packaging) for each item sold to customer. Country of Origin is country where it was manufactured, SKU is type of unit - Each, Set, Lot of 3. Price is price per unit sold.HS code is the 6 digit number from an HS search(CP Tool above post from Femme). With Shippo it's ###### with no periods or dashes. Format may vary for Paypal or CP Snapship etc. From the dropdown Customs Form in shippo you can choose if unclaimed, Return to Sender or Dispose...Based on value and if you want to pay return shipping to get it back. ECCN section is only required for certain special controlled items. You can leave blank. When you fill in package weight it never hurts to add 10 or 20 grams for paperwork. Canadapost post will when they weigh it. Measurements are always rounded up so 125 grams would be 130 grams. 10.4 cm would be 11 cm's. When all done print, sign and attach to shipping label. (If actual weight and measurements are less than stated you can get re-billed after the fact.)

-Lotz

PS. Whenever you sell something value is as per eBay sold amount. Never manually over-ride even if a customer requests or mark as gift. If you include an eBay packing slip(Inside box) that is a confirmation of price the buyer paid so needs to match your customs documents.