Shipping

[midnightsun]

Any helpful information on clothing bought in Thailand then shipping to USA with out getting it confiscated or held up in customs.

[raro]

If the clothes are copies you end up in trouble, either on the Thai or the US side. Strong advise: Don't do it.

If it's original brand clothes you may need a permission by the manufacturer. In plain text: forget it.

If it is just no-name clothes you can export them like any other cargo. If you need some more info, pm me, we are in the shipping business.

[jjp]

Hi raro,

I want to send some dance costumes (not copies) to the UK by FED EX. It should weigh between 10 = 15 kgs. I spoke to a woman on the phone from FED EX and she told me i need some kind of cerification to send it, like an export licence I persume. She said its no problem from this side but in Europe they have some kind of rule for this. Can you shed some light on this please?

I am not in this business and I have a friend who owns a dance company in the UK and she wants me to send costumes over now and again.

PS I also spoke to DHL also and they never mentioned this.

Cheers for your help

JJP

[xbusman]

I want to send some dance costumes (not copies) to the UK by FED EX. It should weigh between 10 = 15 kgs. I spoke to a woman on the phone from FED EX and she told me i need some kind of cerification to send it, like an export licence I persume. She said its no problem from this side but in Europe they have some kind of rule for this. Can you shed some light on this please?

I think the EU still has recently reimposed import quotas. In that event you need to have what they call an import visa to get sewn fabric goods into the EU. Its all rather complicated and messy. If the quotas are back in force and you really want to import a small quantity of clothing, I would recommend not doing it. If your just doing a few dance costumes for a one time event, send them as "assorted gifts" drop an ashtray or two in there and you should have no problems.

Any helpful information on clothing bought in Thailand then shipping to USA with out getting it confiscated or held up in customs.

Any Brand name needs verified on any product, if its a Nike shirt a nice letter from Nike would work fine. Assuming there are no brand names or copyrighted material printed, you have the whole issue of US labelling law. The labels have to be very specifically made and located, if not, your goods will be put in bonded storage at about $65 per day until you decide to have them brought back here for relabelling (2 more freight bills and the labelling) or you can pay US customs to relabel them for a small fee that works out to about $4 per item. They generally can get it done within three months time for only about $5000 of bonded storage. That little label can be an expensive bugger, pays to do your homework. The labelling laws are very complex and specific. You can find most of the important ones online.

Duties are all over the board and very complex in textile goods that employ sewing. Unless is a very standard item like:

6109 T-shirts, singlets, tank tops and similar garments, knitted or crocheted:  6109.10.00 Of cotton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16.5%         

You would be better off submitting samples and getting an exact reading before you ship. Easy to do and pretty quick, can save you much pain in customs.

Shipper hardly matters, they all put the box on the same ship. What you want to know about is the bonded and licensed broker. They can make or break ya.

Good luck, let us know how it works out.

Edited October 29, 2005 by xbusman

[TRIPxCORE]

Not to go against raro or anything but what he said contradicts my experience. I have shipped things from LOS back to the U.S. via FedEx and regular mail and never had a problem. The last thing I shipped was a suitcase via FedEx. In it I had clothes (some copy items), tolietries, copied DVDs & VCDs, etc etc. I had not one problem. Customs inspections inside the U.S. when something arrives here is random. They do not check everything no matter what they say. Perhaps they just didnt check mine or perhaps they didn't care what I had.

[xbusman]

TRIPxCORE is exactly right. Customs in the US checks about 6% of everything entering the country, particularly in the mail or Fedex system. What they are really looking for is businesses abusing the mail system to avoid regulations and taxes in business. Unless you ship something stupidly illegal like guns or ganga, for personal use, I have heard of very little trouble. Thats why I often recommend people shipping a few personal goods or even a few dozen for friends & family to give the mail a shot. Not guaranteed but the odds are pretty good.

I used to buy some factory second Rolexs for the unbelievable price of $100 each and carry them in my luggage for giving away to family and friends. Well they started getting a bit too popular and what used to be three or four turned into thirty or forty. Had a search in customs one day and of course they were right on top, dont ever try hiding something, if you think you have to hide it DONT DO IT. The customs agent looked at them and said "you know these are fake and illegal". With a look of shocked horror I replied "you mean that bastard ripped me off for $100??? The came with a guarantee of authenticity. DAMMIT!". He laughed, threw them back in the bag and told me to stop it, they didnt mind a few but I was pushing my luck. I stopped it.

If your doing a few of harmless stuff, take your chances. If your looking at becoming an international distributor do your homework.

[~G~]

If your doing a few of harmless stuff, take your chances. If your looking at becoming an international distributor do your homework.

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Good point - to get an accurate advice the OP better state the volumes and the frequency of his intended shipments. 20 shirts, once in a while? Don't worry. 20,000 shirts a month? Go by the book.

[OldAsiaHand]

I have shipped things from LOS back to the U.S. via FedEx and regular mail and never had a problem.  The last thing I shipped was a suitcase via FedEx.  In it I had clothes (some copy items).....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I had a different experience. My wife did the same thing, but US Customs in Alaska (where FedEx clears its shipments) siezed the suitcase. They claimed she had copied clothing in it. She didn't. The clothes were all genuine and I had the (huge) American Express bills to prove it.

Customs couldn't have cared less. Finally, after a huge uproad, they agreed to return her clothes to Thailand rather than destroy them as they had been threatening. I offered to send the receipts, but FedEx said it wasn't their problem and did nothing.

It's really just the luck of the draw, but you can draw a bad card. Be careful.

Edited October 31, 2005 by OldAsiaHand

[h90]

I agree, 99 % is without any problem, but if there is a problem than you loose.

If the things are fake, they are fake even Mr. Nike comes himself and guarantee that he produced it.

Customs (I guess everywhere) is one step above god. They are always right, even if they are wrong....

(had a few piece destroied myself (electronic components......)

I have shipped things from LOS back to the U.S. via FedEx and regular mail and never had a problem.  The last thing I shipped was a suitcase via FedEx.  In it I had clothes (some copy items).....

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I had a different experience. My wife did the same thing, but US Customs in Alaska (where FedEx clears its shipments) siezed the suitcase. They claimed she had copied clothing in it. She didn't. The clothes were all genuine and I had the (huge) American Express bills to prove it.

Customs couldn't have cared less. Finally, after a huge uproad, they agreed to return her clothes to Thailand rather than destroy them as they had been threatening. I offered to send the receipts, but FedEx said it wasn't their problem and did nothing.

It's really just the luck of the draw, but you can draw a bad card. Be careful.

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