French Import Duty on Clothing from USA.

[Labruyere53]

Hi, does anyone have any experience of buying clothing over the internet from the USA to be shipped by USPS normal postal service  & the customs payment if the parcel gets stopped by the Douane, do the Douane normally send a bill or do you pay La Poste on delivery??? Not sure what the standard procedure is, I just know it seems to be pot-luck on anything getting checked but I did read somewhere that the Douane have tightened up a bit??? Anybody any experience of it??

[Stan Streason]

Sorry its not exactly what you want but I do this in UK quite a bit.  UPS phone me to say a delivery is coming, tell me what the duty is, I pay tham over the phone by credit card and stuff gets delivered.

Just re read your note and this is even less help than I thought as my stuff gets delivered by UPS who seem very clued up (not USPS and royal mail)

[Labruyere53]

Thanks for that Stan, I know with the likes of UPS, DHL etc you pay them first but just wondered how it works with ordinary Postal service, do goods get delivered as normal then if theres a Doane bill they send it or do La Post collect it from you on delivery??? Really not sure.

[Nell]

OH has ordered DVD's from USA. The findings, regards import duties - If he orders one dvd, he doesn't pay anything, it just gets put in the post box. If he orders a box set say (more expensive) the post lady knocks on the door and collects the duty from him. Not clothes I know, but maybe you could assume the principal is the same.... He seems to think that the cut off point for paying duty seems to be about 20 dollars (As you know the value of the package is printed on the parcel, so that is probably what they look at, before deciding to complete the paperwork involved [Www] )

[Callie]

Yes, Labruyère - I order all my clothing and boots for western riding from the States.

The items are sent by carrier and usually costs about 20 dollars. Customs have asked for a charge every time except one and that's usually about 20 euros.

So, for example even with UPS and douane charges, I am paying half the price for my Wrangler jeans than I would if I bought exactly the same thing here. As I tend to buy 3 or 4 pairs at a time, it's really worth while.

I suspect that if it's possible to send stuff directly to the UK and then send it on from there, you would probably skip the customs duty !

[Âme]

I'm not sure going via the UK would make much difference. 

I have always had to pay import duty on goods (clothing, accessories, CDs, DVDs...) from the US entering UK by post or carrier.  Carriers call in advance to agree payment of the charges, the post office presents a bill on delivery.

I haven't imported items to the UK recently, but the cost was 17.5% (VAT) of the value of goods plus delivery charge. (VAT is 15% now, isn't it?)

If the expediter doesn't fill in the correct export/import slip, the package is sent as if from a private individual (as a gift), and no duties are charged to the recipient.

[Rozmum]

Hi, I often order clothing from the US to France and so far, touch wood, have never had to pay any duties.  It is usually delivered by La Poste and not a carrier.

[Labruyere53]

Thanks all for your comments, guess I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed & wait & see if I get presented with a bill from La Poste on delivery!!! I imagined they must just pick out some  parcels to check at random.

[Sunday Driver]

You can find full details of customs duties applicable to goods purchased abroad from here:

http://www.douane.gouv.fr

 

 

[oldgit72]

I used to import Levis into the UK via E Bay from the US. Importing 2 pairs at a time was tax free and with postage I was paying around 50% of UK prices. You could then get them sent on to France.