International Shipping & Ordering: Stories/Tips/Tricks/Advice

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Which Int'l shipping service do you prefer?

  • BiaB

    Votes: 3 12.0%

  • Etre

    Votes: 21 84.0%

  • Y'all are crazy for spending that much on shipping

    Votes: 1 4.0%
  • Total voters
    25
Ugh, mine did the same thing, earlier today it said it was being delivered, now I guess I'm still ****ed. Goddamnit. This sucks so much.
 
Belgium In A Box have sent out an e-mail saying they are no longer shipping to a load of western states due to the amount of orders being returned by LAX Customs. No doubt this is already being discussed somewhere else on here.
 
For those of you more experienced than me with this- anything to worry about here?
4reqXdv.png
 
Roger85 said:
Thanks. The retained at customs thing had me worried.
Click to expand...
Everyone's box gets retained at customs. That's standard and to be expected. If you're in Illinois, you should be fine. The problems usually come from LAX customs, while yours goes through JFK or Chicago. I've only had one box returned to Belgium and that's because USPS said my address wasn't valid, even though Etre provided proof to me that it was correct and valid.
 
Anyone had bpost not have a cross reference for USPS on the tracking page? Is there any way to look it up or get it from them?
 
So could BIAB/Etre be using DHL and avoiding this issue? I vaguely recall receiving an international package years ago via DHL from an online retailer (old Struise shop maybe?) but I don't recall anything besides receiving it quickly. Do packages shipped via DHL go through the exact same customs checks as packages shipped via Bpost/USPS?
 
Xul said:
So could BIAB/Etre be using DHL and avoiding this issue? I vaguely recall receiving an international package years ago via DHL from an online retailer (old Struise shop maybe?) but I don't recall anything besides receiving it quickly. Do packages shipped via DHL go through the exact same customs checks as packages shipped via Bpost/USPS?
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Unless DHL has their west coast international shipping hub somewhere other than LAX (doubtful) then it would be the same customs problem.
 
spykeratchet said:
Unless DHL has their west coast international shipping hub somewhere other than LAX (doubtful) then it would be the same customs problem.
Click to expand...
Well, sort of. The problem is that shipping alcohol via USPS is always illegal, whereas via DHL it would only be conditionally illegal, depending on the laws of the state, and Customs probably isn't any position to verify whether those are being followed. There's the issue of duties, but I really doubt that's why their returning boxes, I don't think the duties on any of these things are large and there's surely worse things being shipped into the country in that regard.
 
Xul said:
So could BIAB/Etre be using DHL and avoiding this issue? I vaguely recall receiving an international package years ago via DHL from an online retailer (old Struise shop maybe?) but I don't recall anything besides receiving it quickly. Do packages shipped via DHL go through the exact same customs checks as packages shipped via Bpost/USPS?
Click to expand...

Didn't they use DHL, or at least a shipper different than Bpost/USPS for a shot window about 2 years ago? If I recall correctly they had a bunch of issues getting the boxes through customs and reverted back to Bpost/USPS pretty quickly.

Or am I imagining that?
 
My most recent order that shipping using DHL transferred to USPS in the same fashion as Bpost. I don't think you're inherently avoiding the greater issue by having the shipper in Europe use DHL over Bpost.
 
stupac2 said:
Well, sort of. The problem is that shipping alcohol via USPS is always illegal, whereas via DHL it would only be conditionally illegal, depending on the laws of the state, and Customs probably isn't any position to verify whether those are being followed. There's the issue of duties, but I really doubt that's why their returning boxes, I don't think the duties on any of these things are large and there's surely worse things being shipped into the country in that regard.
Click to expand...
I have not seen an explanation why Customs has targeted alcohol shipments lately. I think Customs probably has their plates full enough to not have time to worry about whether or not the contents of a shipment violate USPS shipping policies. I agree that the duties on these shipments are probably too small for them to be concerned with but that doesn't necessarily mean that's not what they're doing, after all, they are a government institution. Since BIAB seems to be the only one really on top of this, I am staying tuned for the findings of their research.

Maybe customs employees are all active traders trying to drive up the values of their Loons...
 
spykeratchet said:
I have not seen an explanation why Customs has targeted alcohol shipments lately. I think Customs probably has their plates full enough to not have time to worry about whether or not the contents of a shipment violate USPS shipping policies. I agree that the duties on these shipments are probably too small for them to be concerned with but that doesn't necessarily mean that's not what they're doing, after all, they are a government institution. Since BIAB seems to be the only one really on top of this, I am staying tuned for the findings of their research.

Maybe customs employees are all active traders trying to drive up the values of their Loons...
Click to expand...
Someone (know the real name, can't remember the username) on here has posted about their conversations with customs and that was the reason cited, unless I'm misremembering. It all seems weird to me.
 
stupac2 said:
Someone (know the real name, can't remember the username) on here has posted about their conversations with customs and that was the reason cited, unless I'm misremembering. It all seems weird to me.
Click to expand...
That was me
 
HenrikO said:
Then this landed from that ******* sherm1016 :

How do you even fit that much beer into a 12-bottle shipper?
Click to expand...


HenrikO popped my international cherry.

Shipping was super easy thanks to all the great information in this thread. You should all pat yourselves on the back and have a beer in your honor.

Thanks!
 
BusinessSloth said:
Everyone's box gets retained at customs. That's standard and to be expected. If you're in Illinois, you should be fine. The problems usually come from LAX customs, while yours goes through JFK or Chicago. I've only had one box returned to Belgium and that's because USPS said my address wasn't valid, even though Etre provided proof to me that it was correct and valid.
Click to expand...

I'm outside Chicago and just had a box go through LAX customs, go on to Atlanta, and then get pushed back to Belgium. And I had another box at Etre that I thankfully had them hold when I saw that this one was going through LAX. Now to figure out what to do with all this stuff.
 
On the BiaB website, does anyone know what the deal is with the handling and packing fees listed for 10, 20, and 30 kg? I emailed Kurt several days ago but haven't heard back yet. Not sure if it helps cut down on cost or not, but figured there has to be some kind of benefit since they're listed.
 
If Bpost is like Post Luxembourg, deliveries under 10kg are tax-exempt - Belgium might have tax bands at 10, 20 and 30kg.
 
I work in US Customs law. This thread provided some chuckles early on with a bunch of people publicly endorsing customs fraud, thereby technically entering into a conspiracy.

No, I can't help you get stuff out of customs. Declare your goods correctly, pay the duty, and don't use USPS. Still, you are gambling.
 
thejukes said:
I work in US Customs law. This thread provided some chuckles early on with a bunch of people publicly endorsing customs fraud, thereby technically entering into a conspiracy.

No, I can't help you get stuff out of customs. Declare your goods correctly, pay the duty, and don't use USPS. Still, you are gambling.
Click to expand...
Is there actually any way to pay the duty and not use USPS? I was under the impression that everything that went through customs ended up going to USPS.
 
stupac2 said:
Is there actually any way to pay the duty and not use USPS? I was under the impression that everything that went through customs ended up going to USPS.
Click to expand...
I don't think TNT had that issue, but I could be wrong. I also think FedEx and UPS international shipments avoid USPS.
 
ineedbeer said:
I don't think TNT had that issue, but I could be wrong. I also think FedEx and UPS international shipments avoid USPS.
Click to expand...
TNT? Also aren't fedex/UPS prohibitively expensive? Plus impossible to use with webstores, which makes a huge part of this moot.
 
thejukes said:
I work in US Customs law. This thread provided some chuckles early on with a bunch of people publicly endorsing customs fraud, thereby technically entering into a conspiracy.

No, I can't help you get stuff out of customs. Declare your goods correctly, pay the duty, and don't use USPS. Still, you are gambling.
Click to expand...
What specifically?
 

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