What is benefited from marking an item or items sold as a gift on the custom form? I've been asked a few times to do this but I always worry if its falsification or something that could end up being more problem than its worth. Like if package is lost or damage does designation of gift hamper the situation. I'm all confused here. Any help is appreciated. TY!


(Not sure if this is proper thread for this if not please move to proper location and my apologies.)

 

I sell to a lot of international buyers on ebay. The reason they want it marked as a gift is because they want to save on customs fees. Buyers usually ask me to mark the customs form as a gift for $35.

This is actually illegal to do, and I wouldn't do it for an international buyer unless you dealt with them before or trust them.

 

Most likely it's because of import taxes, like paypal's gift option - if it's a gift they don't take fees.

I've dealt with customs forms for many years, but only in and out of APO's. I do know that the brits here deal a lot with customs fees, import taxes, and such.

 

I've been told that it really doesn't make a difference with regards to customs. It is pretty much random what they decide to take a look at.

With regards to undervaluing an item just to potentially save on the customs fees... I would be careful with this. If you are operating as a business this is technically illegal and could get you in trouble. If it is a personal transaction look at it this way: What happens if the package gets lost and it was only claimed as a $20-$30 value (say for a $100 transaction)? Who takes the hit in this case? If the package is insured the most you are going to get back is what the declared value was.

Generally customs fees are not that bad. They are annoying, but they are part of life.