Hi Alan,
As an international buyer I like to say this. It is indeed a lot of
bother. The problem is that it is a VAlue Added Tax. This means that
the value you put on it is considered to be the value of the parcel.
That is not per se the market value of collectible. So this is your
first problem, what is the value of the poster? ISuppose I buy a Touch
Of Evil poster for a $100 (unfortunately that hasn't happen so far) is
it's value then $100?
Secondly in Holland they use this crazy system that books, paper etc
has a VAT of 6%, while most other stuff is 19%. You can't imagine how
much a hassle it is to get your point across as a buyer that this
paper, old paper at that and that the "value" is in the eye of the
collector. Customs services are alas a bastion of bureaucracy.
This is only money of course and is a thing you can/have to consider
as a buyer.
There's a third point. The moment a package has a value on it,
mysteriously this set customs in action. I haven't investigated this
scientifically, but I am convinced that High value packages are
tampered with, looked in etc, by customs (sometimes with devasting
effects on old paper) far more often than packages that don't have a
high value on. If something is damaged and I am pretty sure that has
happened to me twice, thyere;'s nothing you can do.
Wim
Mopo-Mailing-Mavins -
Just blew another sale because I would not under-declare value of
parcel for an international shipment.
Anybody care to speak to this issue?
International buyers continually ask me to not place true value on
contents of their shipments so they can avoid customs.
It is always a deal breaker for me.
Is this not against International Postal Law or something like that?
And for those in the know -
Why the heck is there an import duty on something like a movie
poster, anyway?
Also, there are evidently some trick words - like magic - that you
can write on the outside of certain Intl. packages or on their
customs forms -
and voila, they evidently slip through customs more readily.
Anybody got the answers on this end of the operation?
Alan
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL
PROTECTED]
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is
solely responsible for its content.
Visit the MoPo Mailing List Web Site at www.filmfan.com
___________________________________________________________________
How to UNSUBSCRIBE from the MoPo Mailing List
Send a message addressed to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In the BODY of your message type: SIGNOFF MOPO-L
The author of this message is solely responsible for its content.
