overseas sale question

[alisoni]

have been looking at the forums on etsy and have got myself a bit worried about the question of customs.
not having sold overseas before i'm not sure about customs requirements for the eg USA. i read the post the other day about custom taxes etc and have put it in my policies about the buyer being liable for them.
my question is, do i just fill in the custom form as jewellery, the value and leave it at that?
thanks

[glasskanvas]

You'll need to fill in a customs form at the PO for none EU countries....it just asks for what's in the parcel, the weight and cost then you just sign. There no charge on that. I always write 'costume jewellery' on it just in case. I send quite a few of these out a week and haven't had any probs yet.

[Kay]

if you ask at the post office they will give you some stickers to take home, just fill it out and stick it to the parcel.

[swirlyarts]

Some buyers will ask you to send it to them as a gift (it's one of the boxes on the customs forms) but don't do this as it's actually illegal to do so if it's not a gift. If US Customs open the packet and see a business cad etc they will twig that it's not a gift and you could be fined - very unlikely to happen but not worth the risk. If people are ordering from overseas then they should be aware of the customs charges that they might be charged - and you should never pay for them - customers are liable!
HTH
Lynsey

[Kay]

I know you can buy £18 (or there abouts) from the US without incurring custom charges, US might have a similar amount

[alisoni]

ok thanks all for your advice