I was wondering if i order something from lik-sang or play asia, will i be forced to pay a customs charge since I live in teh U.S.??? Cause ive ordered things from canada and japan and have not been charged any customs charge.
It depends on the dollar amount and where you live. In my experience, only FedEx or UPS will do this. The post office has never charged me anything, but UPS did once on a $600 + order from Lik-Sang when I lived in Washington State. I'd check what the laws are in California regarding duties.
I'd guess that they CAN charge you on all and any products brought abroad. However, small packages do not normally get checkedas it is not worth the time and effort - but If you're ordering, like in funk buddy's case $600 worth of stuff, they are likely to bill you for it You need to think of it this way - A small package takes as much time to charge for as a large package - however less money is obtained from small packages, so they are less likely to open it.
In my case it was UPS and I think I paid $12. I got tons of stuff EMS upto that value from HK and JPN and never paid anything.
i see, maybe your right then, im guessing play asia only charges based on regular shipping as shipping is only $2 something, though would it be better to order from lik sang instead?
Check your receipts from FedEx and UPS when they charge you. My mother works for American Airlines, and they get 75% off of Fed Ex shipments. She would send me really heavy shit to Japan for almost nothing. $12 for a pair of snowbaord boots! Anyways, FedEx ALWAYS declared the items and charged me a tarriff, even if it was personal effects. They would then charge me an extra 500 yen as a service for for paying in advance, so of course they would say to customs "here's your money... from this other guy". I was so fucked off I told my mother to declare everything with a value of $0.
UPS/FedEx/DHL all do pre-clearance and you will ended up paying for the charges - be careful not the whole amount is for duty/tax by the way. These are great for big companies but sh!t for private use - that's why I don't use them at all even though I work in the logistics industry... postal service would be the preferred way - global priority or registered air mail would be fine though you do have an option of EMS. If you are going to use UPS/FedEX/DHL you might as well as use EMS me think... and not sure of US but over here games as well as game concoles are exempt from duty/tax as long as they are for private use but music CD attract 4% duty even for private use (not sure on movie DVD though)... Once I had to argue with the Custom officer that the CD in plain cd jewel cases were game CD, not Music CD..
