eBay

sin-n-dex · ‎09-24-2019

So I've been shipping to Russia since 2013, and only had one shipping problem (in 2013).

My first question, do coins fall under the customs guidelines regarding antiquities? If a package contains one coin that fits in that category, do they confinscate it, or send the package back?

I sent two packages a month ago. Buyer requested both be shipped on the same date (it doesn't matter, freight shipping is collected for days before it ships abroad). They arrived at customs at the same time (within a few minutes).

One package sat in customs for 4 hours before being returned to post, the other took 6 hours. My buyer emailed me 12 hours later freaking out that it took "so long to go through customs" and he thinks it will arrive in his city and he'll either be required to provide paperwork, or the parcel will be returned.

I don't know how this works, and if I had checked tracking and seen 4-6 hours at customs I'd think nothing of it. In Canada 1-2 days is pretty normal on regular packages.

If there is an issue, I'm thinking the buyer might be known to Customs for importing things he shouldn't be importing, which is why he's freaking out over a few hours in Customs.

Any experience on this? The packages were $94 to mail each from Canada, and Canada Post may charge full price for the package to be returned to me, so having the package come back is not an ideal solution.

C.

coffeebean832 · ‎09-24-2019

I don't ship to Russia, but with other countries I've seen packages clear in a couple of hours and other packages held for a full month before clearing. To me 4-6 hours seems pretty fast.

I don't think there's anything you can do proactively. It sounds like a wait and see situation.

According to this page antique medals and coins are classified under the Collectibles & Art category.

sin-n-dex · ‎09-24-2019

@coffeebean832 wrote:
I don't ship to Russia, but with other countries I've seen packages clear in a couple of hours and other packages held for a full month before clearing. To me 4-6 hours seems pretty fast.

I don't think there's anything you can do proactively. It sounds like a wait and see situation.

According to this page antique medals and coins are classified under the Collectibles & Art category.

Thanks for the link. I'm not quite sure I understand the site though... as to whether or not some coins would not be admissible. (I didn't ship any gold, and only a few coins were silver, mostly modern stuff and base metal common issues). The limit for import I've been told is 500 euro, and my packages were each (or even together) less than that, but my contact in Russia says that customs doesn't want to appraise 400 different coins. I think an invoice should take care of this, but I'm not sure what the buyer's issue is about using the invoice to clear his package.

I'm thinking a few hours is very fast to clear customs. As I've said, I see around 1-2 days frequently with things coming into Canada. I've seen items take days to clear in Europe but usually it's because duties are being levied.

My contact thinks what happened is that Customs opened the package, determined items were not admissible, shipped it to his town where it will end up being returned if he doesn't have the correct documents for import. I don't really understand this because in Canada they are held at the port of entry, no one ships packages to the post office to have the post office see paperwork or send it back.

C.

vintageads · ‎09-24-2019

I sent a package to a residential address in Russia this year. The courier service our local postal service contracted with (EMS?) only delivers to business addresses in Russia, so the package was returned for that reason.