Shipping from japan to here

[arthur]

i just ordered some lad musician jeans with celga and they're shipping it to me soon, but i'm not sure whether or not to mark it as a gift and under $50.

they say not to since the US isn't all that annoying when it comes to customs, but i'd rather ask you guys...what should i do?

(i searched and all i could find was threads where people shipped as a gift under $50, no opinions about it)

[6MT]

mark as gift just incase, us custom are anal as fuck,

[mike lowrey]

what they probably meant is that theyre not as likely to take packages into customs since theres probably 10000x the mail coming into the country daily than in some smaller countries. but I dont see a reason not to mark it as a gift?

[minya]

I've never had problems with customs/duty when having something shipped to the USA. Now, if you were living in Canada, you'd be fucked plain and simple.

[Jshockmtl]

I've never had problems with customs/duty when having something shipped to the USA. Now, if you were living in Canada, you'd be fucked plain and simple.

So true. When it comes to japanese goods, customs in canada rape you! its insane.

[arthur]

ok, sorry to be bumping this but the just finally got here (the US).

now when i track the package, it says:

Aug 20

04:49

In Customs AMC JFK NY UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

is this bad? or is it just passing though customs?

[ten100switch]

if it still says that four days from now it's bad, but it's unlikely that it's any trouble, all outside-US freight passes though some sort of customs

[arthur]

let's say it does say this 4 days from now, what do i do then?

go over there and pay a ridiculous sum of money, or what?

[minya]

let's say it does say this 4 days from now, what do i do then?

go over there and pay a ridiculous sum of money, or what?

Every foreign package goes through customs.

If they decide to assess fees, you'll either a) be sent a bill in the mail or be required to go somewhere and pay first before picking it up.

You're probably okay though.

[HEWSINATOR]

Ya, I do not even know if the time frame in tracking is reason to be concerned. I bought goods from xcoldricex, shipped from Japan, and the tracking said in customs in Vancouver for 3 days until it showed up at my door. No fees, but marked as gift.

One thing to consider is the labelled value is what you will be going by with insurance if something happens. This possibility should be weighed.

[Kasper]

since all international mail have to be "inspected", there always an overflow at the point of entry (custom) and that means that your stuff will sit there doing nothing for a few days until some stupid custom agent can process it. but like others said before, US customs usually don't care about making you pay duties so it should be ok. and because of what happened in London, they probably tightened the security, which could be another explanation for the delay...