Recently, I had a small box of documents sent to me from the US. The company sending it to me showed $1.00 value and declared the contents were documents. (just papers...)

I was charged 30 EURO in customs!!!! And, there is no arguing with the delivery person - only accept or not.

This has happened many times since I arrived in Italy. A Christmas package of contents truly only around $15.00 US value (ziplock bags, and some homemade cookies) was delivered with customs due of 29.00 Euro!!! The package was never even opened and the declaration form clearly stated what was in the box and the value.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to mail things from the States without incurring these ridiculous charges?

AND - how to place orders for items without the charges.

I have asked my family to send me things only in padded envelopes - but would like any suggestions.

It would be interesting to learn exactly what the regulations are and how the charges are calculated. Are they published anywhere online? Are they a state secret? Our daughter sent some inexpensive things (some Peeps, and things of that nature) and we were also charged 29 or 30 Euro, about 2x-3x the value of the contents.

I just posted about shipping restrictions on my blog ( here ) - but the reliable standby for me has always been "Used personal items" that I write in English and Italian (Articoli Personali Usati) on the box.

I wonder if they are getting more strict recently but I haven't had to pay customs for some time - when a friend sent a box of "Spices" via FedEx, I paid 20 euro in customs. Never again. Also, my mother sent me a pair of my old tennis shoes, wrote tennis shoes on the box, value $100 and I paid duty - never again.

Of course, if it's actually valuable and you're insuring it, there's no way around it since the value will not be $0 or close to it.

Thanks for the blog site - I read all of the comments.

I have already discovered buying books from the UK site versus the US site. You pay IVA but no customs.

If I can find the suppliments I want on a UK site, I will buy them there too ....BUT there are many suppliments and items I can not get from the UK.

I have had my family take the DVDs or photos CDs out of their package and put in a small padded envelope and send regular, first class mail. They always arrive with no problem. And I discovered anything FEDEX or any other express type shipping gets charged huge fees.

But WHY documents?

quote:

Originally posted by alaskaitaly:
If I can find the suppliments I want on a UK site, I will buy them there too ....BUT there are many suppliments and items I can not get from the UK.

Like what? Maybe I and some of the other Brits on the site can help? I'm certainly finding many sites that will post to here from the UK that I didn't think would.

Alyson, please post the sites in UK which ship to Italy. That would be a great help. I usually go all through the order process and then it says sorry, can't ship there. One place in Germany accepted an order, I waited for it to arrive, and when I inquired, they announced, sorry, we don't ship to Italy. Argh!

Let me know the kind of things you are looking at then I can narrow it down. For example Amazon appears to ship everything here, then you look in the small print and they won't ship small electricals, probably because the plugs are different.

Just don't want to give you a load of sites everyone already knows about or isn't that interested in!

I just tried ordering some blank DVD RAM discs from Amazon UK last night. At the end I got, sorry, UK delivery only.

My memory is horrible, I can't recall what else I've tried ordering from UK. Usually stuff for working on the house (plumbing, etc), gardening things, bike stuff, bits for the Mini, etc.

Just a few for now then:

HMV.co.uk for CD's, DVD's and possibly blank ones, but not sure. Have had DVD's successfully delivered by them.

The Book Depository - free postage and decent selection, also successfully received stuff from them.

Waterstones.co.uk - biggest book chain in UK. Lots of academic books as well as all normal stuff. Pricey but might have stuff even Amazon doesn't!

Figleaves.com - underwear. Same as US site but very fast delivery from UK.

Bravissimo.co.uk - more underwear, sorry!For ladies of unusual size!

Will hunt out some others I have come across these are the ones I use regularly but there are others out there I haven't used yet!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: alyson,

Healthspan.co.uk for vitamins etc.

asos.com As Seen On Screen - clothes, accessories etc.

brightminds.co.uk - educational toys, think I got a chemistry set off them in the UK, but they deliver to Europe. Really interesting stuff.

pharmacy2u.co.uk - looks interesting for medicines that you recognise but not necessarily any cheaper than buying here! Does other stuff too.

britishcornershop.co.uk - have been told delivery is good. Baked beans and marmite anyone? Cadbury's chocolate, baking powder, gravy powder.

evanscycles.com - not the cheapest way to get a bike but in the UK they are the specialists!

kitbag.com - football and rugby strips for any team in Europe! Plus boots and other stuff.

Not a genuine on-line store but John Lewis has an export department if you want them to send anything off their website!! I may well be checking this one out myself.

As I come across more I will post them, but if anyone wants me to search for anything specific I am happy to do so. One tip for checking a site posts to here - I always go into the help section of the site, this is normally where delivery details are hidden. If not help then customer service or even, sometimes, delivery and postage!

Hope these sites are of interest.

This is one of the things that worry me about Italy : lack of clear rules. When I receive a package in France, if it's stated "gift", they'll usually leave me alone. If they suspect that it's not one, they'll ask you to open it before they charge you anything for it. And there is also room for making complains etc. In Germany, they made me collect my parcel marked "spices" personally from the parcel office. I had to open it in front of the person. When he saw that it was as stated, he thanked me and gave me the parcel. There should be respect for people who receive parcels and letters, after all a service has been paid for. And I certainly do not understand why you have to pay customs when you receive a gift.

Thanks Alyson!

I appreciate the websites in the UK - BUT I was wondering if anyone has any brilliant ideas for avoiding customs of items coming in from the States...i.e. sending in padded envelopes instead of boxes, the size that seems to attract attention of customs, etc?

Mille Grazie Alyson for all those helpful sites,,I have a 3 ring binder that I am keeping all this helpful kind of info.. for when we are there and I need to look up info ... great!

Ciao!!
Sherrie

You will not be disappointed with Maplin.co.uk for blank CDs, PC accessories, gadgets, all sorts of electrical stuff, specialist and otherwise. Their postage rates are also very good.

quote:

Originally posted by alaskaitaly:
I appreciate the websites in the UK - BUT I was wondering if anyone has any brilliant ideas for avoiding customs of items coming in from the States...i.e. sending in padded envelopes instead of boxes, the size that seems to attract attention of customs, etc?

I think were hoping to provide you with sites so you could avoid post from the US all together. I guess it will be more difficult for stuff from family and friends though. For it to come through the normal postman, which I think avoids some issues, the padded envelopes seem best.

Maplins shops are great if you like that kind of stuff! Gadgets and everything to go with them! Kind of like Radio Shack I have been told?

I understand - but it wasn't the purpose of my initial posting.

The items I was asking about were "documents-papers" and suppliments you can not get at all in the UK - I also have items I buy on EBAY which have to be mailed to Italy and the personal things from my family.

I had just hoped someone had some tips for these.

how was the box of items sent? ups or usps?

I have not had problems with papers send in envelopes. The envelope should not be padded though if it's just papers.

It is a nightmare this customs thing. I agree.
I sent a paper napkin with a little perfume on it in a card to my husband once and it never arrived.

Or they arrived really late.

for vitamins-- i think there is a law forbidding shipment of drugs or vitamins through the mail. I tried to check this. but was unsuccessful.

I do know that I have homeopathic medicines sent from the uk and twice, even though i was told by the company that "they send to italy all the time" I never received the packages. And this is something that is legal and over the counter in Italy.

Once i needed a homeopathic remedy from a neighboring town and they could/would not mail it to me.

It sounded like it was vietato.

Also The vitamin scarcity is a result of the Codex Alimentarius which is a trade commission that wield tremendous political influence. they have set a limit on the dose of a vitamin to 1/10 of what has be demonstrated to have therapeutic value. so no buying vitamins in italy (better to switch to herbs in my opinion) and those sent in seem to get lost in transit, or turned away.

sorry for the bad news. Flights are cheap between some cities and great brittain.... once a year, stock up?

good luck.

So I take it from the lack of response on this thread and another that I am on, that no one is aware of the 'rules' or guidelines (if there are any) as to how much and when the dogana charges. Also, any difference in mailing between mail vs FedEx or UPS or mailing to a business instead of a personal address? Just looking for a confirmation or some insight...thanx

My take on it from 13 years of shipping back and forth. I think you are better off using the post office instead of couriers as with couriers you tend to have to pay more in the way of customs and fees. If using the post in either direction, make sure it is registered and insured. This costs less than a courier but can still be expensive.

As for how they calculate the costs, no one knows and I have never found a general list of charges.

I would love to be able to compile some data on this though. If anyone gets a box and they have to pay customs, could they keep the receipt etc. and scan it for me so I can do a little bit math?

My parents mail things to us from the States to Lucca using the USPS. But they arrive via SDA courier, which then collects a fee based on whatever, which they refer to as "dogana". Apparently some years ago the Italian postal service entered into an agreement with a courier service (I don't know which one) in the US to deliver packages. Prior to this anything mailed by USPS came via the Italian postal service with a 2,000 lire charge for a small package and 4,000 lire charge for a big package.

I didn't save the label last week, but I got a birthday box from a US friend full of joke gifts. Two vintage T shirts, used, 2 silly orange peelers-- a ring with a little spike on it, paper napkins, paper gift bags and some cosmetic free samples. I had to pay US$ 25 to get it. She foolishly wrote the value at US50 trying to be sneaky with me. The dogana charged 50% duty on things I simply would not ever buy and promptly redistributed with a grin to others. The week before that my kid sent me a combo mother's day and birthday box and I paid the same for that. I can no longer afford to be loved.

I don't know what's worse--never receiving packages (I have 2 outstanding, one from the US (NJ) sent in February, and another from SICILY sent about the same time) or paying more than what the package is worth when you actually receive them.

And yes, SDA almost always ends up with my packages from the States as well no matter how someone sends them (envelopes are the only things delivered to me by Poste Italiane). I've been lucky the past few times with no charges, though, which surely means a whopper is on the way

We have recvd 3 items in the past month shipped via USPS. One was a padded envelope with 2 magazines in it with a stated value of $40, we had to pay 12 euro to get it at the postale.

We recved another box via USPS that stated it had clothing and vitamins in it and there was no charge via postale.

We recvd another last week of a box with cds and books where sender noted $300 in value (way too high) and I had to dish out 56 euro. I was ready to say "no thanks send it back".

The forms from the doganali give no percentage. There is a fee for 'da