New import/tariff rules on eBay

[Aquarian Sports Cards]

"I have a friend in Switzerland who has every U.S. purchase shipped to me. It originally started with ebay sellers and auction houses charging exhorbitant shipping fees, global program or not. He is also on Swiss Customs list and they check every package he receives for valuable items to get him on duties. I just save everything and deliver it to him one of the two times a year we see each other. He also maintains a p.o. box across the border in Germany where they do not check as closely.
__________________
'Integrity is what you do when no one is looking'"

There's some irony there somewhere, I'm sure of it!

[Michael B]

Originally Posted by Aquarian Sports Cards

"I have a friend in Switzerland who has every U.S. purchase shipped to me. It originally started with ebay sellers and auction houses charging exhorbitant shipping fees, global program or not. He is also on Swiss Customs list and they check every package he receives for valuable items to get him on duties. I just save everything and deliver it to him one of the two times a year we see each other. He also maintains a p.o. box across the border in Germany where they do not check as closely.
__________________
'Integrity is what you do when no one is looking'"

There's some irony there somewhere, I'm sure of it!

Scott,

I don't disagree. He does not alway tell me packages are coming. I just follow his wishes.

[BillyCoxDodgers3B]

One nice thing about sending Topps cards from another country TO the U.S. is the fact that each of them clearly states that they were made in the USA. There is no way that any entity can deny this, nor can they hardly charge a tariff on an American made product re-entering its own country of origin. At least that's what logical people would think. Logic isn't always at the forefront of all these recent harebrained happenings, so this is what I have been doing:

I stick each card in a penny sleeve, then a top loader, taping the top loader face down against the protective cardboard so that if Customs opens it, they will see the back of the card. On each penny sleeve, I boldly circle where it says the country of manufacture, then write "MADE IN USA!", with arrows pointing to it, just in case they are completely blind or failing to pay attention. On the declaration forms, I declare as "Trading cards (Made in USA)" for good measure. For Country of Manufacture: "United States". I would definitely wish to not use the phrase "Trading cards", but the courier companies have been giving me grief over the vagueness of simply stating "Cards". I wish they would just let me make that decision and roll my own dice, but that's how it is right now. "Cards" worked for the longest time. I don't wish to use "Ephemera" due to general unfamiliarity with that term. "Printed matter" seems too much of a grey area, so I've stayed away from that one as well.

The HS code you need to use when filling out customs forms for U.S.-made cards is 4911.99.0000 At least this is what has worked for me on the first couple of shipments thus far. No issues.