International razor shipping to an USA address?

[kargi42]

Hello all,

Since international shipping to my country has been a mess for almost two years now (anything over 150 EURO is taxed ridiculously), I thought I might take advantage of my upcoming visit to the USA.

Say I ordered a brand new razor from the EU (I want a Koraat Monarch, for a value of 500 USD) to the USA. Would there be any tax in the customs, and how easy would it be to pay/process? Are there any exceptions to razors since they might be considered "dangerous" goods?

Or even better are there any US citizens who have already ordered from Koraat who can share their experience?

Cheers.

 

[Antique Hoosier]

I have a few interesting anecdotes about International shipping from Asia and various European countries. First of all, set aside up to two weeks potentially for delivery and be ready to pull your hair out as parcels will inevitably go through multiple hands including customs. I also understand that any postal destination along the way can arbitrarily check the contents of packages.

I was refused a paid for order from a postal source in Spain for the seller shipping a “dangerous” object. Asked that he ship it DHL and he simply cancelled the sale and refused to send.

Pre-ban Ivory and Tortoise scaled razors have been successfully delivered to me from Europe, passing through overseas postal services and US Customs no issues but I’m told others have had said items seized. I’ve also had sellers in Europe refuse to send Ivory and Tortoise because of that possibility.

I have never had items come from International sellers to USA with and taxes or fees owed although I have been prepared for them potentially every time. I would just say allow for the time for the razor to reach your potential US destination and enjoy the tracking drive you absolutely crazy. A recent parcel of mine arrived in my city at a regional sorting facility about 4 miles drive from my home but then spent 3 1/2 days bouncing between that facility and two local post offices before finally being delivered.

In summary, be prepared for Customs to scrutinize any package, be prepared for taxes, fees, etc. be prepared for an extended journey of your parcel; but in the end I would imagine you’ll have a great result. All bets are off when you travel back home and your luggage is searched….. that I can’t offer advice.

 

[alex1921]

Hello all,

Since international shipping to my country has been a mess for almost two years now (anything over 150 EURO is taxed ridiculously), I thought I might take advantage of my upcoming visit to the USA.

Say I ordered a brand new razor from the EU (I want a Koraat Monarch, for a value of 500 USD) to the USA. Would there be any tax in the customs, and how easy would it be to pay/process? Are there any exceptions to razors since they might be considered "dangerous" goods?

Or even better are there any US citizens who have already ordered from Koraat who can share their experience?

Cheers.

Anything below $800 comes to the US tax free. Above $800, it depends how you are shipping. Regular mail, I have had customs not bother up to $2k. FedEx, UPS etc do their own paperwork and then submit it so anything above $800 they have to submit as such and collect the tax on behalf of the government.

Never had any issues with razors coming to the US.

 

[alex1921]

I have a few interesting anecdotes about International shipping from Asia and various European countries. First of all, set aside up to two weeks potentially for delivery and be ready to pull your hair out as parcels will inevitably go through multiple hands including customs. I also understand that any postal destination along the way can arbitrarily check the contents of packages.

I was refused a paid for order from a postal source in Spain for the seller shipping a “dangerous” object. Asked that he ship it DHL and he simply cancelled the sale and refused to send.

Pre-ban Ivory and Tortoise scaled razors have been successfully delivered to me from Europe, passing through overseas postal services and US Customs no issues but I’m told others have had said items seized. I’ve also had sellers in Europe refuse to send Ivory and Tortoise because of that possibility.

I have never had items come from International sellers to USA with and taxes or fees owed although I have been prepared for them potentially every time. I would just say allow for the time for the razor to reach your potential US destination and enjoy the tracking drive you absolutely crazy. A recent parcel of mine arrived in my city at a regional sorting facility about 4 miles drive from my home but then spent 3 1/2 days bouncing between that facility and two local post offices before finally being delivered.

In summary, be prepared for Customs to scrutinize any package, be prepared for taxes, fees, etc. be prepared for an extended journey of your parcel; but in the end I would imagine you’ll have a great result. All bets are off when you travel back home and your luggage is searched….. that I can’t offer advice.

Yes, give it time if it's not a courier service. Customs for regular mail is unpredictable, can take from a day to few weeks.

When you ship ivory or tortoise to the US you just hope they wont search the package. If they do, I would say it's gone. Good luck trying to explain pre ban ivory to them.

No issues flying to Europe with a straight razor, as long as it's in checked baggage. Done that many times, nobody asked anything.

 

[Steve56]

You should not incur taxes or duty as per others posts above. Additionally, there are many exemptions to duty/tax, many of them for personal items. A friend who is a pro photographer bought a Leica camera and 3 lenses directly from Leica for almost $36k. No taxes, because there is an exemption for single cameras and lenses.

Here in the US, they aren’t very interested in ‘small game’ so to speak. I have had one package opened and inspected, a barber size JNat being returned by a friend in France. So inspection is of course possible, but not common for small packages. I suspect, but do not know, that they X-ray or ‘scope’ everything and only open unrecognizable items in boxes from individuals. The rectangular shape of the stone could have been anything.

 

[alex1921]

You should not incur taxes or duty as per others posts above. Additionally, there are many exemptions to duty/tax, many of them for personal items. A friend who is a pro photographer bought a Leica camera and 3 lenses directly from Leica for almost $36k. No taxes, because there is an exemption for single cameras and lenses.

Here in the US, they aren’t very interested in ‘small game’ so to speak. I have had one package opened and inspected, a barber size JNat being returned by a friend in France. So inspection is of course possible, but not common for small packages. I suspect, but do not know, that they X-ray or ‘scope’ everything and only open unrecognizable items in boxes from individuals. The rectangular shape of the stone could have been anything.

Like you said, natural sharpening stones as long as they are labeled with the correct code come tax free. Same for razors.

Hmm. I had a coticule coming from France and they did stop it and inspected it. Wrapped it back nicely though so not a big deal.

 

[DrStrange]

"shaving tool" instead of "razor"

You should not incur taxes or duty as per others posts above. Additionally, there are many exemptions to duty/tax, many of them for personal items. A friend who is a pro photographer bought a Leica camera and 3 lenses directly from Leica for almost $36k. No taxes, because there is an exemption for single cameras and lenses.

Here in the US, they aren’t very interested in ‘small game’ so to speak. I have had one package opened and inspected, a barber size JNat being returned by a friend in France. So inspection is of course possible, but not common for small packages. I suspect, but do not know, that they X-ray or ‘scope’ everything and only open unrecognizable items in boxes from individuals. The rectangular shape of the stone could have been anything.

I once advised an overly honest French person
that a package sent from one private residence to another
was more like a gift than like business.
But he couldn't bring himself to claim that there was a gift in the package
without including a Russian Foal paddle strop, which I had never heard of before.