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Buying coins from overseas is not good
BillJones
Posts: 33,481 ✭✭✭✭✭
I bought a coin from a London Dealer almost two weeks ago. It was shipped ten days ago. It got hung up in customs. It was released and now it's missing. It's really hard to find U.S. dealers who have the pieces on my want list, but trying to ship coins from abroad is the pits.
Has anyone ever tried to use a domestic dealer who imports coins from abroad as an agent? Perhaps they can deal with customs better since they do it on a regular basis.
Retired dealer and avid collector of U.S. type coins, 19th century presidential campaign medalets and selected medals. In recent years I have been working on a set of British coins - at least one coin from each king or queen who issued pieces that are collectible. I am also collecting at least one coin for each Roman emperor from Julius Caesar to ... ?
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I bought about 5 to 10 times a year from outside US. If it ship by FedEx, DHL or UPD they will take care of customs. It usually takes about a week to arrive. If use EMS it might be a little longer. I just have a package from Hongkong it took about a week to arrive. Another package also from HongKong took three days to pass customs which is not bad. It just released to usps, so I should get it in one or two days. I have a package last year took 6 months to arrive. I think it stuck on customs.
Never really had a problem before in dozens of purchases
Latin American Collection
FedEx clearance can be spotty, especially when they don’t have a CBP Form 5106 on file for you (or you are shipping to an address different than is on their form). They will send you a bill for handling Customs about 2-3 weeks after your package is delivered.
I try very hard to get the seller to use the correct HTS code on the commercial invoice on the outside of the package, because that makes life much easier for everyone. But invariably, I still have to deal with the clearance folk to give the metal and weights of the coins. Why? Who knows!
Also be aware that your SSN is mandatory on the 5106 if it’s in your name rather than a business name.
I am totally disgusted with FedEx. They have provided lousy customer service and have people on phone who act like they could care less. At the end of their calls they ask for a rating of the service. In retrospect they deserve a 1 or a 0 out of 5.
I never thought I would say this, but the U.S. Postal Service is better.
Lucky you. The first experience was mediocre. This one is the pits.
Buy from abroad used to be the last resort. Now it's no resort.
I've been dealing with FedEx for the past two weeks on a package they've been holding due to the fact that the content list was in German. The auction house claimed to me that they provided the translation three weeks ago but there the package continues to sit in Memphis. I think I've possibly got it moving again but the tracking app is so antiquated it just shows the same status. To make matters worse, the auction house sent the package with no delivery signature required...on a $12k package!!!
So here I sit, tethered to my house waiting for the little FedEx truck to arrive. So yeah, FedEx sucks AND I'll have the pleasure to pay them additional costs for their crappy service! grrrrrr
karlgoetzmedals.com
secessionistmedals.com
I'm hearing lots of reports of missing packages lately. A number of the packages have gone off the tracking radar at NYC Customs, but it's unclear if the packages were ever actually delivered to Customs. It's not good.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Just wanted to add that (potential) problems only occur if the stated value of the shipment is $2500 or above. Shipments at this level require formal entry. Anything less should sail through as a matter of course.
There was a very noticeable decline in FedEx clearance services during COVID. I haven't done much importing lately, but I gather things have not improved much. I believe FedEx has outsourced this to a third-party.
Totally agree about their antiquated and disjointed website. Every once in a while, you get a really good CS agent on the phone, but mostly they just want to get you off and will tell you anything in order to do that.
Bill, I’ve never had a problem with international shipping from Europe or Australia. I prefer DHL. The only problem with them is they don’t ring the doorbell and just leave the package on the porch. Royal Mail isn’t bad either.
I’ve got one hung up in customs right now. Really hoping for the best. 🥺
I'm BACK!!! Used to be Billet7 on the old forum.
I haven't had a problem, but it might be the value. None near $2500. Last one was earlier this year.
I agree with you. I bought over 50k coins from royal mint. They used DHL. They just dropped the package on the porch without bother to ring the door bell. I filed a complaint with better business bureau. DHL said it did not required signature and they did nothing wrong.
Anyone who bought over 3K coins from outside US that use EMS? How do the customs collect the fee if there is a fee?
I have held my ground on never buying outside of Canada and the USA for decades and will not change. Just my preference. For me it just seems safer and have had only 1 issue (the package was damaged and so was the coin but seller made it right and the damaged coin was shipped back to him. that was years ago coin had a value of I think less than 200$) in over 1000's of purchases and 100's of sales.
But if ever I would the shipping would have to be FedEx priority or some other service they have that is fast and safe. If I had to pay 100$ to 200$ on shipping to make me feel safe on a bigger coin coming outside of Canada or the USA then so be it. But I would not buy just any coin it would have to be a valuable and very rare coin I can't locate. For me very valuable means minimum 2500$ - 3000$. I know for some it could be a whole lot more money but to each his own when it comes to their budget.
Collecting interests: Coins from Latin American (2020-present)
Sports: NFL & NHL
I buy from Canada, UK, and France. I hope I don’t jinx myself but never had a problem. UK purchases are from RM, Chard’s, and Britannia CC. Sometimes slow but always got here. RM and Canadian mint are almost faster than US Mint. Purchases usually under 3k.
Also got a few items from LPM, no issues
I'm sorry to hear about the loss, or potential loss as it could still show up (let's hope). I know it's maddening to have something valuable and coveted disappear in transit. It's made me feel like pulling my hair out in the past.
Perhaps Harlan J. Berk? They definitely have the experience and gravitas along with being very active in the ancient and dark side of numismatics to warrant reaching out and asking. They're about all I can think of that might possibly be able to do what you mentioned. I believe one of their employees is a member here on the forum too but I can't recall his username at the moment.
EMS goes through USPS (postal service) as Express Mail once it hits the USA, so the service would be the same as any other USPS shipment.
I have never had a USPS shipment need Customs inspection, so I am not familiar with that process.
But I have had a USPS shipment get stolen and I received an empty package. As @MrEureka alluded to above, I suspect this happened in Inbound Customs at NYC JFK Airport.
The whole international shipment process is a crapshoot, so it's just best to only buy absolutely important coins internationally where you will not be there to personally carry them back. Or inexpensive coins that you won't lose any sleep over if something goes astray.
FedEx is terrible regardless of where the package originates from. I once had them "deliver" a package of mine five miles from my house. It was found in a ditch on a country road by an honest stranger who actually tracked me down.
As far as international shipments of coins, I have fortunately never had a problem, and I have purchased coins from all over Europe and Canada. In fact I just purchased a coin from Estonia that arrived in eight days via USPS.
Philippians 4:4-7
You would think that they would want to keep you on the line as long as possible when they're charging $5 a minute.
Oh, wait, never mind. Got a little mixed up there.
Doggedly collecting coins of the Central American Republic.
Visit the Society of US Pattern Collectors at USPatterns.com.
Before I moved to Europe, I had holdups in customs once in a while that were agonizing because I want my coins instantly. Now that I'm in Europe, it's way worse to get packages from the USA or outside the Eurozone, because I pay a 23-26% customs tariff. The worst was when I missed a short deadline while vacationing to provide info and customs returned the packages to the USA, but said it wasn't a priority. No kidding. Those packages were mailed in April, and still haven't been returned to my US address. Luckily, they were just books and crap that I wanted from my office, and not coins.
Question: how do US coin dealers transport coins to and from Europe? I assume they fly to a country without an entry tariff, but what about leaving, say, Switzerland, which I understand (or misunderstand) has an exit tariff? Drive to Germany and fly out from there? Does the exit tariff not apply to flights outside Europe? Are dealers exempt somehow? Does the taxman visit shows? Curious about the ins and outs of how this is done,
I am awaiting a shipment from the Australian mint, less than $300 US in value. Anyone had any experience with shipments from Australia? Please share.
I bought from Europe and never have issues other than only lost one package because the seller use cheap ebay mailer.
No problem at all - just takes a bit longer than coming from Europe.
I can understand that since the Pacific is a lot bigger than the Atlantic.
Even the mail in the US is terrible now. I lived in Italy for years and was proud of the American postal service. Now USPS is as bad as Poste Italiane.
Can anyone remember, in some cities, when the mail was delivered twice a day?
Two times a day? You are really dating yourself!!
Wether in or out of the US, the hobby demands an extra effort to locate some terrific coins that will come to those with patience and well prepared for such bureaucracy or eventual delay. No generalizations apply here.
myEbay
DPOTD 3
Never have had a problem getting coins from Europe (hope I didn't just jinx myself) here in the USA. I've purchased many coins from MA Shoppes and won numerous auctions from WAG, Kuenker and others and received them all in a timely and well packaged manner.
You see we are all experiencing different things to me FedEx has never ever caused me a single issue. Best service over the phone. Always on top of things.
Collecting interests: Coins from Latin American (2020-present)
Sports: NFL & NHL
It probably has something to do with the driver/part of the country. I live in a rural area, and FedEx always seems to have trouble finding my house even though they have been there multiple times. I assume with the example mentioned above that when the driver couldn't find my house he decided to "deliver" my package out the window.
My first choice is always USPS and my PO Box. That way I know my coins are safe, secure, and won't grow legs after being delivered. However, if I have to use a private carrier my preference is UPS.
Philippians 4:4-7
I had one issue with an international package. The issue had everything to do with my local post office, and nothing to do with the fact that the package came from abroad.
Well, one auction house sent my winnings to Austria instead of to the USA. Maybe USA and AUS can be confused? I don't know. They apologized for the mistake and reimbursed me. Once again, more of a clerical error on the address, which could happen on anything. However, I don't think you can RTS things internationally.
IG: DeCourcyCoinsEbay: neilrobertson
"Numismatic categorizations, if left unconstrained, will increase spontaneously over time." -me
Anyone have to pay fee? I have to pay 8% for coins source from China on ha and sb auction using FedEx. I have to pay small processing fee (couple hundreds) for high value coins from Royal Mint using DHL.
I have purchased hundreds of times from Europe, mostly the UK. I have lost 2 packages. Both were regular mail and both stolen from customs.
2 weeks is not an unheard-of delay. I had a recent FedEx package that got stuck in Memphis for over a week. It happens. Most UK packages arrive in 7 to 10 days. Had one FedEx that arrived the next day! Have had a few that took more than 3 weeks.
The coin, an Edward the Martyr penny, arrived yesterday. I guess you have to get used to customs and shipping delays that take you out to two or three weeks.
I post the coin with some historical background in a separate thread.
Glad the coin arrived without problem.
Two to three weeks is good service. Be thankful for that! Even the domestic firms often don’t meet that timeframe.
I recently started to buy coins from the UK, they have last between 7-8 days, my last order arrived today, which took 8 days.
On another from Latvia, still in: Pre-Shipment - Origin Post is Preparing Shipment, since OCT.12.2022, but I was advised that may take between 2-3 weeks, so I am aware.
Glad to hear that your coin arrived safely. I get about 4-5 packages a month from England, never not received the items. The normal route for me is Heathrow - O'Hare and it is normally 1-2 weeks to clear customs in Chicago. During the pandemic customs in Chicago was a meltdown and many packages took 2-3 months to clear and a number were re-routed to New York, Miami or San Francisco to clear the Chicago backlog. It would be nice if clearing customs were faster. A few dealers are now only shipping using Global Express which get here in less than 1 week but I am normally charged £30 for the faster service.
Collecting:
Conder tokens
19th & 20th Century coins from Great Britain and the Realm
Much ado about nothing I guess.
Latin American Collection
I’m working on a type set of coins and currency from Portugal. I have purchased a lot of items from Europe and never had any issues. I buy using local mail (CTT, Spain post, France Post, etc). It’s taken from 4 to 16 days to get the coin/currency.
If I didn’t buy from Europe my collection would be limited. So I don’t agree with your statement. I’ll gladly buy from Europe or Canada and have no issues.
My current registry sets:
20th Century Type Set
Virtual DANSCO 7070
Slabbed IHC set - Missing the Anacs Slabbed coins
Well, I'm glad I wasn't watching this thread in real time.
I had a package coming from London which hit Memphis on the 20th. Got held up by customs as they needed a 'breakdown of the commodity content', and later I found out the copy of the invoice was incomplete. In the past I've had a proactive caller from Memphis (aka FedEx) call me for clarification--sidebar, it was fun explaining to that person what Japanese pottery coins were...but that was cleared up quickly. So I gave it a day.
I called on the 21st and was told about the invoice and was given an email to upload a better copy. Got a real live customs official response because it needed more clarification (dollars vs. pounds) AND that breakdown of the 'commodity content'. Turns out the auction house listed one lot as a base metal token (it maybe has a half ounce of silver in it) and the other lot as 7 base metal tokens. Customs was suspicious I'm guessing as in reality it was a set of 7 books and the title included 'gold and silver'. So I explained the commodity was actually, um, paper.
It seemed cleared up, so I called three more times asking why it wasn't moving. First two times it was the aforementioned Fedex people saying anything to get me off the phone. Third time I got transferred to customs and talked to a real live person, though the wrong one. She was kind enough to go over everything with me and said she would send a direct message to the actual person in charge of it and get it moving. Shockingly that is exactly what happened. And I took delivery on the 27th.
I guess this was a long way to say...a couple clerical errors on the sender's part (cut off invoice/value content and listing books titled 'gold and silver' as base metal tokens) coupled with busy customs as well as FedEx customer service that was clueless half the time meant delivery after 8 days.
This thread would have had me way more spun up than I was. And in the past I've gotten much more complicated things much easier.
I am based in Scotland (but originally from the US), and have seen increased issues in the last year or two with shipping to both Europe and the US. More packages lost to the US from late 2020 until late 2021, and more packages returned that I sent to the EU from mid 2021 onward as the buyers weren't aware of the new customs fees (apparently these were implemented right after the UK left the EU, so unfortunate timing).
Got my order from the Australian mint When I placed ti, the mint indicated that it would take about 6 weeks. Than is what it took. I don"t know if that is the normal turn around time or if the coins had tom be minted first. Got a 1oz silver Year of the Rabbit $5.00 AUS with QEII dated 2023. Interestingly, it is concave (rounded). Got other coiins as well also with QEII. 2023 dates.
Count me in on this, had a coin coming from the Czech Republic this summer that sat in the NY customs facility for a few months. Eventually the USPS just shrugged and said "missing!". That frustrating part is the USPS points the finger at customs, and there's no recourse with the customs people. Luckily the other end had insured so we all came out ok.
I got FedEx package from Birmingham UK sent on Tuesday AM and arrived Wednesday (yesterday) afternoon. Uh, just over one day!!!
Well, just Love coins, period.
FedEx from Buenos Aires, sent the 27th, delivered here in the Northeast on Monday midday - 4 days. Appears to have cleared customs at the FedEx hub in Memphis in under 12 hours... and it was just two small coins, $150 or so value, but the seller sent it in a medium-sized box placed inside a large version of the plastic stretchy baggie envelope thing.
This thread title was ridiculously paranoid/worrywart. Have purchased easily 1000 parcels worth from overseas over the last decade (though to be fair, I keep it under the Formal Entry threshold out of laziness)... can count the "actual" bad issues on less than two hands. Going to ignore the unavoidable delays during early COVID, which truthfully starting clearing pretty fast all things considered -by Aug. 2020 or so. Only time an actual customs delay happens is when the package is especially bulky AND the sender is sketch with declaring value (looking at you, Aureo Calico)... and always easily enough solved. Hell, used to have the direct number for the guy at Newark and it would get done fast.
The only time I really started sweating bullets was one piece last year... which is I was hopeful was (and seems truly is?!) a star piece and then started taking a several week magical mystery tour through the South, settling at a half-horse town in Dumpwater County Parish, LA for maybe 5-6 very long-seeming days. I mentally created a story to humor myself wherein the local postmaster was an alligator who spoke like Ed Orgeron. Long story short, it was silly - the way the Frenchman (in actual France, not Ed Orgeron) wrote the beginning "1" of the zip code was, not un-understandably, read as a "7".
Actually, never mind, please, NO ONE buy anything from overseas... not worth it, bad stuff happens, everything gets lost or stolen or seized. Best case, you get it and the Feds come get you for Im/Ex fraud. And ESPECIALLY, whatever you do, don't look at/bid on what I look at.
PS - to the ppl saying they are currently experiencing issues with parcels getting stuck up at JFK... I personally have not had that issue recently with a decent sample size, and all of my incoming "mail" parcels (countries postal services and/or EMS) go through there. Hopefully just a couple fluke strays.
I received my lots today from the recent Numisor auction. I received a email they sent out by FDX last Thursday .
No problem.
I give away money. I collect money.
I don’t love money . I do love the Lord God.
I’m still waiting. Coming from Spain, hit JFK customs on October 13. I sent an email inquiry yesterday, haven’t heard anything back. Anyone have a direct phone number to someone who knows anything?! 😅
I'm BACK!!! Used to be Billet7 on the old forum.
Fast and reliable has been the norm. And the rare times the values were high enough for the extra paperwork it was handled quickly and well at the Fedex hub in Memphis (vs. NY). This last issue was a delay due to a poorly done and a conflict with the paperwork. I would consider it a fluke. I have found being able to bid and pay for international items has been a great boon. And the norm is safe (if occasionally delayed) shipping.
A package from Latvia to California took 22 days, on the last day it show up with an alert of insufficient address, on the USPS tracking system, but the coins made it.