shipping coins to spain

bronco2078

As the title says I am shipping coins to Spain , what is the smartest thing to write on the customs form?

It is a lot of 3 silver 5 peseta coins that I sold on ebay a spanish buyer asked if I would ship there. I offered the option of priority international small flat rate and they bought them .

It seems stupid to write silver on the customs forms and gift doesn't seem plausible when the label will have ebay shipping printed on it.

TwoKopeiki

I've shipped to both Madrid and Barcelona numerous times without any issues. Always declared the full value, though.

bronco2078

Declared value is 90$ if I go by the sale price. Would they have to pay tax on that?


I don't like the idea of the buyer paying tax I thought it was pretty cool that they were being returned to spain after 100 plus years .

I have never sold a coin overseas before , but I have purchased from overseas without paying tax . I do sell vintage car parts overseas through and I have never paid much attention to it.

JamesMurray

Does it matter if you don't like the idea of a buyer paying customs fee's / taxes ? The buyer is sure to know that by buying overseas they are liable to so ... your probably wise not to write silver on the slip , i used to write numismatic item or collectors item and that was never questioned.I do think the world in general has wised up though and most know what a numismatic item is.
I don't know about Spain but the UK ceiling on if anything is due is 25 pounds , i wouldnt imagine Spain would be too far off that mark but i wouldn't know for sure.

amwldcoin

When I ship overseas I always declare the item(s) as exonumia!

bronco2078

I think because the coins are scrappy the buyer is probably a stacker, they are probably not looking to pay taxes.

I like the exonumia idea they probably wouldn't know even know what it means , the other thing I was thinking was books . I have an old copy of For Whom the Bell Tolls I could tape the coins into.

I should ask the buyer how they feel about Ernest Hemingway first I don't want to offend anyone



boy shipping coins sure can be complicated Give me a rusty old carburetor any day

ormandh

I have never had problems with Spain. BUT, I have had lots of problems with Italy and Portugal in the past! Just cover yourself if it is over $50 or not if you do not mind losing money doing so.

My main beef is with Canada right now. I have lost over $300 to them over the past year. -Dan

ormandh

BTW, I have shipped to China, Russia, and many other countries that you would or should worry about shipping to with problems of delivery. This is without registered mail of course. I personally have NO confidence in South America or Canada, at this point. Canada is a terrible place to ship in my eyes. Sorry to you guys in Canada, I follow the rules, but apparently the ones I have shipped to in Canada do not. Even with proof of delivery to JFK, once it is received in Canada my shipments have disappeared. Paypal does not acknowledge the shipment if it gets lost outside of the US. I will atest to that. -Dan

YQQ

First,I NEVER, never use any Ebay print out forms on your shipping lables.
use hand written addresses.
then, again do not use the paypal ebay CN 22 form and with that amount it would be another form.
use a regular green CN 22 sticker from the post office.
declare the items as "numismatic items" (not s lie)
and last, only if you wish to be accommodating toward your buyer, mark any low value on the sticker.
NOWHERE on the form does it say that you must declare a value "as sold". It only asks for a Value!!!Tomorrow the same items might cost only $ 400.. right.
And the declared value might be the value you think it really is... like maybe 3x FV or so....
Do not include any kind of ebay etc invoice or number. If you wish, include a note similar to that :
hello jack, finally found the coins you are looking for and I thought you would like them. Paid xxxx dollar for them and please simply put the money ( bills only) plus XX$ postage in an envelope and send it in the mail.
You have not broken the law. That the items were sold on Feebay is really nobodies concern!
you only sign for the correctness of the information and that the envelope does NOT contain any dangerous goods.
again, in your believe, the value is correct...
And, If customs in the destination country elects to open your shipment, it is always their right to assess another value.
However, you should advise your buyer that this is what you intend to do so they know.
OR simply ask them if it is ok to declare the full value.

ajaan

I would write "numismatic items being returned to country of origin" on the custom form.

bronco2078

According to postal regulations for Priority International mail to Spain I can not send any coin or currency by priority mail without buying insurance . It sounds like a nice scam to gouge people on customs fees and declaring and insuring lets the light fingered types in customs know which boxes to bust open. I might have fallen for it if it didn't specify insurance I charged them for a priority small flat the ridiculous amount of 16.95 now I'm supposed to pay insurance ? I don't think so

I'll do first class international and refund the buyer the the difference of 10 or 12$ or whatever it is . I will use the green customs form and since pesetas are still technically convertible 15 of them in total are worth about 10 cents as near as I can figure so I won't need to bother declaring a value. I'll stuff some other items in , keep it under a pound and write a touching letter about how these few items were Papa's only possessions when he passed away. So very sad


I'm glad I posted here it clarified a lot of things for me. I don't know why I forgot about the first class international option except that paypal shipping never allowed you to print the labels so I just tuned it out.



If it works out maybe they will need more tax free silver

I'll just have to watch out for these guys

mrpotatoheadd

<< <i>I charged them for a priority small flat the ridiculous amount of 16.95 now I'm supposed to pay insurance ? >>

Insurance is not available on Priority Mail International Flat Rate envelopes or small Flat Rate boxes.

bronco2078

<< <i>

<< <i>I charged them for a priority small flat the ridiculous amount of 16.95 now I'm supposed to pay insurance ? >>

Insurance is not available on Priority Mail International Flat Rate envelopes or small Flat Rate boxes. >>



And thats what I thought , but when I went to the post office and asked for the fill out customs forms my postmaster entered in Spain and printed out a slip of paper that said among other things

Prohibitions

Coins; banknotes; currency notes (paper money); traveler’s checks; securities payable to bearer; platinum, gold or silver, manufactured or not; precious stones; jewelry; and other valuable articles except in insured Priority Mail International parcels.

and this note

Insurance (232.92)

Available for Priority Mail International merchandise parcels only (see 323.72 for markings)

with a table that says from $50 up to $100 is $3.60



I tried the calculator for First class international 8 ounces and I get $8.46 So i'll go that route and buyer gets a refund so they should be happy . I honestly didn't think they were going to buy after seeing shipping was nearly $17 .

To me they are just foreign scrap in fact looking at the pics one is actually pretty blurry and I would have asked for better pics before I bought the item.

mrpotatoheadd

You can get insurance on Priority Mail International shipments, just not the flat rate packages.

bronco2078

I see what you are saying now. If I go to the USPS calculator page and enter 8 ounces it says priority not using a flat rate is ............ $35.00


How is that even possible ? Global Express is only $38

jt88

<< <i>Declared value is 90$ if I go by the sale price. Would they have to pay tax on that?


I don't like the idea of the buyer paying tax I thought it was pretty cool that they were being returned to spain after 100 plus years .

I have never sold a coin overseas before , but I have purchased from overseas without paying tax . I do sell vintage car parts overseas through and I have never paid much attention to it. >>



I believe the buyer has to pay fee.

Dabigkahuna

A customer in Canada once asked me to declare a coin as an "obsolete token" which it was. I have been using that ever since.

marcmoish

oh my lord - this all sounds painfully difficult to follow - I got scrwed in past with an infamous taler that went to Croatia and was lost..since then I've shipped USPS EXPRESS only if the buyer wants to pay 38 bucks and have been ok - I won't lie I am very very leery and anxious when shipping overseas not b/c I don't want to - most overseas buyers are a true pleasure to work with - but only b/c if something does get lost ebay or paypal will turn a deaf ear to you. One can scream or yell till they are blue - makes no difference - I wrote and called and ditto no one cares nor did I get one response, nothing nada, no calls no emails back nothing - money was deducted in their greedy fashion and THAT's the end of story.
They have you by the balls period!

bronco2078

I mailed it today first class for $6.90 it was 6 ounces . I wrote personal property lost on vacation on the customs form in tiny letters . Value $5



The form that gets stuck on the envelope is the 3rd layer carbon copy I doubt anyone even bothers to read it. its only 2 inches by 4 inches or so

I put 5 euros in as a shipping refund so the buyer should be happy enough If anyone opens it maybe they will take those and let the rest slide

I have a small pile of euro coins from buying collections that are no use to me someone might as well spend them

bronco2078

Mission accomplished


The buyer left me feedback "preciosas. un placer " , they got the package yesterday. Normal first class international mail delivered to spain in 9 days , I was expecting it to take a month, I'm very impressed