what duty, tax (or both?) is paid when buying jewelry from Europe?

[Rosa]

Dear Pricescopers,

I've not been on this site for a while (and miss it!) but my little people keep me busy. I hope all are well and that someone can give me a general answer to this question:

I saw a piece of vintage jewelry that I love online. The seller is in Europe. I live in the US.

Somehow, the government is going to charge me something, I'm sure. However, I'm not sure how to find out exactly what, and I don't want to make an offer and pay for the piece, and later get hit by a huge bill for import duties and/or local taxes. I asked the seller who wasn't sure. He is NOT charging me VAT like he would have to do for a local resident.

It said on a website I found online that the shipper (Fedex? DHL? I guess...) actually calculates the amount and makes you pay it to receive the package, but I don't want to find out the amount AFTER I buy. If it is going to be a lot, I will need to negotiate a different price with the seller in order to stay in my budget, or potentially not buy the piece if the seller isn't flexible in that situation.

Thanks for any advice,
Rosa

 

[foxinsox]

Here in NZ, we have a duty/tax calculator on our customs site to help work out the likely costs - you put in costs and type of item and it gives you a total with the individual charges listed out.
If the US Customs site doesn't have something similarly handy, try calling Fedex or DHL and ask them how they'd calculate it based off item/weight/value/whatever. Give them an upper and lower limit for the price to get the most likely range if you don't have a specific price you're paying.

 

[OoohShiny]

Here in NZ, we have a duty/tax calculator on our customs site to help work out the likely costs - you put in costs and type of item and it gives you a total with the individual charges listed out.
If the US Customs site doesn't have something similarly handy, try calling Fedex or DHL and ask them how they'd calculate it based off item/weight/value/whatever. Give them an upper and lower limit for the price to get the most likely range if you don't have a specific price you're paying.

I agree with this.

In the UK, the Customs website lists all the categories of product that attract Import Tax (as well as the standard Value Added Tax that is added to basically everything of value if it's not a Gift) so one can consult it.

I think this website will be relevant to you?
https://www.cbp.gov/trade/programs-administration/determining-duty-rates

 

[Rosa]

Hi OohShiny and FoxinSocks, Thank you for your replies and the link. I just created an account on the USITC Interactive site and also found this doc https://usitc.gov/tata/hts/archive/0200/0200c71.pdf which appears (if I am reading it correctly) to state that articles falling under the "jewelry" rubric - 7113 - are charged duty at 6.3% unless from one of the countries with a special deal. Now I have to find out if my state and city will charge sales or use tax to me... That would be another 8.875%. Not sure this purchase is going to happen.

 

[OoohShiny]

Depending on exactly how much the jewellery is, would a nice weekend away to Europe be less than the tax...?

 

[Rosa]

OoohShiny, I like your thinking! Would LOVE a weekend in Europe. This would not rise to that level of spending, however. I'm not quite sure what to do yet. Mulling it over! Thank you to you and FoxinSox for pointing me in the right direction.

 

[Funnyface850]

My favorite jewelry designer is out of the UK and I’ve purchased two things this past year. They prefer to use FedEx Express ship. They only charge duties on the customs value. My recent purchase was $1,000 dollars. I was charged $71.28 for customs duty and FedEx changed a convince fee of $7.00. FedEx bills you directly for customs fees so it is convenient. I hope this helps.

 

[Funnyface850]

I also forgot to mention I did not pay state taxes on either purchase.

 

[Rosa]

Hi Funnyface850, thank you very much for the info! So I did pull the trigger and the duties worked out on my purchase, which was shipped from France, to 5.8% (it was handled by DHL and my husband took care of it so I didn't see the breakdown of how much DHL charged.) They did not collect other taxes, just the import duty, same as you said!

Hope this is useful to others out there. I was very nervous to order internationally, but also asked the seller on 1st Dibs to make the purchase contingent on appraisal. David Wolf, whom I discovered from this site, did the appraisal, and he was great.

 

[Funnyface850]

I’m so glad that it worked out for you!

 

[ANAGUTGAR]

Hope I can help you. Right now I´m sending an antique ring from Spain to the USA with FedEx Express Priority, and they told me that the duty taxes for the buyer will be around 5% to 6% from the secured and declared value.
All the Best!

 

[memorystation]

I think if it is an antique piece (100 years or older), it should be duty-free.

 

[EvaEvans]

Antique piece - duty free. New jewelry - 5.5% import duty to USA. Shipping carrier charges approx. $35 processing fee.

 

[memorystation]

Antique piece - duty free. New jewelry - 5.5% import duty to USA. Shipping carrier charge approx. $35 processing fee.

Thanks, Eva for chiming in. I think the processing fee is based on a certain percentage (about 0.34%) of the invoice value. I have recently purchased an antique jewelry from overseas and I have paid that accordingly.

 

[EvaEvans]

I think the processing fee is based on a certain percentage (about 0.34%) of the invoice value.

The shipping company's fee is fixed, it does not depends of the amount of the imported goods. This fee is for preparing of the customs documents.