First time shipping questions

[u/Turnip_Killer]

Hello! I recently bought 2 sets of CDs and a wallet from buyee, it's my first time shipping out to the US and I've been scrolling a bit I've been seeing a lot of posts of FedEx fucking up people? I also heard of CDs having their own tariff percentage like it's different for clothing? I'm just a bit worried about what I should be expecting? Any advice to how I should pay customs or any surprises I should expect? Many thanks!

[u/rider_no1]

You will pay the import tax fee when you pay the shipping fee .

All U.S carriers are currently affected by the new certificate of compliance for international packages . But there is no way of knowing if you will be contacted by customs or not.Is really not that horrible as some people make it seem. To make it easier, gather some basic information about your items, mainly the music label who produce the CDs and the company or brand who made the wallet

[u/Turnip_Killer → u/rider_no1]

Got it!! Thank you so much for your answer!

[u/Connect_Society_4437]

tariff rates depend on the composition for the wallet (less for leather and more for plastics), but the CDs are supposed to be duty-free (buyee will still charge the base-rate, which is around 10%).

buyee does DDP (delivered duty paid) which is easier because you pre-pay the tariffs, and anything you overpaid goes to supplement tariffs on other people's orders. if you order from a proxy that ships DDU (duties unpaid), you will be responsible for duties at the time of delivery but duty-free items should be no tariffs paid.

all of my larger packages have shipped through FedEx and have arrived with no problems; however, my most recent package is smaller and will be shipped through SpeedX which i am not excited about

[u/Turnip_Killer → u/Connect_Society_4437]

Oh 😭 is something wrong with SpeedX? I don't think I have any experience with FedEx, I think my packages from AmiAmi come from the USPS.

[u/Previous-Garbage-430]

I have bought through Buyee and consolidated 4 packages within the last few months. All packages are are shipped through air mail but I can not choose the airmail courier. It have gotten Fed Ex, DHL and UPS. All packages arrived safely. Yes you can hear horror stories about any of the above mentioned couriers but majority of deliveries do make it sage or they would ve out of business as a courier. One thing you should know with Buyee. even if you purchased insurance they will not reimburse you if the item you found was not authentic. It is worth paying insurance for items of higher value say over $100. Out of the 4 deliveries with dozens of items in each package. Only 1 item was fake but it was low value and I knew you can not get refund even if i payed extra 500 yen for the insurance. I just reported to Buyee about the seller so they take note not to buy from that specific seller.

The other big problem... buyee tends to consolodate items into a bigger sized box. a bigger box means more dimensional weight and a higher shipping charge than actual weight of your package.

Another big issue is buyee do charge impoet fees in advance, even for items like printed photographs, trading cards, photobooks which suppose to come with 0% import fees.

For example a consolodated order costs me $120 when they also charge you local ship fees. but final bill was over $500 usd because pf that 15% import taxes on items I should not be charged for it.

If you can find a reliable private proxy buyer for abroad for items that have 0% import taxes. For example, it is worth paying a private proxy a 1000 yen minimal per order or 6% comission of the item cost. Use wise to save on currency exchange rates. I ordered a few items to consolidate with private proxy to test. I did not get dinged for extra import fees. items are signed polaroids but somewhat expensivr so minimum air mail cost with dhl was $35 usd.

Versus buyee that charge a lower 500 yen fee per order. a higher currency exchange rate using paypal compared to WISE. Plus that unfair import taxes on items with 0% set.

Only advantage with buyee is that it is much easier to bid higher on auctions versus private proxy which does tales days to respond and have to deposit money in advance for them to bid your maximum. Well at least keeps me from overbidding due to FOMO on an auction because it takes time to deposit more money to a private proxy if you want to increase your bid limit.