- Joined
- Jul 18, 2016
- Messages
- 127
So, you plan on getting stuff in the mail from Friends/family, Amazon,or AliExpress from overseas? Here's some information for you to consider and be aware of when ordering items.
Friends or Family sending you stuff:
Ordering from Amazon:
Ordering from AliExpress:
My experiences with family sending stuff have been basically my mom sending us secondhand baby clothes or stuff we had left behind in the USA. When she filled out the customs paperwork, I'm quite certain she overvalued everything and customs gladly took our money. Usually if the declaration is low, then we only need to pay Pos Indonesia (i assume) for shipping from their mail facility to our house. Typically is rp3,000 to rp15,000. Usually takes 2 weeks to receive items shipped from the west coast of the USA. Not sure of other areas.
With Amazon...I had shipped out a couple books and fluoride-free toothpaste from the USA to Indonesia for my mom-in-law. I decided to toss in the receipt too. When the package arrived in Indonesia, customs took a gander and decided to heavily tax the books. I think they charged around rp300,000 or more. Quite annoying, i think it was a 100% tax or so. This was around 2010 i think.
With AliExpress I have only ordered small things and always have used the free shipping option (pos indo often asks for rp3,000). Have not had to pay any additional fees. Just takes 2-4 weeks for items to arrive but can take up to 2 months. A friend told me he purchased some items upwards of $100 but were declared less than $20 and had no issues with customs.
I must stress that I'm not telling you to lie about what you should declare on customs. I just want you to be aware so that you'll have no surprises.
Should you have any other experiences from ordering items from overseas, please share!
Friends or Family sending you stuff:
- Tell them to keep the declaration of value to under $50usd. (your stuff might be things you left behind)
- Try not to send things in big boxes. The size gathers attention.
- Try not to send several items of the same thing. This might not get attention if you pass the previous two, but if opened you might have to fight customs or pay the man.
Ordering from Amazon:
- I think this is a hit and miss sometimes. But chances are what you're ordering is over the $50 limit so your stuff will get checked out and you'll have to pay taxes.
- If you order something and have it shipped to a friend overseas and they ship it to you and they leave in the receipt, customs will take a look and tax you based on what's on the receipt.
Ordering from AliExpress:
- When you order items, shippers tend to undervalue items on customs declaration. (ex. they declare $3 instead of the $13 you paid)
- Try and make sure other people have ordered the same item in the past, you don't want to be a guinea pig and get stuck with a sub-quality product.
- It generally takes 2-4 weeks to receive items, but potentially up to 2 months. Patience, my friend.
My experiences with family sending stuff have been basically my mom sending us secondhand baby clothes or stuff we had left behind in the USA. When she filled out the customs paperwork, I'm quite certain she overvalued everything and customs gladly took our money. Usually if the declaration is low, then we only need to pay Pos Indonesia (i assume) for shipping from their mail facility to our house. Typically is rp3,000 to rp15,000. Usually takes 2 weeks to receive items shipped from the west coast of the USA. Not sure of other areas.
With Amazon...I had shipped out a couple books and fluoride-free toothpaste from the USA to Indonesia for my mom-in-law. I decided to toss in the receipt too. When the package arrived in Indonesia, customs took a gander and decided to heavily tax the books. I think they charged around rp300,000 or more. Quite annoying, i think it was a 100% tax or so. This was around 2010 i think.
With AliExpress I have only ordered small things and always have used the free shipping option (pos indo often asks for rp3,000). Have not had to pay any additional fees. Just takes 2-4 weeks for items to arrive but can take up to 2 months. A friend told me he purchased some items upwards of $100 but were declared less than $20 and had no issues with customs.
I must stress that I'm not telling you to lie about what you should declare on customs. I just want you to be aware so that you'll have no surprises.
Should you have any other experiences from ordering items from overseas, please share!