Customs issues for a Wested Indy Jacket??

[Victor]

no one ever sent me anything from customs. maybe they will eventually

 

[Doctor Strange]

I got a jacket from Wested a couple of years ago and never heard a peep out of Customs. (But I seem to recall reading over at COW that some folks do get hit for paying an import duty - it seems to be distressingly random for a governmental function.)

 

[BellyTank]

I think there's a customs value ceiling of a round $200 or $250 or something, someone must know.... I have friends in the US that have never paid import tax and some who get burned every time- it seems some States/Customs agencies enforce it and others don't but it is also probably to do with courier versus postal system too- Couriers have their own customs clearing.

BT.

 

[Mycroft]

I think there's a customs value ceiling of a round $200 or $250 or something, someone must know.... I have friends in the US that have never paid import tax and some who get burned every time- it seems some States/Customs agencies enforce it and others don't but it is also probably to do with courier versus postal system too- Couriers have their own customs clearing.

BT.

I agree with you BT, but it could also be the season(not the holiday one), or an undeclared purchise by the Wested. Who knows. Consider yourself lucky, I guess.

 

[tehegemon]

paid customs duty via credit card at my local USPO

How do you guys handle customs issues/duties, etc...Do you have to pay, how do you pay, etc? Help

Last month I purchased a couple coats and jackets from Aero Leather Clothing in Galashiels, Scotland, which cleared customs near JFK Int'l Airport in New York. Aero sent my package express mail via parcelforce (as does Wested, I believe), which I collected in person at my local post office. At that time I paid 6.5% of my order total to cover customs duty, plus an additional fixed fee of $4.50 to the USPS to process this paperwork. My post office accepted payment via credit card.

On occasion I purchase something from overseas, and when it has arrived via FedEx, I always end up receiving a bill from FedEx requesting payment for customs duty plus their brokerage fee (a percentage of the customs duty). The forms of payment FedEx accepted were personal check, bank check, or money order. I don't know if this policy remains in effect or has since changed.

A couple of the coats didn't work out so I returned them for something else. On the package I noted in large bold print: "return for exchange ~ no duties payable". When the replacement coat finally arrives, I'm keeping my fingers crossed that customs won't hit me up for customs I already paid, and only charge me for the amount above the value of my return.

By the way - hello! I'm new here, have thoroughly enjoyed browsing through various threads, and have also gained some terrific insights about these wonderful (and highly addictive) leather jackets.

 

[BD Jones]

Ok, here is the skinny. In the past, Wested sent their jackets via Airborne Express. All of them got sent through the same port, Williamsburg, DE. For a while, most jackets slipped through customs with out a charge. However, this eventually began to change. People received their jackets then a few weeks latter, a bill from some company they had never heard of. The bill was always around the $26-27 range and from a company called PBB Global. Nobody knew what was going on. It took some investigating to figure out that this company was contracted by Airborne Express (Wested had no hand in this) to help clear overseas packages through customs. They paid the duty and sent the package on its way, but for rather hefty percentage, (I believe it was 25%). Most just paid the charges, and some tried to fight the charges and lost. Some still got lucky and never saw a bill (though there is not explanation as to why). Now Airborne Express has become DHL, but Wested no longer uses them. Instead they us a British company called Paecelforce who hands the package over to the country of origin’s postal service once it is in that country. Now that Wested is using Parcelforce/USPS there will be a customs charge at you local post office. You will probably have to go to pick it up, so be prepared to pay around $25-30 depending on the cost of the item (a Wested jacket should be about $26). The only way to get around receiving something from overseas without paying a customs charge is to go through an auction, have it sent as a gift, or if it you receiving the item back after an exchange or repair.

 

[Havana]

Got mine in January and had to pay about $25 at the post office before they would give me my jacket. This came as an unpleasant surprise to me but the jacket's certainly worth the extra expense.

 

[Marcarn]

Hello all,

I'm new here, but thought I'd chime in as I received a Wested jacket about a month ago. In my case, I paid them through Paypal and my jacket was shipped via Parcelforce. There was no extra charge on delivery.

I may be ordering another one shortly, so I'll see if my "luck" holds out.