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Invoice for customs charges?


Joon

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Is it possible to get an invoice supporting the custom charges on shipments from the US?  (Specifically at mailboxes in San Antonio)  Sometimes the custom charges are more than the item itself.  They never provide me with any documentation to support the charges. Thanks for your help in advance.

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3 hours ago, Joon said:

Is it possible to get an invoice supporting the custom charges on shipments from the US?  (Specifically at mailboxes in San Antonio)  Sometimes the custom charges are more than the item itself.  They never provide me with any documentation to support the charges. Thanks for your help in advance.

I don't do business with Mailboxes San Antonio for this very reason. I paid it once and asked for a receipt, They said they couldn't give me one/ Next time a package came in they left me a not that I owed duty. I asked how much and then to please show me the info from Aduana. They said there was no paper on this. I asked how they knew how much to charge and they couldn't/wouldn't tell me. This was on a free book some well intended folks sent me  and so was of course much more than the book. I said hell no, keep it. A couple of months later they asked if I wanted the book and just gave it to me. The only possible answer to this is any duty they collect (if that is what it is) they simply pocket. I left and took mu business a block west. Strange they won't just give you the bill and let you go pay it at the airport Aduana.

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America ship provides estimated customs duty on items... One must send a copy of the receipt with the value and the size and weight of the article... I had a replacement poster sent with no value and was charged no duty... 

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I recently purchased and item not available on Amazon.

And, I got whacked for $1065 pesos in customs and shipping fees from Mailboxes, Etc/I-shop yesterday for a $10 bottle of herbal supplement.

They explained that there was something like $13 Customs processing fee, $22 in duty (the said there was no invoice, so customs went to the company website and got the list price of $130/bottle, not the $10 I paid) and $20 in Shipping from Laredo to San Antonio Tlaycapan for a 16 oz/3 lb. bottle.

It took 12 days from the date it was shipped from Florida to arrive ($12.80 USPS from Fl to Laredo, too.)

Other shipping options appear to equally bad, but delivery could be much faster.

The company has a mental block and is stuck on USPS and has trouble thinking outside that box (unusable in Mexico) but did price out UPS which does work in Mexico and sent me the following pricing:

one bottle - 3 lbs        Priority Mail International -  54.30
                                     Express International - 71.60
 
six bottles - 12 lbs      Priority - 80.50
                                      Express - 100.90
 
UPS
 
one bottle - 3 lbs         UPS Standard - 71.81
                   
six bottles - 12 lbs       UPS Standard - 89.81

 

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1 hour ago, Aquaponicsman said:

said there was no invoice

 

Therein lies the problem. I was once shafted by an ignorant shipper that just boxed it and let it fly. There are reasons for customs declarations.

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2 hours ago, oregontochapala said:

The cool thing about Amazon is that they refund (credit your account) whenever customs duties are less than they've billed for.

Only yesterday Amazon refunded (to my USA bank account) nearly $10 USD in excess duty charges on an item shipped to my home.  First time this has happened--and I was shocked.  In a good way, but shocked.

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17 minutes ago, oregontochapala said:

No offense meant, but I fail to understand why people use that service. My mail and my packages are delivered to my door with nary a hiccup. 

You are lucky then - so far. So many of us have had the frustration of having items stopped at customs, and returned to sender. For example we had a package of a type deodarant. DHL said customs called this a liquid, and they had to return, unless we applied for an import license, which would take longer than the ten day holding period. With Estafeta U.S.A. you call them, or send the webpage of the item you wish to order, they are in Laredo. They will tell you if you can import them, and how much the duty and freight will be. If you order, often free shipping to Laredo, they charge a small customs clearance fee, then a carrier fee to bring it to iShop, for a $3US pickup fee. They keep business hours there, and always available, so you don't have to hang around all day. It can be a real hassle if they try to deliver and you are not home. For $3 it is worth it.

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30 minutes ago, oregontochapala said:

No offense meant, but I fail to understand why people use that service. My mail and my packages are delivered to my door with nary a hiccup. 

That's fine if you live somewhere that is easy to find, and your plan to be at home to receive.

For the rest of us, it's easier to ship to somewhere like iShop, and pay their 30 peso fee.

I've ordered dozens of items from Amazon, and never had a problem. The trick is to ship to their SA address, NEVER to their Laredo address.

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On 3/29/2019 at 11:21 AM, oregontochapala said:

No offense meant, but I fail to understand why people use that service. My mail and my packages are delivered to my door with nary a hiccup. 

I often have documents FedeEx'd to a real estate company owned by a friend, where I know someone will be on duty during business hours because I may not be home to receive delivery. In the instant case I used IShop this time because I was not sure the product would make it through customs and they are technically a freight forwarding company and have a relationship with customs. Now that I know the package will clear customs, I will probably use UPS for the next shipment and make sure they include and invoice inside the package, as well as in the plastic envelope on the outside of the package.

 

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America ship will tell you what the cost will be BEFORE you buy a product... Cost is based on the size, weight and value... We have items shipped to their Brownsville address (normally free from the vendor) and we use our Handy mail address as the delivery point... No charge for Handy mail customers... 

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On 3/29/2019 at 12:47 PM, CHILLIN said:

You are lucky then - so far. So many of us have had the frustration of having items stopped at customs, and returned to sender. For example we had a package of a type deodarant. DHL said customs called this a liquid, and they had to return, unless we applied for an import license, which would take longer than the ten day holding period. With Estafeta U.S.A. you call them, or send the webpage of the item you wish to order, they are in Laredo. They will tell you if you can import them, and how much the duty and freight will be. If you order, often free shipping to Laredo, they charge a small customs clearance fee, then a carrier fee to bring it to iShop, for a $3US pickup fee. They keep business hours there, and always available, so you don't have to hang around all day. It can be a real hassle if they try to deliver and you are not home. For $3 it is worth it.

You're halfway there! Contact Mariana Tejada in the Houston office of Estafeta USA. She will receive all of your items (best if you use a consolidator like US Global Mail, etc.) and have everything already packed in one box. She will weigh and inspect your shipment and give you an exact dollar quote to ship directly to your home.  Duty is included and the best part is she has never said no to even one item and the package has always been delivered intact and never any additional charge.  She sends a free truck to Laredo once a week or you can pay extra if you're in a big hurry. Everything clears Customs in Nuevo by ground which makes all the difference in the world.  We often had problems with Amazon since they ship by air and Customs at airports seem to be a total scam operation. Not so in Nuevo.  Once out of Customs your tracking number becomes live and you can see when it's "Out for Delivery" and yes, that day you will have to be home and sign. EZPZ

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I had a package once that was approximately $300 in value. I told the company not to send it to the mailboxes address (used for mail only), but they did. When I went to pick it up, they told me it was over $300 in customs and shipping. I refused the package and had the charge disputed. Fortunately for me, the charge was made with Discover and they're super pro-customer. I proved that I had done everything right and so the credit was given. God knows where the package ended up, but I have my ideas. Zipp transport does all of the customs paperwork, etc, and are very reliable. We use them whenever we can't order something direct from Amazon.com or any other company. When you CAN order from Amazon, it's so easy. They do the customs and shipping charges upfront, so you just wait for your package...which comes surprisingly quick in most cases. As others have said, they also refund any overpayment on customs.

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Whenever it is at all possible, I make Amazon my international point of purchase. I've had close to a hundred amazon shipments from the US to my home here. I never has a single customs problem. Amazon estimates the shipping, taxes and any duty in advance and that information is available instantly at time of purchase. And, as noted by oregontochapala, there is frequently a small refund from Amazon when they receive the final charges.

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