Shipping overseas. Don't want to be scammed

Over Kill, you are dealing with a complete stranger in another country and he is asking you to lie on a legal document. When he gets the knife and says it never arrived, will you be surprised he lies to you?

Way too good a chance this is an unreliable person. Way too good a chance you can sell a Busse any time you want for a decent price to a person with better credentials. We even have Russians on this forum who are completely transparent and reliable in their dealings with us.

Run away from this unknown.
 
I dont see how listing a Busse as a "camping tool" is lying? thats what it is...nothing more. I've had custom smiths in the US put a lower value as well because the gov here likes to rape you in duties, they are also declared are "artistic metalwork".

The only air of caution I can say is that people are paying for items with paypal then reversing it once they get the item.
 
People are also sending PayPal "gift" and then finding out PayPal quite properly does not support you when anything goes wrong.

You can describe the knife however you please. Customs will know what it is when they open the box. But do not lie on the value, as people have said, the amount you declare and the amount you insure better be the same.
 
Drossel said:
-false value: not good but nearly impossible to proof its wrong
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TRUST ME, you are 100% incorrect on that, as least where US law enforcement is concerned. Customs and Border Protection and/or Immigration and Customs Enforcement can and will determine fair market value for suspect imports and exports; about 30 seconds of internet research and they will probably end up on this very forum looking at sale values. Falsifying a US customs form is a HUGE NO-NO, and there is a reason CBP officer’s wear a sidearm and handcuffs. Also, most nations friendly to the US have reciprocal customs information sharing and referrals; even if this isn’t caught in the US the country of destination can make a referral to US CBP.

As far as overseas shipping, I sold a military bayonet to a UK collector about 5 years ago. He asked me to falsify the customs paperwork and I said no. UK customs seized the bayonet because they said it violated their weapons laws and I was out the blade and the $500 that the buyer got back from payscam. That was my last shipment outside the US; I just don’t see the need to risk losing that much money when there are plenty of buyers in the US.
 
otto said:
I sent a knife to the Ukraine last year. It took 2 months to get there. I would not ship w/out ins. as the buyer can file a claim against you with PP.

I have shipped overseas many times and no problems so far, I was sweating the Ukraine deal and will not ship to eastern Europe again.

Good Luck
O
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Now dont go lumping all of Eastern Europe all together.. And have you ever shipped to someone in Canada?? I got a package to Singapore faster than to Quebec!!

You ship who to whom you wish - But I consider sending things to Poland and other members of New Europe a pleasure. I have come to know several excellent people from all over through such dealings.... (heck I might even put myself into a box and ship it to Poland!! - Treehearder Im a coming!!)

Of course for countries like Russia and Italy you are on your own and lets not even start talking about ...The Dutch!!!:eek:
(hat tip to Austin Powers stick...)........:D:D:D
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I'll give a thumbs up to Australia. Never a problem and the last knife that went there was delivered 4 days after dropping it off at my local PO.
 
Overseas shipping is no problem, you can send Priority Mail or Express Mail with insurance, and very fast delivery. Russia can be a big problem. I had a transaction there, it took months for the item to get there, and customs wanted a hefty sum from the guy in tax. The guy wanted me to state the value was much lower, which I would not do. I would never deal with Russia. There is no problem stating that you are sending a "camping tool" to other countries, overseas, I don't think. Its common sense to realize that if you put knife, or fixed blade knife on the form, you are taking a big chance it will be stolen. I would say if you ship to Russia, there is a 50% chance it won't get there, you could flip a coin.
 
I put in my sales threads that I won't falsify custom form prices because it is illegal.

You don't want to be the guy who finds this out the hard way. It is not worth the risk so that some one else can save some money on customs fees.

I had a knife that I listed as sold (before I had the disclaimer in the sales thread). The buyer asked me to do it, and I said no. He was a very stand up guy on here. Tons and Tons of great feed back. But I was not willing to risk it. (he even tried to give me extra money back after I canceled the deal just for the hassle of re-listing it). I would do business with him again, but still won't miss state value on the customs forms.

I just sent one to Australia a while ago, and was told not to worry about shipping fully insured, because it would cost significantly more. I still did ship it fully insured, because I figured I would rather loose the extra 20 bucks than have some thing happen. (that buyer actually paypal'ed the extra shipping to me, even though I did not ask him to). He did not, however ask me to miss state the value. He told me to declare it at full value to avoid any problems.

Basically, it is not worth the risk, either for loss, or legalities.
 
I would be wary of a seller who misrepresents anything on Customs forms. I have no problem with listing the Full value and calling it a knife.....it is not illegal to import fixed single edged knives here ( Australia ) and there are no duties to pay if it is less than $1000 ( I believe ).
Follow the rules and everything is OK and no one gets hurt !
Just my 2 cents...and I reckon USPS express rocks - but I have to pay for it...
 
magoo48 said:
I would be wary of a seller who misrepresents anything on Customs forms. I have no problem with listing the Full value and calling it a knife.....it is not illegal to import fixed single edged knives here ( Australia ) and there are no duties to pay if it is less than $1000 ( I believe ).
Follow the rules and everything is OK and no one gets hurt !
Just my 2 cents...and I reckon USPS express rocks - but I have to pay for it...
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Australia doesn't exactly play by the rules though, last time I came through customs they tried to seize my snody BM 210...even asked me which "gang" I was affiliated with, just because somethings the law doesn't mean customs will follow it. I always have my knives declared as camping tools or carving equipment.
 
I'm from Romania (EU) , East Europe and I bought some knifes from USA from people here on BF or directly from Scrapyard or Busse . It takes 6-7 days to arrive , my last one an NMSFNO took 20 day but with hollydays and big air trafic problems in West Europe .
It is not illegal in Romania to own ,buy or sell knifes and don't remember what was written on packeges , I there them appart instantly .Don't know about laws in Russia but as long you get payd I don't understeand what could go wrong for you .
 
Just wanted to note that we here in the USA also pay for importing goods... A week after my Lionsteel SR-1 folders arrived, I received a bill from FedEx for almost $40 USD in import fees in addition to the shipping cost from Italy that I had already paid. While it is not nearly as bad as some nations' taxes/fees, we are not immune from this either.
 
The Busse LCABS kosted me about 450 dollars shipped and taxed from Busse. Prize was 300. About 100 dollars in taxes. Therefore I only/try to buy from those who are willing to ship as camptool and gift with low price. If the knife don't reach me it's my problem. But that have never happend. I pay with paypal and take all the risk. You sellers worry to much. :yawn:
 
gomle said:
You sellers worry to much. :yawn:
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I think you are missing the point....sellers worry because they want to be cautious. If you were selling a knife to another forumite who lives overseas, you would also be worried that he/she would not receive the good or scammed you.....you would also play it safe and try to take precautions or be more cautious. Just my 2 cents
 
Gomle you are right , "you sellers worry to much " as long as you get your money everything is good the rest is not your problem anymore .
 
It is easy for someone over seas to say that sellers in the U.S. Worry too much. For one you are usually always the buyer and do not fully understand the process and headache involved in sending a knife across seas and customs.
Second just because someone "pays" for the item does not mean they payed, it is way to easy for someone with an unconfirmed pay pal account to dispute that a knife ever arrived unless shipping express and it is even easier to do a chargeback. You can go on any forum site there is for selling any good not just knives and you will hear the same stories over and over. We here in the U.S. wish it was as easy as putting an item in a pre paid box and shipping it away with full confidence that it will make it's destination but unfortunately it's not.
 
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hey

just from the other side, I have asked most sellers to put a lower value on the form, but paid extra for tracking to make sure it gets here. We pay taxes on the money earned, in no way should anyone be double taxed or even triple taxed (handling, customs, sales tax) for stuff.

Anyway, I would make sure the person has a verified address.

oh and if you have a Gladius please sell it to me instead :)

ug
 
The buyer in Russia is asking you to put camping tool to avoid any issues at customs or possibly having it stolen. If someone at the post office in Russia sees knife, it will probably be stolen. I would request the same on my shipment if I lived overseas.
 
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