Custom Forms Where do I find them? Sending ponies to England & Spain

[hikari_amaya]

I'm sending ponies to England AND Spain Both swaps!!! I've never shipped internationally before.

[Yurusumaji]

Customs Forms will be at the P.O. They'll be small rectangular strips of paper, kept with all the other small mailing forms. If you need help, ask an associate there which one you need.

[HawaiianRain]

You can nab a few at your local post office free of charge. Pick up a couple of each (white forms and green forms.) They should be next to each other at the counter or ask your PO where they are located.

Typically: Green is for first class
White: (larger customs form) for priority international APO/Military PO boxes.

If these are for the swaps and a 'gift' make sure to mark the 'gift' box on the customs form so your partner is not charged a fee.

[ponylady]

HawaiianRain is spot on with her advice!  I couldn't explain it any better.

[Ringlets]

Agreed ^^  
the UK especially gets very high customs fees if the box is not marked as a gift but is valued at over £18 (or that may be £15 now.. I should double check) . Anything valued at over £40 but marked as a gift will still get customs fees BTW

[goddessofpeep]

You can pick them up at the post office.  I usually like to pick up a few extra for later.


Someone already mentioned marking things as gifts.  I'd also like to add that I usually don't list the contents of the box with brand names(My Little Pony, Barbie).  I prefer to use "toy horse" or "doll".  I have heard of some countries specifically going after packages with brand names.  I think Germany had a problem with that.  Their customs was trying to stop bootleg items, and anything that was marked My Little Pony got opened.  I don't know if that's still true, but it's been my experience that generic is best when filling out customs forms.  Be honest, but you don't need to go into great detail about things.  It also makes things sound less expensive if you're trying to keep the customs fees to a minimum.   "Stuffed animal", "toy horse", "toys", etc.  are fine. 


Also be careful if you're going to send food(candy, gum, etc).  Some countries will take the box if they find out there's food in there.  I've had it happen to me.  It was back during the foot/mouth scare, and US customs was after all food products.  Again, I'm not sure if that's still the case, but it's worth checking out.  Before you send any food items, check to make sure it's ok to do so.

[hikari_amaya]

You can pick them up at the post office.  I usually like to pick up a few extra for later.


Someone already mentioned marking things as gifts.  I'd also like to add that I usually don't list the contents of the box with brand names(My Little Pony, Barbie).  I prefer to use "toy horse" or "doll".  I have heard of some countries specifically going after packages with brand names.  I think Germany had a problem with that.  Their customs was trying to stop bootleg items, and anything that was marked My Little Pony got opened.  I don't know if that's still true, but it's been my experience that generic is best when filling out customs forms.  Be honest, but you don't need to go into great detail about things.  It also makes things sound less expensive if you're trying to keep the customs fees to a minimum.   "Stuffed animal", "toy horse", "toys", etc.  are fine. 


Also be careful if you're going to send food(candy, gum, etc).  Some countries will take the box if they find out there's food in there.  I've had it happen to me.  It was back during the foot/mouth scare, and US customs was after all food products.  Again, I'm not sure if that's still the case, but it's worth checking out.  Before you send any food items, check to make sure it's ok to do so.

Thats a super good point about the food. I'll have to check I was going to send chocolates or something. I'll check my P.O. hopefully Friday for the one swap pony

[Maniah]

Keep in mind that it's summer. Mailing chocolate could get really messy if it melts.

[goddessofpeep]

Melting chocolate is a BIG problem over here during the summer.  If you do send anything that might melt, wrapping it in a plastic baggie will keep it from melting all over your box:p

[lunar_scythe]

just want to say the Customs form may be the 'new' one, not the old green one; it's a triplicate form.

if your boxes are more than a certain weight, you have to use the longer form, too, so make sure to ask a PO worker which one you need.