Shipping to Finland?

[Pachitastic]

I hope this is the right place to ask. It doesn't concern a trade, but I figured the people here at the Arena would have the best answer about this.

I got my friend a doll as a late Christmas present. I live in America, she lives in Finland.

I saw a post at one point about there being customs fees to ship to Italy I think, and I'm wondering if anyone has experience shipping to Finland. I don't want my friend to have to deal with customs fees or something because I mean, this is a gift!

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

[moving to TS - kaoskat]

[hilamb]

Hmm, the ponies i have bought over the years, have never got stuck in cutsoms. Altough, i havent bought with large summs.
I once bought shoes, and they were over 100$ and they got stuck. I think its kinda ''random'' what gets stuck in customs.
 Sorry i cant help any better. 

[mul-ta]

I'm a Finn with no first-hand experience meddling with the customs, so please correct me if I'm drastically wrong. However, here's what official information I could extract: since 1.1.2013, if they get stuck in the customs, imported parcels whose total value (item + S&H) is at least 22 euros (about 29$ atm) are subject to 24% VAT (10% for books). For gifts, the limit appears to be at 45 euros (60$). Also, dolls may or may not be subject to a customs fee of 4,7% of total value. I have no experience with receiving dolls, so...

Declaring the item as a gift may or may not help depending on whether the random customs official out there regards it as believable or not. However, they don't have enough resources to check every last package there is. I hear parcels from a private person to another are less likely to get stuck in the customs than ones from an enterprise. Also, small packages are more likely not to cause any commotion, but this is hearsay...

Hope this helps and good luck with your project!

[Pachitastic]

@hilamb: Oh wow. Well, this definitely isn't worth $100.

@mul-ta: The doll is only worth $20 (a deboxed MH Skelita) so I'm going to hope that declaring it as a gift will help it get through customs more easily. Because it IS a gift. Maybe sticking a Christmas card in there will help if they decide to open it, haha.

Thank you both for your input! It's a great help

[hilamb]

mul-la couldnt have said it better.

I hope the package gets smoothly to your friend.

[mul-ta]

@mul-ta: The doll is only worth $20 (a deboxed MH Skelita) so I'm going to hope that declaring it as a gift will help it get through customs more easily. Because it IS a gift. Maybe sticking a Christmas card in there will help if they decide to open it, haha.

Sounds like there shouldn't be any problem. If it is a personal gift that looks like a personal gift, they shouldn't have anything to nitpick about.

[ponylady]

I agree that you should not have any problem with customs as long as it is marked as gift.  I found this on the Finnish site for customs and duties.

Gifts received from outside the EU
A consignment coming from a private person from outside the European Community (EU) to a private
person in an EU country is free of customs duty, value added tax and excise duty if it meets each
of the following three conditions, in addition to which there are restrictions on the value and quantity
of gifts:
• the consignments are sent to the consignee by the consignor free of payment of any kind;
• the consignments are of an occasional nature;
• the consignments only contain goods intended for the personal use of the consignees or their
families: the nature or quantity of the goods must not imply any commercial intent.
One must also consider the duty-free and tax-free limits on the value of the gifts and on the quantities
of certain products.

And also this dealing with the amount you write on your customs form:

2.3 What are the limits for customs duty and import VAT?
■ Commercial consignments i.e goods you have purchased, of £15 or less are free from customs duty and import VAT.
 Note: This does not include alcohol, tobacco products, perfume or toilet waters; these items are excluded from the relief of duty and VAT at import.
 In addition, commercial consignments sent to the UK from the Channel Islands do not benefit from any relief of import VAT.
■ If you are sent a gift with a value of £40* or less, which complies with the rules shown in paragraph 2.4, it will be free from customs duty and import VAT. Gifts of alcohol, tobacco, perfumes and toilet waters are subject to the limits shown in paragraph 2.5, while gifts of perfumes and toilet waters are subject to the limits in paragraph 2.6.*Please note this limit will reduce to £36 with effect from 1 January 2013.
■ Customs duty becomes payable if the value of the goods is over £135 but duty is waived if the amount of duty calculated is less than £9.

[Pachitastic]

I'm just going to make happy faces at all of you.

Thank you so, so much for the information! You've all been a wonderful help!

I'll go to the post office with it in a couple days and get it marked as a gift~

Thank you!

<3<3