International Shipping

[Pittman75]

Hey guys,

Been a long time since my last post here. A few questions about shipping a guitar. I've sold my luke, looking to get a different Musicman soon. The buyer lives in france, however, and I'll be shipping to france. Anyone here ever ship to france? What sort of things do I look out for? Does the purchaser have to pay taxes/duties, or am I going to get a call in 10 days that the guitar is held up at customs. What kind of things do I need to be careful of?

 

[leftyguitarblue]

Hey guys,

Been a long time since my last post here. A few questions about shipping a guitar. I've sold my luke, looking to get a different Musicman soon. The buyer lives in france, however, and I'll be shipping to france. Anyone here ever ship to france? What sort of things do I look out for? Does the purchaser have to pay taxes/duties, or am I going to get a call in 10 days that the guitar is held up at customs. What kind of things do I need to be careful of?

Hi Pittman, long time no see. Welcome back.
I haven't sold to France, but I have sold to Canada, Australia, and Ireland in the past and I haven't run into any problems. I would also imagine that the customs fees would be paid by the buyer of that country, not you.
This week I shipped to Canada again and the guitar has a "Clearance Delay" but I met my obligation of 2 day delivery that the buyer paid for, so I will see where that goes.

 

[MrMusashi]

my tips would be: pack it well, get insurance and declare the value you sold it for.

packing well: ive had better results when the instruments are shipped in the case with the original cardboard box around it. to me it seems that tight padding is a must, or else it will wobble around in there.
do check what the freight company thinks is necessary though. even if ive had luck with just one layer of cardboard they might not think its enough and might refuse to pay out insurance as a result of that...

declare value: you could put a lower value on the declaration but this is illegal and might lead to trouble.
how would you reply if the customs office asked you for a bank statement (or credit card.. or paypal receipt) and you cant provide one for the sum you declared it for??
not good, and ill tell ya: the customs officers does this for a living and are perfectly capable of finding prices for gear...

as for taxes and vat the receiver will have to pay these. do however specify that those are his responsability!
some people might be thicker than a mahogany toneblock

hth

MrM