Customs duties for importing from China

First time to try importing a product from China. Shipping was expensive so I held off. But then, I got to reading about customs duties.

I tried looking at the 2900 page book IRO Customs duties importing into the US and was completely lost.

Here is an example, that I'd like some input on: wanted to import some sunglasses and mp4's.

How are the duties calculated? Do they apply to all imports? ie. If the package weighs less than a certain amount?

I'm confused and scared spitless. Just getting started and don't want to get zapped on a customs charge that could essentially leave us in a loss per item.

Any input?

Thanks, Gwen :shock:

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First time to try importing a product from China...Shipping was astromical...so I held off. But I then got to reading about customs duties....

I tried looking at the 2900 page book iro customs duties importing into the US and was completely lost.

Here is an example, that I'd like some imput on: wanted to import some sunglasses and mp4's.

How are the duties calculated? Do they apply to all imports? I.E...if the package weighs less than a certain amount??

Confuzed...scared spitless...just getting started and don't want to get zapped on a customs charge that could essentially leave us in a loss per item.

Any imput?

Thanks, Gwen :shock:

Why are you importing from China??

Plain and simple...prices. The prices for the items are significantly less than what I can get them for here. However, the risk does not seem worth the reward at this point...

I get quite a few unbranded products from china suppliers. But I've never had to pay any customs fees/duties..

I also know that none of my associates that import from china have never had to pay any fees...I think it's the way that they package every order in small packages and the shipping companies that they use or something. It's really surprising though....

Too, keep in mind that if you are trying to buy branded goods from china, that most often they will be fake and even if they are not those types of goods do often get stopped and confiscated by customs.....

Is it illegal to sell fake goods from China if you classify that the goods are not authenic on Ebay

^interesting that no one replied to this. but the answer to the question is YES. Although buyers will certainly appreciate your honesty, it is against ebay policy and against the law, even if you say that items are not authentic. As soon as a VERO or ebay employee or narc sees your listing, they will remove it and possibly suspend your listing. i am not sure about the rules right now about describing your item, they used to let you call it 'ipod-like- or ipod-style', i dont think that is allowed anymore, ..all i know is it is illegal to import fakes, and it is illegal to import authentic brand name products(unless you have permission from the copyright owner and have the correct paperwork,etc..)..in some cases you can import generic products that resemble brand name products as long as there is no imprint or logo of the trademark anywhere on the product, or does not exactly replicate the product,etc... customs checks 1 out of every 100 packages that come in to the USA, if they do not like what they see, they will confiscate the goods, and there is a high probability you will be prosecuted, if not at least fined or jailed. I actually know of several cases involving different catagories of products( consumer electronics, clothes, software, etc..) where ebay sellers got in huge trouble. a lot of times, they will wait for awhile, and let you continue selling for awhile, so you can feel lulled into a false sense of security, and then, when youve sold a bit for say a year, bam, youre fined a whole bunch of cash, youre jailed, it aint pretty, so be careful out there.... happy importing! :)

I was a little sarcastic about why are you buying from China. There are some good ones but it so tricky that your better off going to Asia yourself.

And yes eBay is killing sellers who are selling bad stuff. You better have your receipts and prepare to prove it to Paypal and eBay because if you sell to much they will pull the items and suspend you if you keep doing it without verification.

i've heard through the grapevine that Jan and Feb are the worst months to try and sell vero stuff.