How often are you hit by customs?

OK, I've heard stories from some people saying that sometimes they don't need to pay customs charges. I am interested to know how often those nasty customs check your goods. I've heard that customs just do random stop and checks. Is this true? I am particularly interested in the opinions of people from the UK. I may have heard this wrong, but I'm not sure.

i don't know about the UK but in the US customs does random checks of goods coming in from other countries. i have had a shipment seized so i said almost never.

Hi there, New Zealand and most other countries customs do random checks, they tend (although they dont admit it) to choose the larger scale items, If you were to buy in bulk I highly recomend they be sent in small shipments, Thanks.
p.s I have had items seized by customs. Only once but was my own fault as I did not check properly to see if they were authentic.

I have had shipments worth over thousands of dollars shipped and I was never charge by customs in Australia.

i've only been hit by customs once. That was for some nikes i ordered and was one of my very first orders. Since then, nothing

Nothing yet... I have made several orders from china to the U.S. and haven't had any problems with customs.

However I haven't been purchasing anything that customs could pass as not authentic. I've been purchasing those mp4 players that look like ipods but I make sure they don't have ipod logo's on them, thats what customs will catch you on.

My orders have varied from $100.00 to $600.00 and haven't had any customs fees. :wink:

Yes, I would have to say it is not often you will get caught out by customs but if you are caught with a large shipment of goods you will then be charged for purchasing with the content to sell. This fine varies and can go up a high amount, Beware!... If you dont want to get caught then you need to pay GST on all goods, pay customs fees etc just to avoid fines (unless of course you have a permit) Thanks

yeah never do nikes because thats what customs took from me as well

Yes... I agree with the above^... Thay also look out for big name brands such as ralph lauren etc as well. customs are employed (as such) by these companies to stop fake goods of their nature reaching people.
Thanks guys.

Anyone know what the limit is on a order before customs will charge you for a shipment from china? I'm thinking about ordering a large shipment valued at $2,000 and not sure if I should devide it into smaller orders to try and clear customs without getting any fees.

Hi there, It may be worth trying to put in seperate parcels (depending on the extra cost of shipping)... I would put in 2 seperate parcels. Sorry I cant be more of assistance!

Lets say I have a customers brokers number on hand just in case. I often buy bulk and get checked. The larger the packagae the higher the odds of it getting stopped at customs. I have also had products sit there for weeks.