? About Shipping a Big Ticket LP Overseas

You guys are still here?!
Well, Happy New Year!

I need to send an LP from MD to Spain. It was a transaction made thru a fan site and in the low four figures (if I do say so myself...). Anyway the buyer wants me to declare the value on the customs form at $20. Since I've been out of the loop for some time now my question is can I protect myself with insurance without causing the buyer to take a huge customs hit? In other words do the insured amount and the declared value on the customs form have to match? Or should I not even use USPS at all?

I have about fifty bucks to play with for s/h. Thanks you guys.

Pretty impressed BTW that my What's your eBay handle thread is still stuck up there....

Thanks!
Cheers-
Norm/t5 (still....

 

Insured value must match declared value.

 

What @johnt23 said. You should also be buying insurance. I sent a $300 record out to France a few months ago and was glad I did. I bought third party insurance through u-pic.com, and while it wasn't exactly painless in the end they did pay out for the damaged package.

If the dude on the other end balks at customs/insurance value you can have him send your money through Western Union, they have offices everywhere in the world. He goes in to his local and pays cash and all fees, you go to a nearby supermarket and get cash nobody can take back. Then you can send uninsured with a $20 valuation if he wants and you still get paid no matter what.

 

He should direct his tax complaint to his own government.
Falsifying customs would leave you open to loss with no insurance. Would there be any benefit to you? For instance, coverage through Spain's taxpayer-funded health care for everyone.

 

Hey Norm, nice to see you around these parts again. Happy New Year to you too!

 

I've always wondered about U-Pic, do you mind saying a bit more about what you had to go through?

 

Back at ya Mr. Bolin.

 

If its knocking $10 of the customs declaration to get under the price to pay duty it's not a big deal, but I wouldn't risk it for a 4 figure item. There are different carriers when you can pay customs and duty upfront you might want to get a quote and let the guy know the fees.