C N G: Imported Coins Will Be Subjected To Tariffs

My "greeting card" is out for delivery today.

My favorite seller of Asian Market show sample slabs stopped sending to the US about two months ago. All his auctions said "No US ship". He pulled that after August 29th, and I won several that had rolled over and over and over during the ban period. Yeah, without my purchases, it's apparently not a thin but invisible market.

Shipping & Handling was about double what it had been.

However, they shipped on September 12th from Hong Kong as a "greeting card" (according to the shipper) with a USPS tracking number and are out for delivery today, the 15th. It will be interesting to see what the customs label (if there is one) looks like.

All I can figure is that the shipping company put a bunch of "greeting cards" in a box and air-shipped it to a partner in NJ, imported a box of "greeting cards", paying the single fee. The partner then injected the "greeting cards" in their individual envelopes into USPS for delivery.

The tracking looks perfectly normal (some blank space, repetitive, and PII redacted)

Sat, Sep 13 12:42am Arrived at USPS Regional Facility PHILADELPHIA PA DISTRIBUTION CENTER, 19116
Thu, Sep 11 3:50am PICK UP BY SHIP PTNR USPS AWAITS ITEM
Thu, Sep 11 1:44am PRE-SHIPMENT INFO SENT USPS AWAITS ITEM
Wed, Sep 10 7:38pm SHIPPING LBL CREATED USPS AWAITS ITEM
Thu, Sep 11 2:53am Tracking number provided

Greeting Cards . That is out and out Customs fraud and should never be
tolerated. Quite frankly and very bluntly I hope they get caught .
It is hard enough right now trying to play by the new US customs rules
without having to compete with that garbage!

So to update my story on a law abiding seller...
my phone dinged at 7 this morning (the expected delivery date) with a text from DHL:
"Import duty payment required for delivery of DHL Express (#). Returned in 5 days if not paid. Pay here: (URL)."

I paid it (thinking the amount was high), and then was able to dig into the detail (it did not look like I was offered these details until I paid).

What you should know:
- the tariff (10% in this case) was assessed on the total invoice amount, not just the cost of the coins. So in addition to paying the expected tariff on the merchandise, I also had the pleasure of paying a tariff on the DHL delivery fee.
- DHL charged an additional $17 as a processing fee. Don't know if that's a flat rate or sliding scale fee

So, in part because it was not a huge purchase, the "tariff era excess costs" as a percentage of the hammer cost of the coins came out like this:
- tariff on merchandise 12% (because it was assessed on the combined hammer + 20% commission)
- excess shipping costs by courier 20% (on a larger order this would be lower)
- tariff on excess shipping costs 2% (on a larger order this would be lower)
- DHL duty processing fee 6%.

Pretty ugly.

A simpler way to look at it ...
A year ago the costs on top of the hammer price for this order would have been 26% (auction fee, a small local tax and shipping).

This time they were 70%.

Expensive experiment.

Thanks for sharing your info, tdz!

I have seen very little of interest to me in European auctions this year, but it helps to know what to expect for total costs when I inevitably make my first post-tariff purchase.

I hope that's true. Otherwise I need to find a way to increase my salary by 44%

So, as a test, I ordered a coin that originates in France. Paid $13.20 USD out the door (shipping from seller included in that price)
It is going through the USPS system, and is currently 'out for delivery' today - so far no mention of any extra fees... I hope it just simply lands in my mailbox..
this is the tracking history so far: (read from bottom)
Fri, Sep 26 5:12am
Arrived at Post Office PHOENIX, AZ 85029

Thu, Sep 25 5:52am
Arrived at USPS Regional Facility PHOENIX AZ DISTRIBUTION CENTER, 85026

Sat, Sep 20 11:22pm
Les formalites d'importation sont en cours sur votre envoi.

Fri, Sep 19 11:23pm
Votre envoi poursuit son acheminement sur son territoire de destination.

Fri, Sep 19 11:23pm
Les formalites d'importation sont en cours sur votre envoi.

Fri, Sep 19 9:23pm
Inbound Into Customs

Fri, Sep 19 9:23pm
Processed Through USPS Facility ISC NEW YORK NY(USPS)

Wed, Sep 17 7:28pm
Votre envoi est prêt à partir de son territoire d'expedition. Il va être remis au transporteur pour son acheminement.

Wed, Sep 17 5:28pm
Processed Through Facility STP GONESSE PRESSE PRIO

Wed, Sep 17 5:28pm
Origin Post is Preparing Shipment

Wed, Sep 17 5:28pm
Inbound Into Customs

Wed, Sep 17 4:28pm
Processed Through Facility ROISSY COURRIER INTERNATIONAL

Wed, Sep 17 3:28pm
Acceptance

Wed, Sep 17 1:42pm
Votre envoi est en cours de transport vers son site de livraison.

Tue, Sep 16 9:09pm
Arrived at Facility

Tue, Sep 16 9:09pm
Processed through Facility LYON ST PRIEST CT CD

Tue, Sep 16 9:09pm
Origin Post is Preparing Shipment

Tue, Sep 16 9:08pm
Votre envoi a ete remis à La Poste.

Tue, Sep 16 8:09pm
Processed Through Facility

Tue, Sep 16 1:05am
Tracking number provided

Item arrived - no Tariffs placed upon it!