If this is your first time
shipping from the US to your country, you may have several questions about declaring value on your shipments. Each country is different but there are ways to save money when you’re importing your
US products. With internet shopping becoming more and more popular, there is much more information to be found on best practices for declaring value.
Simply speaking, the calculation of duties depends on the assessed value of your shipment. Each item within your shipment is given a Harmonization Code, which is how customs calculates under which dutiable goods class your items fall. Most countries allow you to import goods under a specific total package amount before you are taxed. However, countries like Brazil and India require you to pay taxes on all imported items, while countries like Australia allow 1,000 AUD worth of items in a package before taxing. These fees and taxes are not included within your shipping amount billed from MyUS.com. This is a separate cost that will be paid upon arrival to your address.
It is very important to have your merchants include a receipt or merchant invoice when shipping your items to your
US address. When your package arrives to the MyUS facilities, we are required to enter a value amount to each item that arrives. Without an invoice or receipt, we must estimate based on comparable items found on the internet. For our Premium customers, you are able to review the estimated value and provide actual amount prior to shipping. To ensure your
US products are always valued at the correct price, it is best to require the retailer to always provide an invoice with the package. Our Premium customers also have the opportunity to split shipments so that each shipment will come in under the declared value cap as designated for their country.
A few other helpful tips are to always select “US Dollar Pricing” when shopping. The
US stores will usually apply a less favorable exchange rate and may also switch you over to a country-specific site which offers less variety. Avoid pre-paying duty unless you have to do so. It is very rarely an advantage to pre-pay. There are many countries that do not assess every package that comes through customs. For example, some countries, such as Turkey, assess USPS packages less frequently than DHL or FedEx packages. If you pre-pay you may end up paying duty on 100% on your shipments but you could pay less.
Hopefully with these explanations and helpful tips, you’ll be able to navigate the
international shipping methods a bit easier and more cost-effectively.