DebitNM

I want to send a box of clothes ahead to France. I will be there for 6 weeks and for a variety of reasons, cannot carry them with me. {Other stops before, different climate, carry on only} I do not need them in France until the second week of October, so I have some time to ship.

Obviously, I do not want to have to pay duty or VAT on the box.

My research has shown a variety of methods with some discrepancies.
USPS vs.FedEx, UPS etc
1st Class vs. Priority International
Mark as gift vs.mark as used
low valuation = under 45 euros

I am sure that someone[s] here has done this successfully in the past.

Input please?

swandav2000

Hi DebitNM,

I've done this, to Germany. When I moved here, I shipped over 4 big boxes of clothes.

I marked them all as "used clothing."

I had to go to the customs office, though, open the boxes, and prove that they were actually full of used clothing.

Good luck with this!

s

DebitNM

Thanks s!

Robert2533

It can be a pain. We mail things back every year, mostly from France because their system works betten the Spains. But ff sending a box of clothes to Spain, you have to pay a tax on the value of the clothes. I don't think it's the same with France. You should be able to send the clothes to your hotel.

There are companies that ship luggage to your destination so that you don't have to lug it around yourself. We had friends send several boxes of their children's toys and clothing to a villa they had rented in Provence without any problems. Search Google for "sending luggage to France" and several services will pop up.

Christina

I'd recommend sending via a shipping company, not the post office as you could lose track of them in France. It seems the French post office sometimes can't keep track of things IME.

YOu hve to declare the value in USD (assuming you are sending frm the US), which will be converted to euro by the French authorities, so make sure you value it low enough to accommodate possible changes in exchange rates. And if you insure it for more than the shipper's default, you risk it not passing the test as that is a tip off that it is worth more.

You couldn't send a lot and have it be worth less than 45 euro, which isn't much for clothing, even used. I'd be very leery of trying to violate the rules by sending personal effects and marking them gifts, as the duties and rules are different. It would be doing something illegal, basically. Don't send electronics. And these must be things you've owned at least 6 months, not things you've just bought. If it's quite obviously used old clothing of no special high value, should pass customs inspection. The customs form must be filled out describing the contents and how long you've owned it, as well as value. You can list used value, of course (ie, 5 yr old pair of jeans, $5).

MmePerdu

I'm sure you have your reasons, but it seems to me it might be much simpler to devise a wardrobe that would work with additions and subtractions for changing climate and a slightly larger bag if necessary, and consider checking it. No one will think less of you.

I've traveled around the world and experienced vastly different weather along the way, from tropical Asia to winter in Europe with only the purchase of a jacket & scarf in Italy. It isn't that difficult for an experienced traveler to do.

nytraveler

Sorry - but I would not do this. There are just too many possibilities for what you need going astray.

If you do - yes, mark it personal -used clothing. But then you can't insure for the full price - or customs won;t let it through.

Instead just check a bag - much simpler and cheaper.

kerouac

I always mark "no value" on such boxes and have never had a problem. After all, they are used clothes!

DebitNM

We are going to southern Africa [4 countries, 5 locations in Sept [end of winter] for 3 weeks and then to Lyon Fr and then to Provence and then to Paris, coming back to US in mid November.

I need clothes for safaris, city wear, fall and winter weather.

I don't want to drag around an extra suitcase. As it is, we will have to check carry-ons in Jo'burg while on safari.

LOL, should have known that just saying I had my reasons wouldn't cut it here.

I am a very experienced traveler and travel only with carry-on for trips as long as 3 months last year, over 3 seasons.

I was just looking for tips on shipping. Thanks for the info on how to do this.

HunyBadger

Although I've not done this myself, I've heard good things about LugLess (http://www.lugless.com/). LuggageForward.com and SendMyBag.com also have this service.

None of them are cheap but thats probably the tradeoff.

Good luck! I've love to hear how it goes if you choose this route.

pariswat

Slightly off topic, since it goes about gifts from China to Belgium, but Belgium shares the same original code (code Napoleon, mind you...).

So I got a gift from China (addresed to my office) and a little bit afterwards the bookkeeper got to pay the VAT/whatever duties on the gift.

(The gift went into a tombola..).

MmePerdu

I've thought differing perspectives were a valuable commodity on forums. Now I know. Apologies.

DebitNM

Different perspectives are always welcome, so no apology necessary.

But when someone clearly states a particular fact [do not want to have extra bag] it should be heeded. Simple courtesy; nothing more, nothing less.

MmePerdu

Consider me told. A good Sunday morning slap-down.

Robert2533

If you're going to be in France for 6 weeks and then head to South Africa, why not just buy what you need as you go along?

kerouac

I once started a holiday in Seoul and Tokyo in January and then continued on to Sydney and Melbourne. How I hated dragging that winter coat with me to Australia!

bvlenci

Customs is one thing, VAT is another. Labeling the box "no value" may work, but then you can't insure it at all. And it may work for one but not the other.

In my experience, shipping a package from the US incurs a "customs handling" charge payable on delivery, which is often more than the value of the item. I've had gifts sent to mefor which I had to pay outrageous fees. These are levied by the shipping company, and at one time (maybe still) the US postal service outsourced overseas package shipping to private companies who tacked on these fees.

A similar thing happened to a relative of ours, who went to Paris. She forgot her camera and asked her mother to ship it to her. The fee was more than the moderately expensive camera was worth, so she refused delivery and bought a new one.

DebitNM

bvlenci . that is my exact concern.

Africa is our first stop.

Several people told me to take an extra bag. I was not talking about a specific poster.

bvlenci

I don't know how you can be sure that you won't incur heavy fees. I have sometimes got things that I thought would have customs and VAT charges, but they didn't. On the other hand, I've definitely had cases, more than once, where the fees were truly outrageous.

I now tell all my friends and relatives in the US to send anything they want to mail to me in an envelope. Even a really big envelope gets handled by the postal service, not a private company. That won't help you, though.

Do you know anyone who's going to France around the same time and would be willing to leave a bag at your hotel?

DebitNM

Only hotel in France is at the end in Paris, which is too late.