Sending a panel

[milo]

Hi Guys.

My swap partner from the states has sent his panel but at the moment it is sitting in the sorting office.
I was sent a delivery card requesting I pay nearly £51 ( approx $100 )customs charge.
I phoned the post office to ask why it was so much and was told that if it was a gift from a company anything above £18 was to be charged with a customs tax, If sent by a private person then about £36 in value could be sent before tax. As I was unaware of this when I made the ticket out to put on my panel, I presume my swappy will have the same problem.
Thinking they wanted to know for insurance I estimated how much it would cost to produce. Knowing what I know now, I will in future put a value of less than £15 to any swap panels.
Were any of you here aware of this charge from previous swaps?

Ian ( Milo )

[Wayne]

Geez- I always send my panels as "Painted gift", and tick the gift box..never had any trouble either end
.

[Sal Cabrera]

Im' Sorry to hear about that Ian.
I wiil keep in mind for the next time.

Sal Cabrera

[dave parr]

We'll put up a permanent post for discussions about the shipping problems and suggestions. Perhaps we'll call it "Shipping Guidelines." I made the mistake a few years ago of shipping a panel to Canada with the insurance value too high. The fellow had to pay heavy duties to pick it up. I felt terrible, but it was too late. I thought there was a great deal of discussion about this problem and the solutions in the early going here in the original post about the Panel Jam. http://www.signoholics.com/s_forum/showthread.php?t=118
But after looking through it, I don't see anything. Basically, use a size you know can be shipped easily, check with the shipper for the standard box sizes. If, as Wayne posted, it is marked as a painted gift, and the value is $25.00 or below, the receiver shouldn't have to pay to receive the panel. All countries don't require duties or customs taxes to be paid. We will try to make this upcoming post as complete as possible. If we can get input from people from various parts of the world, to post what they know of their own countries, to that new thread, it would be helpful.