In my experience, the best way to avoid these charges, is to request
shipment via regular mail. In that case, it's always something of a judgment
call as to which means is more reliable for actually receiving the shipment
intact, but no system is perfect; and postal systems are government
agencies, which may be what makes the difference.
On the bright side, at least the fee is only $30. (FedEx's charge is also in
that ballpark.) In the past I've gotten phone calls from O'Hare Airport to
notify me that a package needed to be cleared through Customs -- and that
getting the item from O'Hare to the libary would subsequently be my problem.
Once, when I'd been in my position for less than a month, it was a small
rare book sent by an individual; once, several years later, it was a large
crate of material which had to be couriered by truck. In both cases, the
materials in question were quite rare. I've never had this happen with a
current materials shipment.
And -- the fees in question are strictly Clearing fees. There is never any
Duty to pay on library materials.
Cheers!
Mary
Mary O'Dea
Head of Acquisitions
The Newberry Library
60 W Walton
Chicago IL 60610
address off-list: odeam_at_newberry.org
tel: 312-255-3559
On Tue, Sep 22, 2009 at 8:13 AM, <acqnet-l_at_lists.ibiblio.org> wrote:
> I had this happen once with a Canadian source I’ve used about 10 times.
> I assumed it was a shipping charge so I called the vendor. They recognized
> it as a customs fee and said that their website had a disclaimer that any
> customs fees were the responsibility of the buyer.
>
>
>
> Based on no particular evidence I’ve assumed that customs stops a random
> box, or a random truck, for further inspection. They pass the cost on to
> the shipper who passes it on to the destination with an additional annoyance
> fee.
>
>
>
> Since other orders before & since made it to us without any additional fee,
> I’ve just accepted it as a cost of doing business with Canada that will
> average out to a slight price increase over time.
>
>
>
> *George Flexman*
>
> *Manager, Order Service Section*
>
> *Indianapolis-Marion County Public Library*
>
> *317-275-4716*
>
> *fax: 317-269-5319*
>
>
>
> *"I have a mind myself and recognize*
>
> *Mind when I meet with it in any guise*
>
> *No one can know how glad I am to find*
>
> *On any sheet the least display of mind."*
>
>
>
> * - Robert Frost, A Considerable Speck*
>
> -----Original Message-----
> *From:* acqnet-l-bounces_at_lists.ibiblio.org [mailto:
> acqnet-l-bounces_at_lists.ibiblio.org] *On Behalf Of *
> acqnet-l_at_lists.ibiblio.org
> *Sent:* Tuesday, September 01, 2009 9:57 AM
> *To:* acqnet-l_at_lists.ibiblio.org
> *Subject:* [ACQNET-L] Customs charges/UPS charges from foreign vendors
>
>
>
> To all:
>
> We we have started having a problem with UPS shipments from our vendor
> Nedbook. We have never had customs charges and UPS fees levied against
> shipments before and this has happened with two shipments, UPS demanding
> payment by the recipient. The charges from U.S. customs are $30.00, for
> their time and trouble to open them it seems, and UPS slaps on a $5.50
> charge for their time and trouble. The boxes come with the packing lists on
> the outside of the box removed.
>
> We have corresponded with Nednook who are as puzzled as we are about this.
> Anyone have this or something similar happen to them?
>
> Thanks
>
> Arlene Moore Sievers-Hill
> Case Wester Reserve University
> Kelvin Smith Library
> Head, Acquisitions Dept.
> 10900 Euclid Ave
> Cleveland, OH 44106
>
> Telephone 216 368 3328
> Fax: 216 368 3669
>
> _______________________________________________
> ACQNET-L mailing list
> ACQNET-L_at_lists.ibiblio.org
> http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/acqnet-l
>
>
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Received on Fri Oct 23 2009 - 16:54:15 EDT