Has anyone shipped a quilt to Europe?
 

I just finished a quilt for my son who lives in Amsterdam. How do I ship this to him so that he does not pay an arm and a leg for duty and taxes? Last year I mailed a birthday present and he had to pay as much in D & T as the gift cost to purchase. Thanks for any help you can offer.

I would suggest you wait and take it to him if you are going there or wait for him to come here. A friend of mine does that. She sends minor items thru the mail and waits on the large items.

I sent a quilt to Berlin a few months back from Canada. I put it in a bag and then a shoe box and paid over $50 Cdn to ship it as a small parcel with tracking before Xmas. It was received in great shape. I was told it would take 6 weeks...but it was received in 3 weeks. [ATTACH=CONFIG]330075[/ATTACH]

I like that quilt!

It looks as though their taxes are quite high as it seems they pay a duty tax as well as VAT
Maybe this will help
http://www.dutycalculator.com/help_c...e-Netherlands/

Two years ago a quilt was sent to me from Kentucky. It was owned by my brother who lived in US for about 16 years. After his passing I received the quilt back and it was sent with Priority Mail, indicated as a present with a value of $ 35. It postman brought it home to me and I didn't have to pay taxes or VAT because it was a present. Probably the custom officers were quite friendly that day.

I always thought personal items were exempt from customs - although I have never traveled overseas and have never sent anythng international - seems like if its a personal gift - why would it be taxed? This is interesting.

I have sent numerous items to my family in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. They have never had to pay duty or VAT. First of all, don't wrap it up as a present! They'll just unwrap it! You will have to put a value on it, so put the value of the materials used in the quilt on it. Then emphasize that this is a gift. For instance, I will write on the Customs form: Gift for sister Linda for birthday. Then I will put the same information, along with her address, and pin it to the quilt, in case they open the box and the custom's form gets separated. Don't send it air mail. I've sent it the cheaper "overland" many, many times, and it never takes as long to get there as they say it will. For a quilt, I would seal it in a plastic bag, and put the extra set of information in a plastic bag and tape it to the outside of the plastic bag. I've had things get wet in transit, which makes sense if they're in a container on a boat. Even on a boat, it didn't take 6 weeks to arrive!

Good luck to you!

If you send it as a gift you don't have to pay taxes for it.
A friend of mine even ordered a whole quiltframe ( that costed over $3000,00) in america and had it posted to the netherlands.
The compagnie that sold it was willing to send it as a gift and therefor she didn't need to pay any tax.
I can't wait untill another friend of mine is going to get her green card and moving to america so when I order fabrics she can send it to me as a gift!!!!!!!

You should Google Customs Tariffs for EU countries (territory?). VAT varies regarding items shipped and each country states their own. Find out what is the tax exempt amount in EUROs in Netherlands for a)gifts and b)imports from outside EU. In Finland the first is 45 eu. The import tax is based on value also and the value includes freight charges so be careful how you ship your present and do not undervalue too heavily or they will slap you for it! Customs declaration forms must always be filled.

For "fien777": this does not apply in EU countries. The are limits on gift values, some items may be exempt from tax, however, if their value does not exeed a certain amount. In Finland, for example, wedding presents , none others. Also when removing, temporary residence for work or study etc.