They don’t normally open packages, unless they seem suspicious. You know how much labor would be involved if they opened every package to seal back up?
They don’t have the man power to physically check every single parcel that passes through customs into the US. What’s more likely is that they choose a couple of packages to spot check out of the hundreds of thousands maybe millions(?) that passes through their hands everyday.
I have sent thousands of comics to the US and I’ve never gotten a buyer telling me that customs has manhandled their books.
eBay global shipping is another story. They actually have to open up your parcel at the hub to make sure they fill out everything correctly and that they have what you sent them. That means actually physically opening up your comic to see where the country of origin is (ie where its printed and manufactured)
Because of the new rules I wasn’t able to ship one comic yesterday from a third party shipper because my indie comic that I sold was printed in China. All it said was that it was printed there with no manufacturer address and information, so they had to refuse because of the new rules.
When the K9 drug and bomb sniffing units go nuts on your package, that’s when they open it… 
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Just think of the truckloads and even shiploads of merchandise that big businesses send internationally everyday day. Customs isn’t going to pick out your $50 comic in a mailer to see if they can destroy it from being a 9.8. C’mon man, comic book collectors are something else 
Yeah, like I said. If they opened every package, imagine the delays of stuff just coming into the U.S… We’re talking things that would likely take years sitting in a warehouse just to eventually pass and go on the rest of it’s way!
I checked with my shipper and played around with their new DDP (delivery duty paid postage) where I the seller would have to pay any upfront fees/taxes/duties for the customer before it ships to the USA for comics. This is what I got.
Since comics and books in general are part of the USMCA free trade agreement there are no tariffs going into the USA provided they are printed in Canada, USA or Mexico. Majority of comic books (Marvel/DC) are printed in Canada and USA.
I played around with the fees and to see what happens when I sell a comic to the USA from Canada. I tested it with a $25 sale and a $400 sale. The shipping cost to me is the same indicating there are no tariffs and even any duties. There is a small extra charge here for processing:
DDP Costs Breakdown
- Postage cost (as usual)
- Chit Chats Insurance (if added)
- Duties/Tariffs (if applicable)
- Calculated based on 10 digit HTS code (refer to official US site)
- Merchandise processing fee (MPF)
- Calculated by U.S. Customs and Border Protection and may change at their discretion. It is a flat fee per shipment (1.35 USD flat fee*).*
- Shipment items fee
- Individual item processing fee for broker to process the individual HTS coded items in the shipment (0.15 USD / line item).
- Example: You are shipping 1 tshirt, 2 mugs and 3 pins = 3 shipment items
So I had to pay $1.35USD flat fee for “merchandise processing fee” and a $0.15USD processing fee (comic) for a broker to process the HTS coded items (comics/books)
So I have to pay an extra $1.50USD to the US government to process the items coming in. Also my shipper added approx $1 for me to use the DDP postage service option if I want to pay all the fees for the customer.
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Buyer who received that Invincible issue he said I trimmed requested a return. Cool. (Sounds like an old switcharoo) has yet to shop the book. Sucks because they give buyers so long to return books he requested the return on 8/21 and has until 9/12 to return the book. I think he is trying to find his copy to return but hasn’t been successful yet.
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Or purchase a lesser quality copy, receive it, and send yours back.
Thanks for the breakdown. The books seems to be moving again.
What I don’t know is whether I’ll be paying for any fees, or if the shipper paid them already. It seems like from what you’re saying above you have the option to pay (or not pay) the fees prior to shipping?
You shouldn’t have to pay any fees because your books got to customs way before the 29th deadline. It’s probably slow moving because they’re probably swamped with paperwork at the moment to prepare for Friday. I wouldn’t worry about it.
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Not an ebay issue per se, but a question. Has anyone accepted Venmo for a high value sale (I’m talking $3k). I usually use Venmo purely to send money to friends. I’ve never used it for sales. Just wondering if I should go outside my comfort zone and insist on paypal. Thanks.
I’ve only used PP for larger transactions, but I know that Venmo is accepted by places like Mercari so I’m using it’s retail friendly.
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I have for local people who have bought stuff. But never online.
I will tell you one thing though.
We had a woman that sent us money because her son was pissed off and opened her car door Into my wife’s car (he did it several times not realizing I was in the car). I got out and confronted them. Got her insurance info after threatening to call the cops. She ended up asking us if we would accept Venmo instead of going through insurance once I got the estimate. I said I didn’t care. I sent her the estimate which was like $1200. She sent the money then somehow pulled back $700. I said screw it and went through her insurance.
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And that is why you ALWAYS call the cops. Hope it worked out for you in the end, but when someone asks to handle it outside of insurance that’s because they likely have some sort of history or record that’s going to create an issue for them…and that’s their problem, not yours.
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Insurance paid the full amount. She said she had originally sent the full amount and then pulled it back until we got the work done because she wanted to make sure we got the work done. I told her I wasn’t playing her games and just went though insurance.
She was worried because she had really crappy insurance that her rates would go up or she would be dropped. I said that wasn’t my problem.
And for the record we got the work done.
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Her son is the problem. Not her insurance. He needs the discipline, not you!
Regardless of whether you got the work done, that is the damage that was done. Pay up…in full.
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Correct. Her son was pissed off at Joe. Joe struck him out three times in the game that had proceeded the incident. Joe was clowning around at the back of our car and never said anything to the kid. He got in the car and proceeded to slam the door into ours multiple times. She denied it happened but all the witnesses said they saw it. I threatened to call the cops and have his punk ass arrested. She was much more willing to work with me at that point. I got her insurance and we exchanged numbers. She called the next day asking if they could pay for the damage and not go through insurance. I said I didn’t care as long as she paid. Then she pulled that stuff.
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Checked tracking today. Still has not mailed the book.
Please post username. I don’t want to deal with this kind of buyer.
scoot704586 is the user name
Oddly he left me positive feedback
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