"HELD BY CUSTOMS" in Italy

[Darkimplicates]

So a week back i sent my ARF Daytona together with its genuine dial to Jhonny Dep in italy, but today i tracked it on my local courier site and it says "Held by customs" , what does it mean?

There is a gen dial inside, and i declared the parcel as parts for repair with low value. I even added a note stating movement service etc.

Is there anything i can do now? This is the first time it happened to me. I didnt know theres customs risk in Italy lol.

Any advice would be appreciated.

Edit : i know its held because of tax and im not sure what they will do to the REP daytona but is there any way i can salvage my gen dial? its frigin 900usd =(

I requested jhonny to call in the courier and check regarding tax, i can pay it. but im not really sure if they will get seized.

 

[iceberg1459]

from my experience, alot of shit gets stolen by post in italy let alone customs

but let us know, im curious if it turns out ok

 

[gigi77]

Italy is one of the strictest customs with Germany, right after Switzerland.

Triangle shipping is very adviseable.

 

[Tobias86]

Damn sorry to hear that bro. Keep us updated on the situation. Hope you get your watch and dial back

 

[Darkimplicates]

I just checked with a few guys and they told me "Held by customs" is actually a normal thing. It simply means its going through customs and the status was updated in my local courier site on the Friday 29th, so i assume its because of the weekend because when i tracked it using 17track, in poste italiane on the 30th it says processing at international trade center. So ill give it a few more days

 

[Tobias86]

Well hopefully that's the case and you receive your package safely.

 

[2fake4u]

If its because you need to pay tax on it, you'll have to pay taxes as if its all gen. Otherwise they'll confiscate the entire package

 

[Asmodeus]

If its because you need to pay tax on it, you'll have to pay taxes as if its all gen. Otherwise they'll confiscate the entire package

Nope! If they decide it's gen and taxes are required they will contact the receiver and try to collect the taxes. If the receiver declines the parcel it will be returned to the sender address specified on the parcel.

 

[2fake4u]

Nope! If they decide it's gen and taxes are required they will contact the receiver and try to collect the taxes. If the receiver declines the parcel it will be returned to the sender address specified on the parcel.

If that's the case, you'll be better off not paying the taxes and getting it returned and trying it again. I was under the impression from what I've read that it just gets held and not returned

 

[Asmodeus]

If that's the case, you'll be better off not paying the taxes and getting it returned and trying it again. I was under the impression from what I've read that it just gets held and not returned

 

[gigi77]

Also because taxes in Italy can be around 25% of the value... so you would pay a LOT.

25% of a real Daytona can be estimated on 3000/4000 EUR.

 

[tripdog]

 

[trailboss99]

You sent a grand worth of watch stuff to Italy? icard:
You will be lucky if no one steals it outright.

 

[gigi77]

You sent a grand worth of watch stuff to Italy? icard:
You will be lucky if no one steals it outright.

Come on, it is not that bad. I order stuff from everywhere since 1995 and never was a packet stolen. Abroad-Italy, Italy-Italy and Italy-Abroad...

 

[Darkimplicates]

Then how do guys here send frankens / modded watch to Jhonny depp without getting any issues. Tri ship?

Ill give it a day or two. A friend of mine also said if its taxable and if the receive dont wanna pay tax it will be returned to me. Ill give it a few days more and see what happens in the tracking status. Hopefully it dosent say "Package destroyed"

 

[mysterio]

Come on, it is not that bad. I order stuff from everywhere since 1995 and never was a packet stolen. Abroad-Italy, Italy-Italy and Italy-Abroad...

trailboss isn't speaking categorically. He is speaking from the years he's been in this hobby. You order stuff from everywhere to your location in Italy and never got anything stolen. So how many Rolexes have you sent and received so far since 1995?

 

[Asmodeus]

Tbh, I've sent a lot of parcels worldwide, I had a lost rate of 2% to EU and 0% to US using normal post.

I never sent anything worth more than 300€ using airmail.. That 2% lost rate is huge if you consider losing a high valued item.

 

[pippo]

Sending a high value parcel to Italy through Customs ...is just looking for trouble, much worse if the item is counterfeit.
Best of luck, sometimes they can be very slow, hopefully they will release it with no fee to pay.

Regardless of the happy/unhappy end, don't do it again!

 

[gigi77]

trailboss isn't speaking categorically. He is speaking from the years he's been in this hobby. You order stuff from everywhere to your location in Italy and never got anything stolen. So how many Rolexes have you sent and received so far since 1995?

Gen? Zero
Rep? 5-6 rolexes and 7-8 other brands
Jewelry, PC parts, books, rare comics (>100$/piece), ... nothing was ever stolen.

Since I live in Italy I think I can give an inside in what is reality vs percepted reality. I also know hundreds of people orderinhg stuff and I am not aware of packages being stolen, maybe it happened to them, but not that I know of.

 

[RepPossessed]

I've sent a few packages up to Iceland which is also known for very very strict customs.
When I do so I don't send the package as gift, I send it as "commercial goods, returned goods for repair" and state a low value.

This way it makes it look like it's going back to the place it originated from. So it's a get around of paying taxes. As the item would have been liable for tax on its first entry into the country. I also do this with packages for U.S

This is what I had been told, ive had no issues yet whatsoever.