Dhl Vs Fedex- Customs Charges

[markh]

I've noticed that when I order pens from Europe, I'm much more likely to get charged for customs/duty when shipped by FEDEX compared to DHL.

I'm not sure I've done this enough times to have a statistically valid survey, but this seems to be what I'm seeing.

 

Anyone else noticed this??

 

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Edited June 22, 2020 by markh

[I-am-not-really-here]

My experience has been the opposite, DHL two out of three, FedEx none out of four.

[jvr]

I have that experience with camera gear, but so far not with fountain pens (with one exception). It’s not just DHL vs FedEx, but also regular mail vs FedEx. It’s a reason I avoid FedEx when I can.

[Toll]

I received a new pen today from Europe, via DHL, and there were no customs charges. It was shipped on Monday afternoon and arrived this afternoon. I find that quite amazing.

[Monophoto]

In my 'day job' many years ago, I had to send a large batch of technical information, to a client in Asia. This was in the days when information exchange was mainly on paper, and the shipment we were planning was sizeable. The client asked that we ship the material via Fed Ex rather than DHL because their perception was that DHL shipments were more likely to encounter customs problems compared with FedEx shipments.

 

DHL came into existence mainly as an international courier service. FedEx originated as a domestic US courier service that later expanded to offer international shipping. The client's perception was based in part on their belief that because FedEx was a 'newb' in the field, they might be able to get away with bypassing some customs requirements.

 

I'm not sure that the client's argument was valid (as one of my colleagues wryly noted, the customer is always right, even when he's dead wrong), but that also was 25 years ago, and I suspect things are different now.

 

Customs requirements are legal obligations, but they are subject to interpretation. And how the rules are interpreted and applied can differ based on what it being shipped, and who is making the interpretation. So it seems to me that best way to proceed is to assume that a customs inspection will always be required, and that duties may be assessed. If that doesn't happen, then you are ahead of the game.

[basterma]

I agree with Monophoto's advice. So much of it depends on the whim of fickle customs officials and the relationships between the shipping company and the customs official. It is pretty much a (bleep)-shoot for small shipments. Once you get into industrial amounts, things become consistent as the insurance and other things motivate companies to have more senior agents handling customs clearance or working with a specialist customs agent.

[gistar]

I have not seen any difference between DHL and FedEx in Greece for packages from US. In both cases, the total charge including VAT goes to about 50% of the invoiced (determined by the PayPal charges) price. It has become bad enough that I have stopped buying from any seller that uses them. USPS on the other side, either passes without any tax, or I only have to pay the actual VAT on the invoice, when I go to collect it from my local post office. I don't mind paying tax, but not unreasonable charges. Curiously, if I buy anything from Japan, it appears to arrive without any tax applied, or at least I don't remember ever paying any.

[Bill P]

In my experience...both Fedex and DHL charge the Customs Duty tax very aggressively...WHY? I believe for 2 reasons.

 

1. Both Fedex and DHL charge the customer (us) a fee for the Customs Duty calculation...more income for DHL and Fedex.

 

2. Both Fedex and DHL do the Customs Customs Duty tax calculation even BEFORE the items even hit the US....they have some arrangement with the US Customs Service...this then allows the packages to essentially be expedited thru the Customs process.,,with no delay. I have never had a DHL or FEDEX pkg get delayed in Customs.

 

On the other side of the coin....

USPS does not seem to charge the Customer Duty tax, but on the downside I have had items get stuck in Customs for days before they clear and are on their way.

 

The above is my experience and observation.

[DaiCapp]

I can pretty much guarantee shipments into UK via USPS will attract customs charges (and take up to 8 weeks to get here at the moment as they rely on commercial flights). Specialist carriers are a bit more hit and miss as to whether they apply customs charges...

 

Best bet is to plan for them to be applied and if they aren't then it makes the deal a little sweeter...

[mulrich]

My experience...

My dozen or so international orders are pretty evenly split between carriers. DHL has had customs on all eligible shipments, fedex and national post services have never tried collecting customs. I now avoid ordering from shops that use DHL.