How can i have a package shipped from a friend in the US?

stasho

I'm trying to have a package shipped from a friend in the US and I'm not sure what the easiest way to do it is. I have no problem paying customs but I can't work out what I have to do with customs declarations/TARIC codes etc.

How would I submit a customs declaration for something sent between two individuals? Everything I can find seems like its only designed for businesses.

Would it be easier to have it shipped to an address in NI and collect it in person?

Would really appreciate any advice on this, thanks.

whiterebel

Ship it with a courier or use AdressPal from An Post. Shipping it to N Ireland won’t help.

silver2020

If it's small and not a huge value, ship it with USPS.

You can enter all the details online and print off the label.

It's probably the best option as the online site forces you to enter all the information required.

The big issue is with me some senders not including information

BorneTobyWilde

Shirley it's up to the person in the US to bring it to the post office and fill out the required info to post it to Ireland.

silver2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118509387#Comment_118509387

Who's Shirley?

Is she the shipper?

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118509387#Comment_118509387

What??

Have you often had An Post call to your gaff and write your customs form for you?

AnRothar

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118509387#Comment_118509387

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KM2K7sV-K74

AnRothar

BorneTobyWilde

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118515057#Comment_118515057

You write it at post office with their helping input.

Donald Trump

You friend brings it to the Post Office in the US. (Or Fed-Ex or whoever. Although Fed-Ex will be more expensive). There will be a customs declaration that is filled out and affixed to the package. There will be loads of the customs declarations there (little green forms). There are some other complicated details like making sure that they put your name and address on it, as well as their name and address. Then they have to pay the Post Office for the postage. That means they have to give them money. Which can be in the form of cash, or with a payment card such as a credit card or debit card.

If they are shipping something that might be illegal here, then that is something that you need to check yourself.

dam099

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118515347#Comment_118515347

If its all just handwritten green forms you will have problems, they are requiring electronic declarations now as well.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118516530#Comment_118516530

Someone better tell the USPS that their website is out of date so! 😉

https://www.usps.com/international/customs-forms.htm

Can I complete a customs form at the Post Office?

If you didn’t complete your customs form online or are using postage stamps on a package that requires a customs form, visit your local Post Office™ branch, fill out form PS 2976-R, and present your package at the counter to have the clerk create your label.

That is the form. When I said "green form" I was actually referring to the "sender's copy" which you keep. It is an old-school carbon copy type of booklet. (Or at least it was up to a few years ago). You fill out the front page only and it gets transferred to the back sheets (as long as you press hard enough when writing)

The teller does punch some information into their system when you give it to them. And ask some questions maybe - "What is in it" etc.

whiterebel

There is a big thread about packages being returned all over the world by An Post because of missing information/no electronic declarations.

gmisk

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118515022#Comment_118515022

Shirley you cannot be serious?

- I am serious and stop calling me shirley

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118516546#Comment_118516546

You 100% do need to have electronic information submitted, paper customs forms alone are useless now. If an item arrives into Ireland and does not have sufficient customs information, submitted electronically, the parcel will be returned to sender.

Its totally irrelevant what USPS say, they don’t handle customs in Ireland.

From An Post’s website, the ones who’s word actually matters here:

Sending to Ireland from non-EU countries

When sending an item to Ireland you will need to supply complete electronic customs data according to Irish Customs regulations.

edit: and just to add also, to emphasise how irrelevant foreign postal websites are in seeking correct and accurate customs information for posting to Ireland & any EU country from outside the EU, the last time I had a look at royal mails website in October for reasons why An Post were returning a parcel of mine for “no electronic customs data” they had no information on the subject. (Their sister company Parcel Force *did*). I’ve just checked again and thankfully they do now, but the fact is they were months behind in getting their info up to date. An Post had updated it pretty much instantly.

Its 100% always better to check the website or customs rules on the country of receipts own websites as they’re the only ones guaranteed to be up to date.

Chris_5339762

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118515347#Comment_118515347

Remember: Money can be exchanged for goods and services!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A81DYZh6KaQ

After having a parcel sent by a friend via USPS returned to them, I found it easiest to get them to resend the parcel via Addresspal and then it came through no problem. Expensive, but it worked as I needed the items for Christmas.

She did have to include the purchase invoices / receipts for everything that was in the box so Addresspal could apply customs / VAT etc.

Anything sent to Ireland from outside the EU without fully completed and submitted electronic customs data including taric codes in advance, will be turned back and returned to sender.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118516655#Comment_118516655

Try to read what I posted again.

You go to the US Post Office. Get the form which are sitting in piles on the counter, or an a shelf under the counter, or in a cubbyhole mounted to the wall, fill it out, bring it to the teller. answer any questions they have (because they put details on their system) and give them money. They print out your postage label, give you back the page of the customs declaration and a receipt for the money you paid. You can purchase additional add-ons such as insurance and tracking (sometimes) if you want.

Source for my information: I lived in the US for many years and posted many parcels during my time there. You are free to tell us of the last time you posted a package at a USPS if you have information or recent experience that contradicts the above.

Or, as I said earlier, contact the USPS and tell them "hello from Ireland, your website is wrong and that's not actually how it works when someone goes to your Post Office building".

whiterebel

What you did years ago isn't relevant now. An Post have introduced a new system which USPS and other postal services worldwide have not implemented at their end.

An Post returning packages from outside the EU-See 1st post

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118517231#Comment_118517231

I find it strange that people cannot read and comprehend simple posts. You basically have two options for USPS

1) Get you buddy to pay for postage online. They will print off the shipping label. You will also need to trust that your buddy will locate the correct customs forms online, fill out those forms correctly, and have the package picked up (or dropped off). This buddy that you are trusting is possibly posting a parcel to Ireland for the first time.

2) Go to a physical US Post Office. Fill out the form. Bring it, the package, and your money to the counter and hand them over to the person behind the counter. That person behind the counter will be doing their job. They've probably been doing it for years. They'll know all the rules and all the forms and have seen everything before. They will ask you some questions as they process your form and enter it onto their system.

All of those posts on the thread you linked are due to fu^kwits sending stuff themselves and not filling out the paperwork. If someone sells something on ebay, they usually buy the postage through ebay, print off their label at home and then wait for it to be picked up. So they are doing the equivalent of (1) above.

It's up to you whether you think your buddy, or the professional USPS employee, knows more about postage and customs forms.

silver2020

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118518859#Comment_118518859

Can you confirm that your information is updated since the introduction of new EU rules on electronic declaration last year?

I'm asking because it states very very very clearly on the USPS website that an electronic form is required.

So do people go by your misinformed rubbish or by what is on the official USPS website?

Customs Forms: When you send merchandise (anything that's not correspondence or documents), it must have a customs form that's computer-generated (not handwritten) by approved USPS software that electronically sends the customs form data to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). If you have a handwritten customs form, you'll need to give it to a retail associate at a USPS location and they'll make a computer-generated customs form for you.

Consequences: You'll want to be very careful, detailed, and accurate. If you make mistakes, your package could be delayed, subject to extra import fees, or even rejected, confiscated, or destroyed by the receiving country.

Donald Trump

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118553191#Comment_118553191

Well of course you are correct. There are now special forms which need to be filled out. These forms are freely available and almost everyone knows about them and can fill them out without chance of making any error. The only people in the whole of the US whom you cannot have fill them out are, strangely enough, USPS staff.

The reason that the USPS person will not know how to fill them out for you is that, during their induction training to work in the Post Office, they are hypnotised to forget about those forms during their shifts. For some special reason, known only to genii like yourself, the USPS has an agenda to make sure that it cannot deliver packages.....I guess maybe they figured out that it would be good for their package delivery business if they were unable to deliver packages ......

So, for example, the OP can ask their buddy to send the package. The buddy will accomplish this without error if they are a regular civilian doing so for the first time. The OP just needs to check that the buddy is not a USPS employee. Because if that is the case, then the OP would need to make sure that the buddy does not attempt to process the package while they are rostered in the Post Office. As explained above, during that time period, the hypnosis will kick in and the buddy will not know how to input the details correctly. But if they do it on their day off, the hypnosis should have worn off.

/sarcasm

Your own post explicitly confirms what I said:

If you have a handwritten customs form, you'll need to give it to a retail associate at a USPS location and they'll make a computer-generated customs form for you.

Go to the Post Office, fill out the carbon copy booklet (which I referred to in my original post as a "green form" as the copy for the customer is green...although the front of the booklet is white) and hand it to the person at the counter, along with your package and money. That is exactly what I told the OP to have their buddy do rather than risk their buddy making a bollox of it by trying to do it themselves.

Misinformed rubbish is right. When is the last time you mailed something from the US to Ireland? Have you ever been to the US? Or are you basing your own US based knowledge solely on watching re-runs of Friends from the 90's? 🤣

Tune in same time next week to have silver2020 explain why you are better to try to have your own buddy pull out your loose tooth with a string and a slamming door rather than going to the dentist who pulls out teeth as part of his job.