AddressPal & Lockers - An Post's Parcel Service SEE MOD WARNING FIRST POST

Sign up for addresspal yourself, using parents Irish address, your name or theirs. You don't have to fill any customs forms or risk the return of the parcel, as you just post your gift to the addresspal US address in New Jersey, with your account reference in the address. They will then forward it to your parents address. You will have to declare the value of the gift. Over €45 it will attract 23% VAT. Over €150 and it may attract customs charges as well as VAT.

Your total other costs are;

1. postage chages to the addresspal address. You may buy something online locally for direct delivery, possibly free delivery to this US address, but even if under €45, this will be treated as a purchase from abroad, not a gift, Any saving on getting free US online delivery might be negated if the item is below the gift threshold.

2. Addresspal process all the customs and Vat calculations based on the value declared and the gift/purchase status. There is a €3.50 charge for this.

3.Finally, there is the international delivery charge for the US to Ireland leg of the journey. This is €16 for up to 2Kg packet, so not too expensive.

You will have certainty that your packet is being delivered, and you will have tracking for the international and Irish end.

Example; you send a small packet with a gift valued €40, About 1.5Kg. Usps charge $64.20 (€63) for first class packet to Ireland. When the parcel arrives in Ireland, and provided you have filled out the customs declaration meticulously, your packet will attract 23% vat on the postage only, plus the €3.50 customs charges, total of about €18. You should be able to monitor this on the AnPost tracking , even pay it. If all is well, and you get the option to pay this, then your total costs will be €81, with the stress of potential return with no refund of your packet costs.

With addresspal, you will pay the cost of packet post from your us address to the Addresspal address, in New Jersey. No vat on the gift, €16 for delivery to Ireland, €3.50 admin, and no vat on these charges as they are paid via your addresspal account and include VAT. So €19.50 plus local US packet post charge, say about $12-16, instead of €81, and guaranteed delivery.

You might sent a gift worth €100, but you might buy online and get free delivery to Addresspal in NJ, so though you pay €23 Irish VAT when the packet hits ireland, you didn’t pay local postage, so no vat on this, just the addresspal €16 plus €3.50 customs clearance charge.

I'm certain this is how it works. Larger parcels cost more, but its not linear, 2Kg is €16, 10kg is €30. Customs charge always €3.50, and VAT is 23% of the purchased goods invoice value which may include delivery. I don't expect they try and add your local self posted delivery charges to NJ for VAT purposes on a gift, maybe they do, but if bought online they would use the invoice price of the store including delivery. Others here might have some real world examples.

https://addresspal.anpost.ie/pricing-sizing