I sent my sweetie a cell phone to fly back with.

[leejcandle]

I bought a cell phone and sent it to my fiancee. The idea is that when she lands in the US, she can contact me immediately. I'll be at the same airport waiting for her to clear immigration and customs.

 

She has a cell phone she's been using in China. But the one I sent her is shared on my existing contract, and will work as soon as she turns it on here. I preprogrammed it my my numbers, and some others.

 

But a mutual friend of ours (in China) told her that she would have to pay a customs fee for the cell phone I sent.

 

Is this true? If so how much? The cell phone is in a package with many other items.

 

Please advise.

[NY-Viking]

But a mutual friend of ours (in China) told her that she would have to pay a customs fee for the cell phone I sent.

 

Is this true? If so how much? The cell phone is in a package with many other items.

 

Please advise.

I can't tell you the specific amount of duty IF it is imposed, but it may very well be. I had a friend in China once send his camera back to the U.S. for repair because it was still under warranty; when it was sent back to China he had to pay some ridiculous customs fee on it -- something like half the price of the camera.

 

Now, if the phone is mixed in with other goods, it may be overlooked, but generally duties are charged on electronics.

 

This is a really good idea (sending a phone your fiancée a phone to call you with); it's too bad you didn't just give it to her when you visited last.

 

A couple non-customs issues to consider:

(1) If she has to charge the phone (she may not depending how soon she's coming if you sent it with a full charge), she may have to worry about voltage issues if the phone's charger is only set up for 110.

(2) Make sure she knows that she CANNOT use the phone before passing through U.S. Customs after she lands. Most airlines will let you use it after the plane lands while taxiing now (and have you seen the news - you may be able to use your phone in the air soon!); but after she gets off the plane and gets her bags she won't be able to use the phone until she gets past Immigration AND Customs. They always warn you of this on the plane, and I think generally make a point of doing it in Chinese as well, but it's worth making sure she knows because (i) you don't want the phone confiscated, which would ruin the whole point of giving it to her anyway; and (ii) this may cause further delays as she comes through.

[MoonCarolCafe]

But a mutual friend of ours (in China) told her that she would have to pay a customs fee for the cell phone I sent.

No you should not have to pay anything.

 

You bought the phone in the USA, the phone left the USA, and is coming back to the USA. How is this any different from you buying yourself a cellphone, flying to China, and then coming back?

 

Also, I've never had any problems charging my USA cellphone at our flat in GZ. read the specs on your wall charge, if it says INPUT 110V-240V or some such you shuold have no problem at all.

 

(My laptop, camera, camcorder also charge up just fine in China)

[Jeikun]

But a mutual friend of ours (in China) told her that she would have to pay a customs fee for the cell phone I sent.

No you should not have to pay anything.

 

You bought the phone in the USA, the phone left the USA, and is coming back to the USA. How is this any different from you buying yourself a cellphone, flying to China, and then coming back?

 

Also, I've never had any problems charging my USA cellphone at our flat in GZ. read the specs on your wall charge, if it says INPUT 110V-240V or some such you shuold have no problem at all.

 

(My laptop, camera, camcorder also charge up just fine in China)

He means when it arrives by post in China. Not when she flies to the US with it.

 

I was wondering the same thing, as I was planning on doing the same thing soon. I also sent Jun an ipod for Christmas... and was told "there may be a customs fee" I'm just praying it's not something insane - otherwise I would have just kept it for another 2 months rather than paying an extra 50% for it (worse yet, JUN having to)

[mikem]

I have sent many things to China prior to my LaoPo coming here.

 

You have to make out a declaration form with who ever you ship with Mail UPS FedEx etc. You Declare the value and or if it is a gift. Declare 0 zero value it is a gift and it will go through the Chinese Custom inspection just fine.. If you Declare it as say$100.00 US then they will charge you/your SO upon delivery about $50.00 US to bring it into the country. I have had very good luck using the US Postal service with no problems ever.

[cosmiclobster]

I have sent my sweetie a few packages with a customs declaration and a declared value. I remember she only had to pay about 10% of the declared value as a fee. But I think the % changes depending on the declared value.

 

On a related note, I got got a T Mobile phone because my old contract ended. Not only does it have free roaming, but it has free International roaming. I can call the US when I am in China as a local call. If I want to call another number in China, I need to call my calling card number in the US and then place the "long distance" call to China for 2 cents per minute.

I'm not sure how many other cell companies are doing this - you just need a GSM compatible phone. I'll let you know how it works in (hopefully) a month or 2.

[Jeikun]

I have sent many things to China prior to my LaoPo coming here.

 

You have to make out a declaration form with who ever you ship with Mail UPS FedEx etc. You Declare the value and or if it is a gift. Declare 0 zero value it is a gift and it will go through the Chinese Custom inspection just fine.. If you Declare it as say$100.00 US then they will charge you/your SO upon delivery about $50.00 US to bring it into the country. I have had very good luck using the US Postal service with no problems ever.

crap... I declared it as full value because I wanted it insured, in case it managed to vanish before reaching her. live and learn... *sigh*

[leejcandle]

But a mutual friend of ours (in China) told her that she would have to pay a customs fee for the cell phone I sent.

 

Is this true? If so how much? The cell phone is in a package with many other items.

 

Please advise.

I can't tell you the specific amount of duty IF it is imposed, but it may very well be. I had a friend in China once send his camera back to the U.S. for repair because it was still under warranty; when it was sent back to China he had to pay some ridiculous customs fee on it -- something like half the price of the camera.

 

Now, if the phone is mixed in with other goods, it may be overlooked, but generally duties are charged on electronics.

 

This is a really good idea (sending a phone your fiancée a phone to call you with); it's too bad you didn't just give it to her when you visited last.

 

A couple non-customs issues to consider:

(1) If she has to charge the phone (she may not depending how soon she's coming if you sent it with a full charge), she may have to worry about voltage issues if the phone's charger is only set up for 110.

(2) Make sure she knows that she CANNOT use the phone before passing through U.S. Customs after she lands. Most airlines will let you use it after the plane lands while taxiing now (and have you seen the news - you may be able to use your phone in the air soon!); but after she gets off the plane and gets her bags she won't be able to use the phone until she gets past Immigration AND Customs. They always warn you of this on the plane, and I think generally make a point of doing it in Chinese as well, but it's worth making sure she knows because (i) you don't want the phone confiscated, which would ruin the whole point of giving it to her anyway; and (ii) this may cause further delays as she comes through.

"After she lands": Most flights I'm on; about 200 cell phones light up when we start taxing. This is when she'll have to use it, because...

 

"before passing through customs": I wasn't aware of this; I'm glad I asked the question.

 

"when you visited last": That would have been ok, for a prepaid phone. We had different plans then (September). This one was purchased free for adding it to an existing contract. As it is; I'll have to pay 1 month or so ($20)of account charges before it actually gets used. After she gets here, I'll have her use my calling card to call back home.

 

I declared $20 for the (free) phone on the customs sheet; mainly because I wanted the items to add up to a reasonable insured value. So if they ask her to pay $10; she'll grumble, but that's ok with me.

 

When she first asked about the customs fee; she was implying that she'd just do without the phone. But I'd much rather her have it; even with the fee and the aforementioned usage restriction. If for some reason I'm not where I expect to be that day (in that airport); I want her to have a means of contact; not just sitting and fretting...

[mikem]

I have sent many things to China prior to my LaoPo coming here.

 

You have to make out a declaration form with who ever you ship with Mail UPS FedEx etc. You Declare the value and or if it is a gift. Declare 0 zero value it is a gift and it will go through the Chinese Custom inspection just fine.. If you Declare it as say$100.00 US then they will charge you/your SO upon delivery about $50.00 US to bring it into the country. I have had very good luck using the US Postal service with no problems ever.

crap... I declared it as full value because I wanted it insured, in case it managed to vanish before reaching her. live and learn... *sigh*

I believe you can still insure it and not have to write the amount down as a decluration it can be insured and not worth any thing like if you were sending documents, at least with the Post office..You can still declear as zero value. and even so use tracking to insure where the package is.. I think they call it International Express Mail or I think the cheaper one is Global Express. Hey we all live and learn..

[leejcandle]

I just finished chatting with the friend that gave my fiance the fee info.

 

She says the fee is 10%. That would amount to 16 RMB if they use the $20 I put on the customs form.

 

I don't think I have anything to worry about.

[mikem]

Hey we can live with that..

[NY-Viking]

She says the fee is 10%.  That would amount to 16 RMB if they use the $20 I put on the customs form.

Yeah .. that's not too bad ...

 

Let us know once it arrives though just to make sure they do use the amount you list on the customs form, rather than assigning their own once they see it is electronic equipment. It would be good to know.

[Jeikun]

Just an update. The ipod I sent arrived safely, and no customs were charged at all.

[warpedbored]

I believe that if you list it as a gift there is no customs on it if the value is under 40 dollars. Everything I sent Bing was worth less than 40 dollars. What deal I must of gotten on that digital camera lol.

[Jeikun]

I believe that if you list it as a gift there is no customs on it if the value is under 40 dollars.  Everything I sent Bing was worth less than 40 dollars.  What deal I must of gotten on that digital camera lol.

I declared this as $400 though... we must have just got lucky