taxes/fees for watches to USA

[t]

when i ship a watch from Europe to USA with a official bill of $1.000 (genuine watch) and declare the value of $1.000

how much taxes/fees would pay the US customer in USA?

thanks

Tourby

[t]

no US members here with knowledge?

[Victoria]

We have never paid for any duties on items received in the US (from Germany, the UK specifically).

My mother loves jewelry, costing sometimes $$$, but she usually asks that the item be shipped to be handled by USPS (the government carrier, as you know). UPS and others have a greater chance of being opened by Customs.

However, I don't exactly know the answer to your question. I Googled, but all I found were some eBay links.

http://answercenter.ebay.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1000077989

http://forums.ebay.com/db2/thread.jspa?thr...d=1190816764034

"Also, it is important to note on the Customs Form if an item is 'used' as opposed to new. Customs agents are aware that used items, even if they appear virtually new, will generally have a lower perceived value than new items. If an item is used and the form is marked as such, it can speed the customs process."

A Canadian who received an item marked as $25, paid $75 in duties. Another poster asked how Customs arrived at that figure, so they could judge what the criteria is, and extrapolate from that.

"Apparently Canadian customs considers the "value" as what you would pay for the item at retail at Neiman Marcus. I recently had a shirt returned by Canadian customs which considered the declared value of $20, what the customer paid me for the shirt, should have been $150. The customer would have had to pay duties on the $150 retail value and not the $20 he paid me for the item. "

Later.

"Are there sellers dumb enough to mark an item as "gift", and then include an invoice???"

Sorry I couldn't find anything more pertinent. One gets the sense that US Customs are not too picky, and certainly not as much as continental European countries are.

EDIT: At least he has SOME knowledge of what a neighbouring country uses as their criteria.

[Toadtorrent]

In Canada, I've successfully contested over assessed charges 5 times. What's involved is a completion of a form and submitting proof that the item I purchased was in fact much lower than their assessed value. I had back issues of magazines shipped to me, and they assessed the value as the summed value of the cover price for all the magazines which was close to $1,000 as opposed to the $50 I paid for the lot.

[RWG Technical]

The question was about USA customs, not Canada customs.

RG