Hi all, I'm new! Greetings from (overflooded right now) Ticino.
I hope this is the right section for this, I saw other similar threads so I thought I could ask for advice.
I bought a painting from Germany (antique, pricey but nothing crazy).
The seller sent it with DHL. Problem is, the package is now stuck since 25.08.2020 at customs (with the "Clearance Event" update). On that same day they sent me an email request for invoices etc. and from the package scan I saw that the painting was declared correctly. They also sent me a questionaire about cultural heritage (they always do when you buy something antique from abroad) and I filled that out as well. I sent them all the stuff right away, they didn't reply so I thougt it was ok.
Then, the next day, the tracking updated again with "Clearance Event". Next day, on 27.08, I called DHL and talked to a customs guy who told me they didn't need other things and the package was sitting there waiting for clearance. Later, a few minutes after the call, it updated again with "Clearance Event" and the same thing happened yesterday.
Today, nothing happened. Now I know that the guy said it was ok but I'm still worried (being anxious sucks), it's not the first time I buy a painting that goes through customs, but the other time once they had the documents it was cleared the next day.
Has anyone of you experienced something like this? I know that customs can take a bit, but usually when they have the documents (which were correct), they take about 24 hours...I'm a bit worried.
Do they work at weekends? (I know for sure that they don't work on Sundays but I'm not sure about Saturdays) - I guess I will have to wait until monday...
Haha I wasn't expecting this when I wrote the thread. Next month I will go to the antiques market in Milan Navigli, I hope to find some bargain there. Until then - no buying.
Anyway, I hope there won't be issues with customs, I imported antique stuff other times but this is the first time they take so long, expecially since they have all the documents since several days now...
In the current situation they likely are overworked, and understaffed. The people handling you painting appear to be a little suspicious either of the stated value, the provenance, or (???) of the item.
The suspicions may be unwarranted but they are not going to release the item until they are certain all is in order.
You know where it is and that it is safe Hopefully it will be cleared soon.
Stated value is correct, I saw the scan of the customs forms attached to the package. I sent them everything (PayPal invoice, seller invoice, eBay confirmation) and it's the same price. I sent them the original saved emails, not screenshots.
I really don't get this. I mean, the customs guy at the phone told me they didn't need other informations, so I guess they are just slow...
... or they are checking with experts. It isn’t about what you paid, it’s about what it is worth. And coming from Germany they could be checking if it is on the list of looted art. But that is speculation on my part.
It’s more likely that they are incredibly busy at the moment, tremendous increase in the number of shipments.
We ran a business for 7 years and had shipments crossing borders weekly. Sometimes it takes a day, sometimes a week.
Sounds like it's just taking a bit of time to clear but no particular problems. They don't work the weekend, and shipping volumes are huge in this Covid climate, so things are taking longer than usual.
You bought something of value on eBay as opposed to an auction house or brick-and-mortar business. Based on this, I would guess bowlie is right - they're trying to verify the origin of the item, and that the seller actually had the right to sell the item to you. That might take some time.
That would be weird, since in the past years I bought several collectibles and antiques from eBay and they all went through customs pretty quickly compared to this.
You were lucky the other times- your parcel was not intercepted and inspected. Customs know the tricks of the trade, and that dates and values are declared incorrectly to by-pass duty. They have seen it all.
btw, never intimated that you ever did give wrong date (antiques must be over 100 years old I believe- we had furniture held in customs for 3 months in Dover until I could prove it was, and pay for storage!) - or wrong actual value (as said above, not necessarily the same as you paid) - just that in this case they have become suspicious, for whatever reason, justified or not. In the case of the furniture, I was finally able to get a copy of the bill my grandfather paid in the 1870s.
I'm sorry to disappoint the doomsayers (myself included lol) but the package got released 30 minutes ago. I already paid customs with PayPal (judging by the amount I guess the value was correct in the end) and it will probably arrive tomorrow.
A few days in customs due to a query is not unusual at the moment. I'm surprised you're paying tax since antiques are generally exempt? Maybe Switzerland is different on this?