>I don't quite get it, having NEVER been charged duty on any of many
>international purchases. Are you saying that Customs bills DHL and they
>bill you? If so, can DHL supply a copy of the documentation from Customs?
>If not, why not? If Customs charges 3.9% and DHL is asking for 11% I
>wouldn't trust them on anything. I'd demand the proper legal documents from
>US Customs before DHL got a dime from me. And why should DHL get a fee of
>any kind?! What? A customs brokerage fee? Forgive my ignorance, but
>please keep us apprised of how this turns out, Jerry.
wonder if Jerry might rather have been ill served by the *seller*? a guess is that it is easy to use DHL on the shipper end...convenient phone, easy/fast pickup and maybe packaging thrown in...and devil-take-the-hindmost on the consignee end...if there's no other option than DHL that's one thing but if an item could have been sent by regular mail (which service has often been unfairly castigated) or some other, less rippish, way, then maybe that's another....
most small ticket (US) customs deals may be arranged by the end user without having to resort to customs house brokers...matter of making an appointment and acting pleasant...doing the opposite, however, is strictly not advised,
dave dickerson, austin, tx