I received an invoice from DHL yesterday for a customs duty charge on a frame from the UK I took delivery on 10 days ago. It's not much - $26.52 plus a $5 duty advance fee. But I'm curious why it was levied at all. I've received two other frames in the last year plus a bunch of components from all over the EU. Yet no duty was charged.
The sender labeled the frame "Rare and historic bicycle frame. Used" and set the value at £250. No additional insurance was purchased (carrier - Fast Lane International - included £250 insurance in the shipping fee). Frankly, I've never paid any attention to how anything else was labeled when I received it. Just glad it arrived in one piece.
So what set off US customs?
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Phil Sieg
Knoxville, Tennessee