Problems With Customs- Opinions.

[Emberke202]

So im just considering to buy some starbuzz from the states. Well the only problem is customs. they could even levy it.
So have you (guys from europe) ever ordered from the states, and had you got problems with the customs?

[mattarios2]

Some vendors ship discretely, some don't, people have been nailed, and people have gotten away with it no problems.

search around the forum man, this has been discussed a crap ton of times.

[Arcane]

basically, if you're outside the US and order from the US...you're going to HAVE to expect to pay duties. even if you use a vendor that ships discretely, this is still that risk that your package may be inspected and then taxed.

its basically a crap shot and you should be willing to pay up if you come out on the losing end.

[Amn_sinclair]

So far I've gotten a few orders through customs into europe. My mail goes through US military mail though so im not sure if European customs sees it.

[Balthazar]

basically, if you're outside the US and order from the US...you're going to HAVE to expect to pay duties. even if you use a vendor that ships discretely, this is still that risk that your package may be inspected and then taxed.

its basically a crap shot and you should be willing to pay up if you come out on the losing end.

Wouldn't say it's a crap shot. There are variables. First, if hookah is not a big thing in your country, there's a fairly good chance customs don't know what to do and just let it slide. Second, when placing your order, ALWAYS specify that you want the vendor to ship the package as "gift", to put a fictional, low, value of the goods, and NOT include any recites in the box. Also: Description of the content should not have words like "shisha" "tobacco" "hookah" in it. "Food samples" or "molasses" is a safe bet, usually.

I've imported shisha from the US to Norway for over two years now. Not once has a package gone through without being controlled by customs. Not once has I been forced to pay a dime in duties/taxes. Some times my orders have been consisting of more than 6kg of shisha at a time. Never been a problem.

Of course, you could be unlucky. I know other Norwegians who has been taxed, but in every instance this has been because they did not tell the vendor to label it discreetly. Not to promote any specific vendors, but I feel most safe when ordering from HookahJohn, MNH and GotHookahs (although they don't do online orders anymore, from what I've heard) because they all follow my instructions with punctuality, and they use their personal name and adress as "Sender" in stead of a company name.

Anyways, I think this varies greatly from country to country. I imagine this being much harder in the UK and Germany. That's why I'm thankful the Norwegian hookah scene is microscopic. Although it's probably just a matter of time before our customs understand that shisha are to be taxed as any other tobacco product.