I’m looking to ship a few personal effects to Taiwan, a few shirts, some books and a stack of products I can’t get inexpensively here in Taiwan (healthy toothpaste, body wash etc. a dozen toothpaste, a couple of the other bodywash etc (1 year supply)). Its probably no more than 10kg of items, shipped regular post.
Can someone please tell me if I will have issues receiving it?
How to 100% confirm the body products will actually be allowed in, and if I might be taxed on it (the books will be new, the body products also). If you have a reference to where I can get an answer to that or any issues I might face, I would be grateful as well.
Thank you so much in advance to anybody who can assist (I’ve done a bit of searching online but I’m still not 100% clear on the above issues.
Thanks Marco, I mean held up in customs etc (like iHerb) because of the personal care products that are natural based and/or volume of them (12 toothpastes) or the value, since the value is likely 2000NTD+ for the purchased products.
They’re more than twice the price if I can buy them here, sometimes 3 to 4 times the price I’d buy them in Australia if they were on sale (which they regularly are). The toothpaste has no chemicals, SLS, preservatives, flouride-free, sugar-free and amazing tasting flavours. I can’t find anything like it here, except one brand from New Zealand it its like 200NTD a tube, vs 50-60NTD back at home. Body washes/shampoos etc. here all seem to have chemicals and other nasties here, even if they have nice avocado on the front label Its just way cheaper to buy a years supply from Australia and ship them over.
Yeah, that’s what I thought about possible customs duties… a bit of a dice roll.
If you are separately shipping household goods to Taiwan, you should fill out a customs form to be stamped by a customs officer at the airport. Take a photo of this stamped form which you will need to provide to your shipper once your goods arrive in Taiwan. In the “Description of Articles” section of the customs form, write “Unaccompanied Household Baggage”, the approximate quantity of boxes and the value (typically written as “no commercial value”). If you will be separately shipping household goods to Taiwan, when you are going through immigration also request that an entry stamp be placed in your passport (typically residents do not have their passport stamped upon entry and exit). This entry-stamp and the customs form will serve as proof of your date of entry to Taiwan. Household goods must arrive within 6 months of this date.
Tai Fu, thanks for taking the time to reply, but I really care about my health and my teeth, which is why I’m going to the trouble and expense of importing the toothpaste I feel works best for it.
I just use bar soaps, shampoos, and conditioners (bought in the US, also available on places like Etsy). They weigh much less than liquids and it’s easy to fit a year’s supply in a suitcase, as they don’t take up as much space as the equivalent liquid version. Even some notable/quality/chemical-free face washes come in bar form now.
from personal experience, you probably wont have any problems. I’ve bought all of those on iherb and amazon in the past and shipped to Taiwan, as long as the value of items is under 2000 nt it wont be a problem.
TL,DR of below: no idea. Good luck. Probably fine, but it may depend on the whims of a number of different officials.
But this isn’t being bought from a company, is it? My impression is the OP is packing up a box of already-purchased stuff to send (and that kind of box can easily get over NT$2,000 of value, but would the box even need to have a declared value?). That presumably falls more under “shipping household goods” rather than an imported order, but I honestly don’t know.
@david1, also relevant may be how long you’ve already been here. According to @qwert_zuiop’s post, shipments like this need to arrive within six months.
I used to get friends and family to send “care packages” from Canada and I remember no issues at all. However, I haven’t done that in a long while, I think in part because shipping to Taiwan became airmail-only, and much more expensive. But that’s possibly mis-remembered info from over a decade ago.
I am curious to find out, because what with iHerb issues, I’m going to look into doing the same thing when I’m in Canada next summer, and possibly ship a big box full of different groceries.
Its above 2000 NTD Probably about 4000NTD (body products) excluding the value of old clothes and the new books. I guess I just try it anyway, whatever the price its going to be much cheaper than buying them here.
I’ll have a think about it, even though I bought the toothpaste already. Baking soda can be pretty abrasive, but I guess others have been down that path before me.
Yes, that’s what I’m doing. And yes, I’m hoping that even though they’re over 2000 NTD its OK. They obviously will be new, the 15 containers of toothpaste might look ‘commercial-ish’ in terms of quantity but its really just 18 months supply.
I’m going to send by air, but even though the cost is expensive, its way cheaper than buying anything comparable here.
I’m planning to send it over in a couple of weeks time, but I’ll write my (hopefully good) experience here if anyone wants to follow it up. Would hate to have 4000NTD of body products go down the tube via confiscation by customs.
Oh yes, iHerb! I had wanted to ship vitamins over that I purchased in Australia, but I’m not all that keen to do so in case they are confiscated. I think that is a higher risk than toothpaste and body wash. I wish there was some contact point (there must be) where I could get an answer of clarification so I could send them over.
Its just way cheaper to buy a years supply from Australia and ship them over.
Probably about 4000NTD (body products) excluding the value of old clothes and the new books. I guess I just try it anyway, whatever the price its going to be much cheaper than buying them here.