Duties and Taxes - Requirement for Inter-Continental Shipping

All international shipments may be subject to additional import taxes and customs duties upon arrival to the destination country which will need to be paid upfront by the receiver in order to have the shipment released from customs and delivered.

We provide a managed shipping service, however, if you are managing your own shipments, we encourage our artists to, where possible, ship their pieces Delivery Duty Paid, and allocate additional funds for this in their Shipping Prices.

In cases where a package has not been sent with Delivery Duties Paid, any charges are liable to be paid by the importer of record (in this case, the customer). Customers may get upset when their artwork reaches customs in their country and they receive a letter asking them to pay additional fees. If your artwork is shipped without 'Duty Delivery Paid', one of two things can happen: your customer pays the fee when they pick up their artwork, or the customer will not pay the fee, and the artwork is returned to sender (possible at an additional fee for the return delivery). 

Filling in the paperwork necessary for international shipments may seem daunting at first, but stick to the following best practice guidelines when dispatching your artwork. If you are unsure of how to fulfil any of these requirements, get in touch with your preferred courier to clarify.

Do

• Send your artwork 'Delivery Duty Paid'. Any duties and taxes due on arrival will be billed back to your own account. You can research the duty and tax your artworks will be liable for on a country by country basis, as this can vary considerably. The charge will most likely be a percentage of the value of the contents. This will ensure that your artwork will pass swiftly through customs and no hidden costs for your customers. 
• Make sure you have labelled your package correctly as an 'Original Artwork' and applied the correct harmonised commodity code.
• Attach any relevant labels, commercial invoice, or further documentation, so that it is clearly visible on the outside of your package.
• Use a traceable method of shipment with a delivery date guarantee. This will enable you to track any delays in the arrival of your package, and make any follow-up enquiries easier to facilitate with your courier.

Don't

• Mis-categorise your artwork or under-declare the value of goods in the hope of reducing duty. This can lead to penalties far outweighing any potential gain, as well as extended delays in the receipt of the shipment by your customer.