Never exported, but everything I've ever imported makes a stop in US customs for a day or three.

 

I would generally expect up to 3 days in customs. I have a watch going to Canada. It's been in their customs for about 2 days so far. Awhile back I ordered a watch from France. I think it was in US Customs for about a day.

 

As far as next steps, I would expect it to sit there until customs agents clear the package, assess any duties/taxes, and said duties/taxes are paid. The recipient (importer) would be contacted by customs for any duty owed.

 

Don't worry, Customs will inspect, levy fees and forward to the buyer.

 

Sounds like a pretty cool job TBH, might look into it if/when the time comes for a career change. You're telling me I get 1-3 days of alone time with various cool watches? If I'm ever a customs agent I promise I'll leave a selfie photo of me, wearing your watch to the beach, inside the package instead of a fee slip.

 

No, it takes several days because there is a queue of packages. An agent likely doesn't spend more than 15 minutes reviewing paperwork and then sending a message to the recipient telling them how much they owe in duty.

 

It is normal for customs to take time reviewing the package to see how much the recipient owes in duties fee

 

That’s perfectly normal. My Steinhart from Germany came via FedEx and was in customs for a day in Memphis. A Baltic I purchased from France came via DHL and went through the same in Illinois. Both arrived to my home with no issues.

 

Usually items held in customs are waiting for the recipient to pay the duties.

 

It's common procedure, everything is processed by the French customs, if there is a fee, they will contact the recepient, if not, it will pass through. Don't worry if it takes more time than usual, the customs are understaffed due to COV

 

There will be 20% vat to pay plus handling fee.
usually the shipper will hold back delivery until money due is paid although I have been asked for money due on delivery.

 

USPS customs tracking is poor. Sometimes it will say it is still overseas and it is, sometimes not. For example I once had an item arrive overseas into a US customs, and then when it departed it said it departed from the overseas customs. It's probably some drop down menu issue where the origin and destination are right next to each other. The grammar of leaving/entering customs is sometimes just garbage too so you don't know what is going on.

Just know that everyone's post office is overwhelmed (we're all shopping from home), understaffed (COVID), with a reduced logistics train (lack of planes, drivers for trucks due to COVID), much less the US with all the issues we've had with COVID and non-COVID issues and ballots soaking up USPS' resources. I've had more packages go around in circles amongst US cities this year than probably all of last decade.

 

I recently had a watch stuck in customs for a few days. If you don't hear from them in about 2 days, call FedEx or UPS international help line. Ask them why it's stuck. They may say duties are required, or in my case, that it needed some paperwork (which was already sent, but they had lost). Don't let it sit for more than two days, some places charge you for holding your package even though they make no effort to contact you.

 

Maybe the French Customs Office is unhappy with the paperwork and you will never see it.

Note, from what I can see, he bought the watch from someone in Paris and is trying to ship it to the states. But as he said, French Customs is holding it.

 

Maybe the French Customs Office is unhappy with the paperwork and you will never see it.

Note, from what I can see, he bought the watch from someone in Paris and is trying to ship it to the states. But as he said, French Customs is holding it.

Post implied he was the seller/sender, not buyer/recipient.

 

I recently shipped a watch to Germany and it was held up in customs for quite awhile. The buyer and I got it straightened out but it was frustrating for him more than me. As an aside, the buyer and I struck up a nice ongoing email relationship. That was a positive outcome.

 

thanks for the responses. Sucks that the recipient may have to pay additional fees for the watch.

 

Why a problem? Customs duties are known a part of international transactions.

 

Chances are that the French are just assessing the parcel to see if any duty has to be paid.

 

I've had a cheap watch from USA stuck for 11 days now. The last tracking info i had was on the 19th that it had arrived at Heathrow London.
Back in the spring, i had a motorcycle part from China AliEx, stuck in UK customs for 5 weeks.
Neither of these items would be liable for import taxes, but its anyone's guess when they release them.