OMG WHAT???!! :( :( :( vent :(

[natalie143]

so i am a new CD'er currently living in south africa...
i made my first purchase on cloth diapers 2 weeks ago and Finally got my items... BUT i got charged 80% of the amount on CUSTOM duties.... so i bought something for 125 dollars.. and i paid 100 dollars at customs... that has NEVER happened to me before..

but you wanna know the sad part? i should never have been charged on it... if the store seller had written 'baby cloth diapers'... instead of bum genius, thirsties, etc... i would have gotten charged nothing.
reason being, here in south africa there are no duties on baby goods.
It got charged as textiles(clothing...) because the customs officers couldn't understand what bum genius is...
( i cant send it back to customs for them to open it up and see cuz theres a high chance here in south africa that it would get stolen, so i just have to deal with it.)

when you send internationally and declare the items, what would you write for a cloth diaper?

the reason im asking is because when i used to buy wraps and baby carriers... on the declaration form the sellers would write Baby carrier.. not Didymos wrap(because... hmmm who would understand that?)...

Sorry i just had to vent... i could have used that money to buy more diapers...
if i am in the wrong to post this, sorry! i just got hit really bad

at the same time, i need to know what most people write so i know whether i can continue to purchase cloth diapers from the US..(the cloth diapers that are sold here are very poor quality).

[chickenmonkeybaby]

I write "Cloth Diapers" on the custom form.

[Frogjump]

So sorry Mom how awful. I think your best bet would be to tell people what you want placed on the customs form. I know when I send to Canada I put exactly what I am sending, not brand mind you. But like chocolates, tin, and card. Anything to reduce the risk of it being opened by customs.
Sorry, for your loss of the extra money that sucks so big time.

[Sarahb44]

I write cloth diapers/covers etc. I would ask the people when you buy to make sure they put that on the customs so this does NOT happen again. I am sure many people dont know about the fees you can incure on your end

sorry that this happened to you!

[seannamarie]

You could ask them to write Cloth Diapers on the outside... I've seen mamas do that before.

:hug2: I'm SO sorry mama! I'd seriously be mad...

[martinanne]

I write "cloth diapers" on the form. I would certainly add "baby" to it if that would help. I agree that you should tell the seller that you need "baby cloth diapers" written on the form (instead of brand names). That's really what the description is for anyway. IMO brand names are not descriptive enough for a customs declaration form.

[natalie143]

yeah but i just thought it would be common sense to write what the generalisation of the items... because customs would not understand what a 3 pack of bum genius is.. ya know? so then they had to charge me the highest duties...
i didnt think i HAD to ask them to put the most obvious answer. The declaration form is so that you can give customs an indication of what the item is... how is writing the brand name gonna give them any knowledge as to what is inside

[akwafunk]

Ouch... With the exchange rate that must have *REALLY* hurt.

So sorry.

So none of these are available locally in SA. That sucks. I wondered, as I don't recall any of my friends making the foray into cloth...

[lovnbabygabi]

That stinks!! I would think its common sense too to write cloth diapers. That's what I always write. I love the look on the PO people's faces..."30 dollars for 1 diaper!!" They freak out lol.

[Kylie&Logan'sMommy]

oh no momma, that stinks I usually check off gift and then cloth diapers. I figured no one would wanna open diapers at customs LOL