How to Avoid a Huge Customs Bill on a Cheap Online Order
You don’t have to worry about a customs bill unless your purchase is coming into the US from another country. If you buy something that ships locally from a US retailer — such as first-party purchases from Amazon, Best Buy, or Walmart — or a warehouse located in the US, the import fees have already been paid and are included in the price you pay at checkout.
But it’s easy to click that buy button without even thinking about it. Friedman, for example, recently purchased a new watch band and didn’t realize it was shipped from Montreal until he received the FedEx shipping notification. “This is my job, and I didn’t even notice it was an imported watch band,” he said.
To find out where a product ships from:
- Look for warehouse options. Some companies allow you to choose whether your order is shipped from a US warehouse or an international warehouse.
- Check a company’s shipping-policy page. It may say where a product ships from or contain information on warehouse locations for different regions. This page can also provide information on which shipping company the seller works with.
- Ask customer support. Take this step, but keep in mind that in our experience, some chat-support representatives didn’t know the answer or provided inaccurate information. If you do this, save the conversation and order with a payment method that provides buyer protection in the event that you have to dispute unexpected charges.
If your order is shipping internationally — from any country, not just China or Hong Kong — you should confirm where the product was made. The tariff is determined based on this, the country of origin, not the country from which it is shipped. So even if a product is shipped to you from Canada but made in China, as our ukulele was, these fees apply to your purchase. Unfortunately, finding out if a product is made in China can be tricky to impossible when you’re shopping online.
Here are two quick ways to check if a product was made in China:
- Search for “China” and “Hong Kong” on the product page. This information may be buried behind a drop-down or menu; using Ctrl+F can help.
- Ask customer support via email or chat. But again, the agent may not always have accurate information. Save a screenshot of the conversation in case you need it for a dispute.
