any restrictions shipping a sword to china?

[troyadam39]

I am looking to sell a sword to someone in China and I want to know if there is ANY restrictions to ship the sword, Iam from the U.S. ....any help is greatly appreciated. Payment is through paypal.

 

Regards, Troy

[cabowen]

  troyadam39 said:

I am looking to sell a sword to someone in China and I want to know if there is ANY restrictions to ship the sword....ant help is greatly appreciated.

 

Regards, Troy

 

i would be extremely careful about payment....

[Thekirsh]

I wouldn't ship to China, its too risky.

The sword mysteriously goes missing, then the buyer makes a claim and Paypal may then reverse the payment transaction

Simon

[Lee Bray]

Forget about it going missing or not being paid for it, those same things can happen in any country.

However, getting a sword into China legally is nigh on impossible, apparently.

Hong Kong has no restrictions; China has. A local Chinese friend of mine has looked into the details and says it can't be done.

 

You could potentially send the blade to HK and have your China buyer collect at their own risk if you are intent on the sale.

[cjbow320]

Hi Troy, I work for the USPS and I have sent many items to China without a problem over the years. The key is to send it USPS Express Mail International or Global Express Mail International and insure the item. I have sent items up to 3000.00 without any problem, the key is to insure the item (and you can up to 5000.00). If they do not want to pay the higher price of these two services or decline to insure avoid the transaction. Regards, Chris

[Lee Bray]

Have you sent a sword to China as opposed to just an item?

 

I've heard from two different Hong Kong sources, though neither official, that while it's legal to make and export swords, it's illegal to import them into China.

[Robert Janssen]

What I have heard is that recently Chinese customs have become stricter when it comes to importing knives and swords, since there have been some incidents involving swords in China, and it's not a good idea to import swords into China (at the moment).

My source is an American in China that trades in Japanese swords, and has quite a few swords and knives held back at Chinese customs with all the trouble in the world to get them released from customs. If this goes south and they won't release his swords he risks loosing thousands of dollars.

 

Just wanted to les you know...

 

Robert

[Guido]

I live in Beijing, and can confirm that it's quite a hassle to get *any* weapons into China (which doesn't stop the Chinese from producing and exporting them on a grand scale). The main problem is that there's no written law, it's up to customs and quite arbitrary. That's the way it usually works here, if you have the right connections you can get things done, if you're at the mercy of a customs officer, your f@cked.

 

We recently applied for customs clearance for some books; usually not a problem. However, our messenger returned from the customs office, telling us that the application was refused. The reason? The form was filled in with a blue ballpoint pen, like a hundred times before. But that day the customs officer decided that he'd only accept black ballpoint pen. There's no regulation concerning the color of the pen used, but the official had a bad day or whatever, and that was that. We filled in a new form in black, and got the clearance.

 

If a paranoid official thinks that a single Japanese sword might be used by Tibetan or Uigur separatists to start a revolt, you can't talk any sense into him. Thousands of swords are produced in China (and sold abroad on eBay), but they obviously don't care. If you wan't logic, go to Switzerland ...

[Sergio Bastos]

Hi all,

 

I had a very bad experience involving a Chinese buyer and ebay!!

 

The sword was sent by registered mail with registration number after the payment and less than a week... the buyer filed a complaint on Paypal saying he had not received the sword...

The result, Paypal gave reason the buyer because registration didn´t work in china!!!!! and they couldn´t confirm the arrival of the package, they only confirm the shipping was made in Portugal...I can track any registration number made in Portugal in any country....for example in the U.S, UK, European Union, Japan etc.

 

I recuse to pay to Paypal and loose my money and my sword...I and get my Paypal account blocked...

Beware of sales to China!!

 

Sergio

[micko]

hi all,china's a very ""shonky"" country those with a little power basically do what they want if you have trouble a little bit of yuan under the table and problem solved. wouldn't send a sword to china no way,believe me ivé travelled china for the last ten years i met my wife in china,beautiful country but very corrupt.

 

micko

[Guido]

Just to bring a little balance to this thread: most Chinese are decent, hard-working people. Two very good friends of mine are mainland Chinese. The problems one encounters are usually with civil servants, military, police - anybody in a (semi)official position. Arbitrariness and corruption are wide-spread.

 

I got a lot of parcels delivered in China through China Post, EMS, UPS and so on, and never ever went something missing. Some delays and/or bureaucratic hassle, but not a single parcel or letter lost. Also tracking was never a problem.

[Lee Bray]

http://www.swordforum.com/forums/showth ... caution-!!!

 

Ebay seller ships sword to China - sword is confiscated and destroyed at customs.

[micko]

sad story ,but knowing china as i do the sword wasn't destroyed but now is sitting in someones living room.

micko