I recently sent a couple of bundles of postcards to forum members: one to India, one to America and one to Europe. They contained between 3-6 postcards and were classed under the UK Post system as small/standard letter(£2.55 due to weight over 20g). I was surprised when, on the second visit to post the bundle to India, the post assistant told me that I should put a custom declaration on these to ensure that they were delivered. What do other UK Postcrossers do?
On this occasion I did and the assistant kindly gave me a few extra so I can fill them in at home next time. They don’t cost anything but I’m not entirely convinced that they are needed. What are other people’s thoughts on this?
Written postcards are considered documents, so there is no custom declaration needed imho. But I write something like -documents only- on the envelope then (if it’s a thicker one).
Yes, I now put customs forms on my envelopes with more than 3 postcards inside.
As I only send via standard post, I use the CN22 label forms from my local PO and usually mark my items as a ‘Gift’ or Philatelic Items/Postcards.
Recently some of my (recent) forum swaps have either gone missing or have been opened.
I have had some rare maxicards (in envelope) gone missing too.
Only one letter I received, which was from India, was opened by UK customs.
I don’t think it is just ‘Brexit’ but since the UK left the customs union, the UK border & customs has become a lot more stricter for worldwide post.
Sadly since Brexit almost anything over a certain weight or size needs a customs label. Even postcards! I used to be able to send tea bags with no trouble to Germany, but now they need the customs label…
I guess it’s just another part of Postcrossing now…
I’ve sent quite a lot of “fat mail” type envelopes and just put correct postage (£1.70 or £2.55) depending on destination/weight and posted them in my normal postbox without anything else… So far no problem - they’ve mostly been received without issue. I’ve avoided to send food, so mainly just cards/stickers/paper samples etc.
Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. It seems to be quite a mixed picture really. I guess it’s better to put on custom declaration on postcard bundles than not given that it’s not clear if it’s necessary or not.