International Duties, Fees, and Taxes

For international orders placed (on or after March 22, 2025), we will be charging an additional fee at checkout titled “Import Duties”, which is added to the total value of your order. Where the various import duties for a specific country is calculated as a percentage of the order value, the Import Duties percentage is also calculated inclusive of the shipping charge. Headstamp Publishing LLC is using the term “Import Duties” in this section of the website and on the checkout cart only because we have a limited amount of space to define this fee. The complete description of the fee is: “Additional fee addressing the following charges incurred by Headstamp Publishing LLC in shipping an order internationally, which currently include: ‘Value Added Tax’, ‘Disbursement Fees’ (levied in part by the international carrier), ‘Duty Amount’, ‘Duty and Tax Forwarding Surcharge’ (levied in part by the international carrier), and any other importation-related fee that a recipient country levies on our shipment.”

The “Import Duties” percentage that will be applied to an international order will be based on our to-date history of ACTUAL charges to each specific country (or group of countries). This percentage may be averaged to account for inconsistent application of fees in a specific country. Furthermore, while a specific country may have a 20% VAT rate, the percentage Headstamp Publishing charges might be lower than or higher than this amount based on: (1) the actual VAT that Headstamp Publishing sees applied to our orders in that specific country and (2) additional duties and fees that are levied against Headstamp Publishing for customs clearance of orders in that specific country. Headstamp Publishing strives to continually “correct” the tax applied to orders based on actual VAT rates and customs/import duties that are being applied in each specific country.

The computation of VAT, customs, and duties is a complicated topic, and, based on the actual amounts that have been levied on our shipments, our conclusion is that the VAT, customs, and duties are not uniformly calculated and levied even within the same country. Furthermore, while some countries do have specially designated categories of merchandise subject to beneficial or preferential tax treatment (such as books being imported into Norway), our experience is that there are certain minimum fees that are always applied. For that reason, Headstamp Publishing still incurs approximately $15 in fees in a 0% VAT country.

Please understand that we DO NOT make any attempt to profit off shipping charges and tax/fee charges. Our preference would be to charge nothing more than the cost of the book! We strive to charge exactly our actual costs, but our actual experience is that, in sum/net, we lose money on the cost of shipping compared to what we charge.

International Customer Responsibilities Regarding Delivery Attempts

In almost all cases, the international parcel carrier will be reaching out to the customer to arrange for final delivery of the parcel. Even if no customs/duties are due by the customer, the international carrier still is often required to have the customer complete basic importation paperwork.

International customers have the following responsibilities:

  1. Respond timely to communications from our international carrier (typically UPS).

  2. Stay informed of your parcel tracking and reach out to BOTH the shipper (Headstamp Publishing) and the carrier (typically UPS) if any issues are seen on the tracking.

  3. If you have not received tracking information within 3 days of placing your order, reach out to Headstamp Publishing using the CONTACT form on our website to ask for your tracking information. It is possible that your original tracking email went to your spam folder.

  4. Though we are making thorough attempts to pay for the VAT, customs, and duties on your parcel (for orders placed on or after March 22, 2025) so that it can deliver to you at no additional expense, there are going to be situations where VAT, customs, duties, or other fees are still assessed against your shipment. You the customer are responsible to pay any of those fees. Not responding to the carrier or not paying the fees does not make us responsible for these fees. Our company is based in the United States of America. We are simply not in a position to pay all local fees levied in your country or territory, and HEADSTAMP PUBLISHING LLC DISCLAIMS ALL RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PAYMENT OF VAT, CUSTOMS, DUTIES, AND ADDITIONAL FEES levied by any entity or organization outside of our original international carrier with whom we have contracted.

  5. Failure of the customer to respond in a timely manner to communications from our international carrier will typically result in either (a) storage of the parcel in a warehouse or (b) destruction of the parcel through a process referred to a “abandonment”.

  • In the event of warehousing the parcel, additional fees will typically be levied by the carrier or warehousing agent. These storage fees are the sole responsibility of the customer.

  • In the event of parcel abandonment/destruction, the loss of the parcel is the sole responsibility of the customer. Headstamp Publishing is under no obligation to replace the abandoned/destroyed parcel.

In the Event of Damages, Lost, or Undelivered Parcel

As-Is Condition:

All items in parcel that we ship internationally are shipped in an AS-IS condition. That means that Headstamp Publishing disclaims, and the customer acknowledges, that Headstamp Publishing is not responsible for any damaged or defective merchandise.

Lost/Stolen Parcels:

If an international parcel, or any contents therein, is lost or stolen, the sole recourse of the customer is for the customer to file a claim with the international carrier. Headstamp Publishing disclaims, and the customer acknowledges, that Headstamp Publishing is not responsible for any lost or stolen parcels or merchandise.

Undelivered Parcels:

If an international parcel is not delivered to the customer for any reason, including but not limited to customer rejects or otherwise fails to accept the parcel, customer does not reply in a timely manner to the carrier or carrier’s agent, carrier or carrier’s agent is not able to get into touch with the customer and therefore destroys or abandons the parcel, then the customer’s sole recourse may be to seek a refund utilizing the following equation:

Refundable Amount = total amount customer paid to Headstamp Publishing minus all shipping and fulfillment fees paid by Headstamp Publishing minus 25% of the retail price of each item in the parcel.

If the Refundable Amount is $0 or a negative number, then no amount shall be refunded by Headstamp Publishing to customer. Because it can take approximately 30 days for all customs and shipping fees to be calculated and billed to Headstamp Publishing by the international carrier, the customer agrees to wait as long as reasonably necessary for Headstamp Publishing to be able to quantify all related costs and expenses relevant to the calculation of the refund.

International Returns

International returns are NOT ACCEPTED in any situation. All merchandise is sold on an AS-IS basis and is not returnable or refundable.

Please understand that we want all of our customers to be happy with their products/merchandise, but the complex realities of international customs and exorbitant costs involved in shipping packages internationally make returns impracticable.