so just wondering if anyone has any tips for this?

we are traveling from australia to france and have some tshirts and 7"s we need to take over.

would we be cool to avoid customs with this shit or should we just accept that we will have to pay import/sales tax or whatever we're supposed to? could we just say the stuff is worth a lot less than it is?

the other thing is that we will be taking much more than we expect to sell in france. will they expect us to pay tax even on the stuff we wont be selling? we are then catching the eurostar from paris to london. would we have any problems with customs here?

what do those of you who tour abroad usually do with your merch?
I have no idea with this stuff so any advice would be great.

oh yeah, one idea that I have is that we put the shirts in with our regular clothing rather than in a merch bag etc.

UK are dicks about the shit. My experience is that EU doesn't really care. UK are sticklers for work permits, etc. EU not so much. YMMV.

Divvy everything up between band members and pack everything in your luggage. Worked for me.

You might have problems with customs in France but I reckon it's highly unlikely with T-shirts. Divvy them up, and if you get rumbled just say they aren't worth much (or anything? you give them away? might work).
Travelling inside the EU is fine and you won't have to pay tax on anything, though they do search your bags on the Eurostar.

Make sure you put all pedals and leads in one bag, which will then look exactly like a bomb on x-ray - better to get one bag searched all the time than all your bags and instruments.

Definitely make sure you have work permits, or a proven strategy to evade customs everywhere you go. My band flew into Manchester last fall to play 2 weeks in the UK. They deported us and the whole tour was cancelled. It was hell.

we have work visas for the uk, not for france but I have been told they don't really give a damn.

so with work visas for the UK is it possible to bypass customs? I was also under the impression that the eurostar would be the easiest bit to get though. guess not.

maybe with the 7"s etc we just cop it and say there are worth like 1€ each. like come, it's a record. no one uses them no more...

oh yeah, what about this... we will have work visas for the uk, eurostar tickets, and UK bank account info. could we say to customs in france that we are holiday there for two weeks, no shows, and then moving to the UK??

h8 m0dems wrote:oh yeah, what about this... we will have work visas for the uk, eurostar tickets, and UK bank account info. could we say to customs in france that we are holiday there for two weeks, no shows, and then moving to the UK??

Could be worth a go. Maybe say you are recording somewhere in France with a friend might be more convincing. Work out a story. Have addresses and names ready. Don't have all your French gig details with you in your bags - get it all ready on webmail, then print it out as soon as you get the chance.

Every bit of experience I have had with customs all over the world suggests either a) work out a well-planned, watertight, rock solid story. or b) just tell the truth. Anything that breaks down quickly under questioning might get you into more trouble.

Have a nose around on the internet about taking commercial samples into the EU and the UK. I reckon saying you give everything away as promotional items might be an angle to explore.

yep cool.
I am a good liar so as long as no one else does any talking we will be fine.

As for the shirts, say that they're your own shirts. as for the 7", say that you're giving them to a friend, as a present.

btw, fancy playing in Israel?

yes, sure. why not.