Shipping internationally

I'm hoping to sell a few ukes in the coming months and would like to offer international shipping (from the Pacific Northwest). Any Cites regulations that would affect a private party sale of a rosewood uke?

Happy weekend UU

Absolutely, All Rosewood must be documented or can he seized by customs

I was hoping perhaps it only applied to those in the business of selling instruments. Thanks

These links should be helpful.

https://www.fws.gov/international/p...appendix-II-timber-listings-December-2016.pdf
https://reverb.com/news/the-relatively-painless-way-to-deal-with-cites
https://reverb.com/news/new-cites-regulations-for-all-rosewood-species

Thanks Jerry.. I suppose then I violated the rule when I sold a Ko'olau to a UU member in New Zealand last year.. (Koa concert with a rosewood fingerboard).

In addition to CITES restricted woods, shipping Mother of Pearl in/out of the country is an issue for the Fish & Wildlife Service. I recently had a uke seized and it was a pain in the arse to get it released, but fortunately I did.

Hence why I asked Allen McFarlan to craft my last Uke with CITIES restrictions free materials.

Some countries more or less ignore CITES, at least for small shipments, but most European countries are fairly strict. The UK seems to be the most strict with it's enforcement of the law.

hoosierhiver said:

Some countries more or less ignore CITES, at least for small shipments, but most European countries are fairly strict. The UK seems to be the most strict with it's enforcement of the law.

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I have bought and sold 4 used instruments with rosewood to and from Canada and the US. and never had an issue. I may have got lucky and I realize there are restrictions in place. My sons girl friend actually works for Canadian Border Security in Vancouver. I asked her about CITES and she had no idea what I was talking about. She said all they are looking for is, guns, drugs, money and illegal immigrants.

I just want to add to downupdave reply to this topic
I recently purchased a guitar that has rosewood back. It is brand new coming from a music shop in New York State . It was posted through US post then Canada Post . I was charged with the usual custom due! The custom declaration form did not ask for the type of wood. All it asked was content and value of the package.
If a full size guitar with a big rosewood back made it through I don’t see how a little uke would peak custom attention.

DownUpDave said:

I have bought and sold 4 used instruments with rosewood to and from Canada and the US. and never had an issue. I may have got lucky and I realize there are restrictions in place. My sons girl friend actually works for Canadian Border Security in Vancouver. I asked her about CITES and she had no idea what I was talking about. She said all they are looking for is, guns, drugs, money and illegal immigrants.

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Yes, from my experience, the US and Canada generally don't check incoming ukuleles for CITES compliance.

Good info. Thank you all. Bummer about the UK- I saw a WTB post from someone in the UK looking for the uke I was considering selling. Glad to hear our neighbors to the north are not wound too tight on the issue.

I had a bad experience recently buying a bass uke with rosewood fretboard and bridge from Aquila in Italy. It took 2 weeks for them to inform me that the bass had been shipped. I watched tracking for two weeks as it went around that part of Italy, landing back at Aquila. When I questioned what happened, Luc said UPS couldn't complete the shipping, so he said they will use another shipper. Another two weeks went by with no update on the tracking for days until it showed up, but when I opened the partly crunched box, the bass was cracked in three places on top from the tail to the bridge, the binding was broken and sticking up at the tail strap button and the ABS body was cracked next to the button. Obviously someone dropped it hard on that end of the box.

I immediately sent an email with photos, which Luca answered the next day apologizing, that they've never had a problem shipping to the US, they would send another and don't return the damaged one, not worth the shipping cost to them. I waited a week and heard nothing, emailed and Luca said they're waiting for the Ministry Office. Another week went by, I emailed, he said that US Customs returned it to them because of CITES, so they're going to give me a refund.

Being that the first one was sent, I think it's all bull, seems they don't want to spend the shipping cost and have to lose the income of a second bass. I'm going to live with the cracked bass, which I now modified with steel flatwound strings instead of the stock Thunder Reds, adding a tailpiece to accommodate the longer strings and higher tension.

kohanmike said:

I had a bad experience recently buying a bass uke with rosewood fretboard and bridge from Aquila in Italy. It took 2 weeks for them to inform me that the bass had been shipped. I watched tracking for two weeks as it went around that part of Italy, landing back at Aquila. When I questioned what happened, Luc said UPS couldn't complete the shipping, so he said they will use another shipper. Another two weeks went by with no update on the tracking for days until it showed up, but when I opened the partly crunched box, the bass was cracked in three places on top from the tail to the bridge, the binding was broken and sticking up at the tail strap button and the ABS body was cracked next to the button. Obviously someone dropped it hard on that end of the box.

I immediately sent an email with photos, which Luca answered the next day apologizing, that they've never had a problem shipping to the US, they would send another and don't return the damaged one, not worth the shipping cost to them. I waited a week and heard nothing, emailed and Luca said they're waiting for the Ministry Office. Another week went by, I emailed, he said that US Customs returned it to them because of CITES, so they're going to give me a refund.

Being that the first one was sent, I think it's all bull, seems they don't want to spend the shipping cost and have to lose the income of a second bass. I'm going to live with the cracked bass, which I now modified with steel flatwound strings instead of the stock Thunder Reds, adding a tailpiece to accommodate the longer strings and higher tension.

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I believe them. I personally know those guys, they are honest. Italy is definitely one of the other European countries that I have heard CITES stories about ( Denmark, Belgium also come to mind). It is also true that UPS and FedEx will demand documentation now if they know CITES wood is involved, they don't want any trouble.

hoosierhiver said:

I believe them. I personally know those guys, they are honest. Italy is definitely one of the other European countries that I have heard CITES stories about ( Denmark, Belgium also come to mind). It is also true that UPS and FedEx will demand documentation now if they know CITES wood is involved, they don't want any trouble.

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I can verify what Mike just said about FedEx. I was shipping something and they asked the questions about restricted wood types and I had to confirm there were not any.

hoosierhiver said:

I believe them. I personally know those guys, they are honest.

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I overreacted with my post, I've had good correspondence with Mimmo in the past. When I calmed down, I thought about it and since I'm keeping the damaged bass and will use it (I'm going to take it to my repair guy who should be able to fix the damage), I offered to take a half refund. Mimmo replied that he wants to figure out a way to send me another one, but I replied that's not necessary and a half refund is fine with me. Waiting for a reply.

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