parcel to the USA

[FurryFeet]

I have a large padded envelope that contains various items to be sent from the UK to the USA , will the post office want to have a look at the items before i seal the package

[Grunty]

They never look at the ones I send, and I always seal them at home.  But they might ask you to fill in a customs declaration.  All this requires is what is inside and the value, e.g. book, �10.  You can make up a value if you want to.  If you want to hide the value from the recipient, you can call it 50p.

[kempie]

These quotes from HM Revenue & Customs

"For sending a package to any country outside the EU...  you must complete and affix a customs declaration (CN22, CN23 or a Parcelforce Worldwide Despatch Pack incorporating the CN23) which you can obtain from the Post Office."

"Under international postal agreements the sender must complete a customs declaration (CN22 or CN23) which in most cases should be affixed to the package. The declaration includes a description of the goods, the value and whether they are gifts or commercial items. Any Post Office should be able to give advice to the sender."

"If no declaration is made, or the information is inaccurate, the package may be delayed while further enquiries are made, or in some cases the package and its contents may be seized."
 

[curiosity]

The post office will give you a customs declaration sticker to complete. You will need to post as a "gift" even as a gift I think anything over the value of �36 carries extra charges, not 100% though, haven't posted for a while. royalmail.com will have all the answers.

[Mrs_Pegasus]

I post regularly to the US.

You will need to fill in the green customs sticker as others have said and fill in a brief description of the goods.  I normally just write something very simple and put a nominal amount of �10.  I think they would question large bulky items for obvious reasons.