For instance: this is a trick (some) Chinese vendors do when exporting to countries who have low or no de-minimis thresholds meaning they impose tariffs regardless. Like if the seller knows the item is worth 500€ in reality (but declares it as 10€ on the form) along with falsely stating the entire package is has a commercial value of only 100€ (on the declaration they intentionally put false info by saying everything is 100€).
It’s why sites equivalent to Temu or Shein face backlash for allowing the exploitation of de-minimis (no wonder why EU is rescinding the 150€ limit) as sellers on those kinds of sites price most things as 5€ on the listing. The US no longer has de-minimis as of 2025 (blame the orange man for removing it) & Canada sets a firm limit on C$20 for most international shipments (C$150 for shipments coming from US & Mexico specifically).
Probably. It’s lying. If you ship a car and try to pass it off as a toaster, for example, they will probably need to call a manager.
Most likely you’ll have to pay a charge when signing for it.
Yes, but…
A package can only be insured for the amount it’s declared as. So if a shipper sends you a PS5 and says it’s worth $5, and that package is lost or destroyed, the insurance will only cough up $5. And it’s the receiver that’s fucked, not the merchant.
I’ve gotten tons of packages over the over that were “USB accessory” with a value of $1.05. It was all kinds of shit worth under 5 bucks. Shipper being lazy because it didn’t matter. But when you go over that, they have always been more accurate about what they put on the label in my experience.