Sending a phone from USA to Poland

Hi, I want to send my girlfriend a smartphone.

If anyone has done something similar before, I need advice. What's the best way to do this? UPS? Fedex?

Does the phone have to have a Euro CE marking? If it doesn't have it, will it be destroyed by customs?

Also, I'm curious about import taxes? Or will she have to pay any fees?

I'm not finding any clear answers online, so any help would be appreciated.

I would be more concerned about it being stolen by them rather than being destroyed.

Try and disguise it and ship it along with some other items.


I use this company polamerusa.com if you live close to Chi-NY?

Don't use USPS they charge way too much!

I have had my own phone sent FedEx to me after I left it in a hotel. No problems but was not cheap. In the current climate I think you might have some risk of it being opened and detained at customs - Poland has recently introduced legislation to control registration of SIM cards.

Joker is right that if you use ordinary mail you have a risk of theft. If with FedEx etc then probably not a big risk.

In your case however it would be much easier to order one online from a Polish shop like Media Markt or Media Expert - they deliver and they offer unlocked smartphones and it would then come with the European power cables too. Alternatively just wire some money to your girlfriend because shops like Teletorium and TelAkces are in every mall, even in smaller towns and have a good range of unlocked smartphones.

Thanks for the answers. I really appreciate it. I already have a smartphone I'm not using, so it's more economical for me to send what I have.

If I pursue sending it via Fedex, I guess to buy some type of insurance for the risk of theft?

Should I declare it in the customs form that it's a phone? So, if it's stolen, I can get money back? Or should I send it with other items and hide it?

Thanks again for all the help.

UPS delivers from the U.S.A. to Poland also.
Your package would be insured.
You would have to find out of up to what amount of value that you can send duty free.
A trip or call to the Fed Ex or UPS office might answer some of your questions.
I know UPS is not cheap either.
They all have tracking codes that you can follow your package on your personal computer hourly.
Take a vacation to Poland and kill two birds with one stone is an idea too.

Most care should be put on the LTE bands the phone supports. There is quite a distinction between the frequencies used stateside vs. Poland: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LTE_frequency_bands

LTE bands 1, 3, 7, and 20 are not at all covered by some (most) phones sold stateside because providers there are using different frequencies.

Even with the same model, there can be significant differences. The Samsung Galaxy S8 SM-G950P will not work in Poland, the Galaxy S8 SM-G9500 will work fine. Check the model you want to ship here: frequencycheck.com