Bear in mind that most countries, particularly the US, have much higher limits before import taxes kick in than the we do. So unless you are sending high value items, marking the item as ‘gift’ has no benefit to the buyer anyway, it just puts you at risk.
(except Norway, they have a similar limit to ours, maybe slightly higher).
And for countries in the EU as far as I’m aware you don’t need to put a customs sticker on.
Just to back up the info Eileen @EileensCraftStudio has said.
You are definitely breaking the law if you mark something you have sold as a “gift” on the CN22.
It should be marked as “other” and the full price the customer has paid should be stated. It is my understanding that if you have charged separately for shipping, then you don’t need to include the shipping cost.
As Helen @HelenSmith says, there is no need to put a Customs (CN22) sticker on the parcel.
Shirley x
So yesterday I did some international stickers and actually they are infact quite vague aren’t they?..I ticked ‘other’ and felt pleased I wasn’t breaking any rules and regs.Thank you all. Xxx
I always tick other, its clearly not a gift if you are selling. I cant see what the point of ticking gift is as its the recipient of the item that is liable to pay any duty on the item, As far as I know the import amount for the USA is considerably higher than here in the UK. You just need to be clear that taxes are the responsibility of the buyer.
I rarely ship overseas but send quite a few orders from my local village post office so they know that I am sending craft items that I have sold. Today I took a parcel which was destined for USA and after asking what the contents were and the value the lady behind the counter filled in the form for me and ticked the “gift” box without even asking!
It’s been interesting reading this thread, I was told recently not to tick the other box by the lady that runs my local post office so that it gets through customs faster. Don’t get me wrong I still tick other as I just couldn’t afford any fines that may come my way, but I can understand why it’s something that a lot of people haven’t realised.
Unfortunately it has your signature on it, not hers (assuming she didn’t sign it too!) so you’re still responsible for it. I have my own little stock of blank labels at home, so I can complete them myself when needed. I’m sure half the PO staff don’t have a clue what they’re doing!
I think you’ve hit the nail on the head! It seems so obvious, doesn’t it, but just didn’t think the consequenses of getting it wrong were quite - well very - important! Xx
Norway’s import limit is equivalent of £20 and every single parcel is checked, so it can take several weeks to get to the customer.
I get asked to do this all. the. time. I have something saved that I send out if asked so I dont’ have to type it all out again. I"m not putting a lower value on the item and i’m not ticking ‘gift’. Unless you want to send me £2,000 deposit so I can pay the fine with it if caught… 
I once received negative feedback on eBay for being unhelpful - I had (politely) refused to declare their purchase as a gift. Like Denise, it’s something I get asked to do quite often.
Nowadays, I use PayPal postage, which prints the address label and the CN22 - the buyer’s address is already there, you just have to input the CN22 details, so it’s quite efficient. I’ve found this seems to have more acceptance with buyers since the information on the CN22 is printed - it must look more official to them! Seller still has to hand sign it of course.
Julie
I don’t think there is a ‘merchandise’ option?
Reading this has been really helpful. I already knew not to mark as a ‘gift’, even though I’ve been advised before by people to do just that, but I have been ticking the commercial sample box in error…so now I know!