How to Complete the Send My Bag Personal Effects Form (CBP 3299)

The Send My Bag personal effects form is a digital packing list and customs declaration you complete inside your online customer area after booking, and if your shipment is heading to the United States you also fill out CBP Form 3299, the federal declaration that qualifies unaccompanied belongings for duty-free entry. Both documents tell border officers the same thing in different formats: this is used personal property, not commercial merchandise. Getting them right is what separates a smooth delivery from a bag sitting in a bonded warehouse while storage fees pile up.

What to Have Ready Before You Start

The online form asks for everything at once, so gather these first:

Your passport or government ID. Your full name and passport number tie the shipment to you as a traveler rather than an importer.
Pickup and delivery addresses with postal codes and a local phone number at each end. Customs uses the destination number if they need to reach you during clearance.
A detailed inventory with quantities and current values. “Clothing” won’t do; you need lines like “4 used cotton shirts” or “1 pair worn leather shoes.”
The reason you’re shipping: permanent move, study abroad, returning from a trip, or sending belongings ahead of a relocation. This determines which duty exemption applies.

For anything entering the United States, CBP Form 3299 also asks for your date of arrival in the country, the port where you cleared customs, your U.S. address, and the carrier name and bill-of-lading or tracking number for the shipment.¹ If you don’t yet have a permanent address in the U.S., CBP accepts a business address or a relative’s address as long as the government can reach you there.

Filling Out the Send My Bag Packing List

After you book, Send My Bag’s system prompts you to complete a packing list (sometimes called a pro-forma customs invoice) directly in the online customer area. If your destination country requires a separate personal effects declaration, that document appears in the same portal.² The form itself is short. You pick item categories, enter quantities, and assign estimated values.

Describe Items Specifically

Vague entries are the most common reason a shipment gets pulled for manual inspection. “Clothes” tells a customs officer nothing. “6 used cotton T-shirts” and “2 pairs worn running shoes” tell them exactly what to expect when they open the bag. Include the material, the condition (used, worn), and the quantity for each line. Officers can then match the physical contents to your declaration without dismantling the packing job.

Value Items at What They’re Worth Now

Every item needs a declared value, and that number should reflect what the item would realistically sell for today, not what you paid originally. A jacket you bought for $200 three years ago might fetch $30 in a thrift store now. Thirty dollars is what goes on the form.

Overstating doesn’t help you. It can push your shipment above thresholds that trigger duties or extra filing requirements. Understating can trigger penalties if an officer thinks you’re dodging taxes. Antiques, heirlooms, and artwork are the trickiest because there may be no obvious comparable sale, and customs authorities generally prohibit arbitrary or fictitious values. If you’re shipping something like a family heirloom, get a written appraisal before you ship. It gives the officer a defensible number and protects you from a surprise valuation.

CBP Form 3299 for Shipments Entering the U.S.

If your belongings are heading to the United States and not traveling with you on the same flight or vessel, you also need CBP Form 3299, the Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles. It’s a federal form, separate from anything Send My Bag generates, and it’s the document that actually qualifies your goods for duty-free treatment. You can download the current version from the CBP website.³

The form has three parts. Part I collects your identity, U.S. address, arrival information, and a description of the shipment: number and type of containers, carrier name, and bill of lading number. Part II covers most travelers (returning residents, immigrants, nonresidents, and students) and asks about your residency status, how long you used the items abroad, and which duty-free eligibility category fits your situation. Part III applies only to U.S. government personnel and evacuees, who attach a copy of their travel orders.¹

Who Qualifies for Duty-Free Entry

The rule most people rely on is 19 CFR 148.52, which allows household furnishings and effects to enter duty-free if you actually used them abroad for at least one year. That year of use doesn’t have to be continuous, and it doesn’t have to be the year immediately before importation.⁴ Household effects less than a year old that aren’t accompanying you are subject to the normal duty rate for each item’s tariff classification.⁵

You have up to 10 years after your last arrival from the country where the goods were used to import them duty-free. Beyond 10 years you can still request an exemption by explaining unavoidable circumstances to the port director. After 25 years, duty-free entry is off the table entirely.⁵

Nonresidents (students and temporary visitors included) qualify under a different provision, 19 CFR 148.42, which allows duty-free entry for articles the nonresident actually owned and possessed abroad before leaving for the United States. The items must be for the nonresident’s personal use, not gifts for others and not for resale.⁴

What the Form Doesn’t Cover

CBP Form 3299 and the duty-free exemption don’t apply to items intended for sale, items purchased on commission for someone else, or commercial samples. Declaring commercial goods as personal effects is where people get into real trouble. Penalties for undeclared dutiable articles start at three times the applicable duty for a first offense and can climb to six or eight times the duty when there are aggravating factors such as concealment or prior offenses.⁶ The goods can also be seized.

Items You Can’t Include

A perfectly filled-out form won’t save a shipment that contains prohibited items. Send My Bag doesn’t accept aerosols, and its rules on toiletries vary by route, so check the prohibited items list for your specific destination before you pack.⁷ Plastic bags and plastic boxes also aren’t accepted as shipping containers.

Broader international shipping rules prohibit:

Flammable and explosive materials, including gasoline, ammunition, fireworks, and lighter fluid.
Pressurized containers such as aerosol cans, hairspray, and spray deodorant.
Alcohol-based liquids, including perfumes containing alcohol and alcoholic beverages.
Cannabis products, including CBD oil and hemp items, regardless of legality at either end.
Mercury-containing items like older thermometers, barometers, and certain compact fluorescent bulbs.
Poisons and toxic substances.

Some destinations add restrictions on food, animal products, or medications. Check the destination country’s customs website before finalizing the packing list.

When You Also Have to File EEI

If you’re shipping personal or household goods out of the United States to a country other than Canada, and the total value exceeds $2,500 per Schedule B classification number, you must file Electronic Export Information (EEI) with the U.S. Census Bureau through the Automated Export System before the shipment leaves.⁸ Shipments at or below $2,500 per classification are exempt, and shipments to Canada are exempt unless another mandatory requirement applies.

Most people sending a suitcase of clothes and shoes stay well under the threshold. If you’re relocating with electronics, musical instruments, or other higher-value items, add the declared values carefully. Failing to file when required can bring penalties from the Census Bureau.⁹

Attaching the Paperwork and What Comes Next

Print the finalized documents once you’ve completed them online. Sign the printed customs declaration in black ink; most international shipping protocols require a manual signature. Slide the signed paperwork into a clear plastic sleeve or packing-list envelope and attach it securely to the outside of the bag or box. The forms need to stay visible and separate from tracking labels so officers can read them without opening the package.¹⁰

From there, the carrier or its customs broker presents the documentation to border officers on your behalf. For U.S.-bound shipments, that generally means the broker submits your CBP Form 3299 and packing list to the port of entry. Most shipments in a clearance event finish processing within 24 to 72 hours once required information is provided, and then take another 24 to 72 hours to re-enter the delivery network and reach your door.²

If Something on the Form Gets Flagged

If an officer finds a discrepancy between your declaration and the contents (missing items, undeclared items, or values that look off) they may call the phone number on the form. Answer quickly. If customs can’t reach you, or you don’t provide what they ask for, the shipment can be held in a bonded warehouse where storage fees accumulate daily. Treat any customs inquiry as urgent.

If items qualify for duty-free entry under the exemption you claimed, you pay nothing beyond what you paid Send My Bag for shipping. If some items don’t qualify (too new, intended for resale, or not properly documented) those get assessed at the normal duty rate, and Send My Bag notes on its customs page that any resulting duties, taxes, or local inspection fees are the shipper’s responsibility. Accurate paperwork and a reachable phone number are what keep the handoff clean.

1
U.S. Customs and Border Protection. Instructions for CBP Form 3299 – Declaration for Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles
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Send My Bag. Customs Information
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection. CBP Form 3299 – Declaration of Free Entry of Unaccompanied Articles
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eCFR. 19 CFR Part 148 – Personal Declarations and Exemptions
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection. What Is the Process to Move My Used Household Goods
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eCFR. 19 CFR Part 171 – Fines, Penalties, and Forfeitures
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Send My Bag. Items Not Allowed
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U.S. Customs and Border Protection. How to Submit an Electronic Export Information (EEI)
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U.S. Census Bureau. Frequently Asked Questions of the Foreign Trade Regulations
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Send My Bag. How Do I Secure Labels to a Bag Without Label Holders