Mailing items home

If I mail something home, from the UK to the USA, will it be held in NY until I pay a customs charge?

Or am I living in the past?

Pat.

Your customs allowance only applies to items accompanying you into the US, so duty is owed on items shipped home.

There's no duty if your items originated in the States. After an eastbound QE2 crossing we mailed all of our formalwear home. The package was held for duty. Once we provided documentation showing the items originated from the States (which, fortunately, we had) they were released.

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We are considering the QM2 as an enjoyable way to get to Europe without the jet lag. We will then be doing a bike tour and other ground activities. We won't want to drag formal wear around Europe with us. I would like to know how you shipped your formal wear home and what qualified as proof for the duty. These are not new items so I certainly don't still have receipts.

I also won't be stopping back in NY so I assume they will be held at the post office near my home, correct?