[geeks] Blue and White G3's, was iPod broke my computer

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

On Tue, Jan 17, 2006 at 04:03:35PM -0500, Joshua Boyd wrote:

> Shipping aside, how hard is it for you to get stuff there, from, say the
> US?  I would hope that you wouldn't have the troubles that some
> countries do of customs stealing everything of value.  Are the import
> fees excessively high?  

It depends upon how it arrives and and how it is documented. For example,
things sent by post office under about $100 including shiping arrive tax
free. The limit is supposed to be $50, but they tend to be flexible on it.

Computers are taxed at 16.5% of the declared or their estimated value.
I once got screwed because someone sent me a used cdrom drive and some
powerbook parts that did not "look" used and I was forced to pay a
large import duty on what the guy in customs thought they should be worth.

He could not understand why someone would pay $25 to ship parts that
cost $30.

There is also a one or two are ok for personal use, three and more MUST
be for business philosphy. So you could send me two 300gig hard drives
and I'll get them with little hassle, but if you sent me a box of 10
1gig drives that you bought for $10 at a flea market, I would be forced
to get an import permit and pay duty on them at their expected value of
$150-$200 each.

Things sent via courier service such as FEDEX, UPS and DHL are taxed at
the MAXIMUM possible rate plus clearing costs. An example would be 
a $100 printer sent by airmail via the post office with two color ink
cartriges in it would be taxed at 16.5% if they taxed it at all,
while a single $25 ink cartridge sent by post office would not
be taxed either, by UPS it would be taxed at 110% (it's an office
supply) plus VAT (16.5%) on the cost of the cartridge, shipping and clearing
fees.

Usually things do arrive, but books seem to disapear the most.

Then there is the story of the 10 U.S. only cell phones I bought from
someone over the internet for $50.  :-(

The most popular way of shipping things is ask a tourist to bring them
for you,

Geoff.
-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm at mendelson.com  N3OWJ/4X1GM
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