[geeks] Silicon Valley expense information

[Geoffrey S. Mendelson]

On Wed, Feb 06, 2008 at 08:56:50AM -0500, Jonathan Katz wrote:

> It may work better to just use a PO box at a Mail Boxes ETC and VoIP  
> to forward a phone number as well as a fax forwarding service? The  
> Mail Boxes ETC can usually to basic faxing/scanninng for you, too.  
> Some of those services may seem pricey, but it's cheaper than real- 
> estate, business insurance, business license, etc.


Thanks, I was thinking of that. The problem I foresee is that a place like
Mailboxes ETC, charge a small fortune for forwarding mail overseas.

The person would have to open the boxes, inspect them for damage
and re-close them. They would have to fill out the customs paperwork
so that Israeli customs would charge the minimum import duty and
require the minimum paperwork. 

My wife used to use a service that did this but the cost was almost as much as
the items themselves. She used it for her work as a school librarian because
Amazon will not ship used books outside the U.S.
 
I want to be able to claim that it is U.S. company and have a real
address, etc. The development would be done in Israel, but that
would be a subsidiary, not the main company. 

I don't really need an office, a cubicle in an office suite, where you
pay by the "workstation" would do.

As for VoIP, Sammy Ominsky (from this list) runs the Israeli side of
a company called OlehPhone which provides exactly that kind of service.

I had Vonage, but over the years their connectivity to Israel has
declined and effectively their service went from wonderful to miserable.

Geoff.

-- 
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, Jerusalem, Israel gsm at mendelson.com  N3OWJ/4X1GM
IL Voice: (07)-7424-1667 U.S. Voice: 1-215-821-1838 
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