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

[Joshua Boyd]

On Wed, Jan 18, 2006 at 12:08:38AM +0200, Geoffrey S. Mendelson wrote:

> 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,

I am amazed.  I hear stories like that (and sometimes worse) about
Argentina, Hondoras, Romania, Turkey, and other places, but still I'm
rather surprised that Israel is like that.  

That said, it sounds like single items under $50 shouldn't cause you
trouble, and to me that sounds like getting a UW-SCSI card for the Mac,
and a pair of 50gig drives shipped seperately wouldn't be too much
trouble. 

But, if the mac is not a priority, then who cares.  Because I'm sure it
can still use network storage just fine, and really how hard are gige
cards likely to be to get locally?

-- 
Joshua D. Boyd
jdboyd at jdboyd.net
http://www.jdboyd.net/
http://www.joshuaboyd.org/