I want to buy an item in the US because I can't find it here(Excalibur food deshydrator).

The cost would be app 300/400 us$ + shipping.

I've read a lot of thing about buying overseas, some says the customs will rip you off, some say nothing has happened.

It's difficult to figure out what the reality is.

What I've read so far :

- Ask a friend to bring it whith him. Cheapest, safest, unfortunatly I don't know anyone living in the US.

- Ask to the seller to make a fake invoice to pay minimun tax. Ok but what if he doesn't want or said yes but don't do it, then I have to paid full tax.

- Ask the sellor to send it as a warranty replacement. Is it really working ?

- Send it by fedex, lot of poeple say that it's very expensive and then they receive a invoice of 40%

- Send it by normal post and remove the original paquet to make it look as second hand. They can lose the paquet, but it may pass the custom with no tax.

So what do you think about it ?

My second question is where I will have to go to pick up my item ? At the post office ? at the custom ?

Thank for your answer.

Nobody had this experience?

You do realize you will need a power converter for this machine? US uses 110v.

The brand I want make a special model 220v to ship overseas.

But thank for the information.

If the seller won't ship overseas you only have two options. Get a friend or relative to mail it for you

If you have a US residence address then you can contract with a mail forwarding service to have them re-mail it for you. One such service is Shipito, here: http://www.shipito.com/

If you do ship it, use regular US mail to minimize the chance that you will have to pay duty since private carriers are a magnet for customs inspection here in Thailand

That should answer your second question. If shipped to you and not diverted by Customs it will be delivered to the address to which it was shipped, if stopped and inspected by Customs you will have to go to the post office to pay and claim it

The only thing I don't understand is why the vendor is providing "international" items but will not ship overseas !

And finally, if it is stopped at Thai customs and inspected, having " remove(d) the original paquet to make it look as second hand " makes no difference to Customs, they will assess duties and VAT based upon what they feel it is worth so the secret is to try and get them to not even look at it in the first place

Thank you for your advices.

I think I will try to have it sent by normal mail.

I'm ready to pay the customs anyway as this is for a present, I don't care.

let see what happens