Sorry should have said import duty of 30% plus 7% vat.
So work out the price on e bay and the postal and import cost and it can be worthwhile for those things you cant get here.
Ttm
The eBay thread
Re: The eBay thread
Haven't seen this mentioned yet. Bottom line is it's now much easier for selected ebay sellers in the US and UK to sell and ship internationally.
The service, called Global Shipping Program started last fall in the US, last week in the UK. In short, sellers ship their goods to a central shipping center which handles all the customs and international shipping tasks. In the US the service is through an independent company, Pitney Bowes. No idea about the UK setup.
Right now it's available to selected shippers on an invitation only basis. I figure the limited number of sellers is to work the bugs out while pissing off as few sellers and buyers as possible. As a buyer, I hope they picked sellers because of their stellar reputation, but who knows.
Current countries available for US sellers: Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Slovakia, Slovenia, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom.
On a somewhat related note, http://www.rakuten.ne.jp is a combination of eBay and the former buy.com, that is auctions, closeouts and a way for small and not so small firms to sell online. I picked up some small, inexpensive genuine Suzuki musical instrument parts. The cost plus shipping was 1/2 the cost of the product alone on US and Aussie sites. Obviously savings, if any, will differ by product. But they do have stuff I've never seen elsewhere and the distance shipped is much shorter.
The service, called Global Shipping Program started last fall in the US, last week in the UK. In short, sellers ship their goods to a central shipping center which handles all the customs and international shipping tasks. In the US the service is through an independent company, Pitney Bowes. No idea about the UK setup.
Right now it's available to selected shippers on an invitation only basis. I figure the limited number of sellers is to work the bugs out while pissing off as few sellers and buyers as possible. As a buyer, I hope they picked sellers because of their stellar reputation, but who knows.
Current countries available for US sellers: Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Indonesia, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Portugal, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Slovakia, Slovenia, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom.
On a somewhat related note, http://www.rakuten.ne.jp is a combination of eBay and the former buy.com, that is auctions, closeouts and a way for small and not so small firms to sell online. I picked up some small, inexpensive genuine Suzuki musical instrument parts. The cost plus shipping was 1/2 the cost of the product alone on US and Aussie sites. Obviously savings, if any, will differ by product. But they do have stuff I've never seen elsewhere and the distance shipped is much shorter.