4 ms·

How exactly do you avoid customs when flying back? Electronics is cheaper in US but every time I fly back to Europe they check my bags.

kzrdude 6y ago
Which country? My friend just told me that the stuff they ordered in bulk from China to Europe entered the customs area in Hungary. In theory the customs rules are the same wherever you enter the EU, but I guess these companies have found a "port" where the checks are more lenient or less rigorous (saving time and money, not go to around the law). From anecdotes only, German customs are thorough, they check every parcel, and this is not the case all across the EU.
- adwww 6y ago
  In the UK I get every single parcel from the US intercepted, but I've never had anything intercepted when ordering from Hong Kong. In theory both the US and HK should be taxed the same. The most annoying thing is the Post Office charging a handling fee on top of any tax due...
vladvasiliu 6y ago
You have an allowance for "personal goods", such as a phone [0]. In this case it's probably borderline illegal (IANAL), but I suppose people would throw away the box and everything while abroad. Whenever I flew in France from outside the EU no one asked me where I bought my phone, laptop or camera. Anecdotally, several times I was carrying camera gear bought from the US because it was cheaper to pay for shipping + VAT + taxes than buying locally... [0] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=legissum%3Al11002 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=legissum...
crazygringo 6y ago
At least with Brazil, in practice you're allowed a single personal computer and phone. If you come back to the country with both your old phone and new phone you'll have problems. But if you leave without a phone or laptop, and come back with both, without packaging, with apps and files loaded and everything, and claim you'd brought them in Brazil originally, you're fine. So that's what people do. If you have a legitimate need to bring multiple devices to and fro, at one point there was a form you'd fill out at the airport when leaving where you'd put down serial numbers and they'd verify on return. With something like a PS4 it might be a little riskier, but you could probably spin some kind of story they'd accept, as long as it appears similarly used and not in packaging. ("I was visiting family and my nephew wanted to play PS4 so I brought mine for the week!")
- NullPrefix 6y ago
  >With something like a PS4 it might be a little riskier, but you could probably spin some kind of story they'd accept, as long as it appears similarly used and not in packaging. ("I was visiting family and my nephew wanted to play PS4 so I brought mine for the week!") Or you could say that you run Linux on that PS4 and that's your main PC.
perryizgr8 6y ago
If I'm buying the phone for myself there is no customs. Unless I try to claim that I bought 10 brand new Iphone 12 pros for my personal use...

kzrdude 6y ago

Which country? My friend just told me that the stuff they ordered in bulk from China to Europe entered the customs area in Hungary. In theory the customs rules are the same wherever you enter the EU, but I guess these companies have found a "port" where the checks are more lenient or less rigorous (saving time and money, not go to around the law). From anecdotes only, German customs are thorough, they check every parcel, and this is not the case all across the EU.

adwww 6y ago
In the UK I get every single parcel from the US intercepted, but I've never had anything intercepted when ordering from Hong Kong. In theory both the US and HK should be taxed the same. The most annoying thing is the Post Office charging a handling fee on top of any tax due...

vladvasiliu 6y ago

You have an allowance for "personal goods", such as a phone [0]. In this case it's probably borderline illegal (IANAL), but I suppose people would throw away the box and everything while abroad. Whenever I flew in France from outside the EU no one asked me where I bought my phone, laptop or camera. Anecdotally, several times I was carrying camera gear bought from the US because it was cheaper to pay for shipping + VAT + taxes than buying locally... [0] https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=legissum%3Al11002 https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=legissum...

crazygringo 6y ago

At least with Brazil, in practice you're allowed a single personal computer and phone. If you come back to the country with both your old phone and new phone you'll have problems. But if you leave without a phone or laptop, and come back with both, without packaging, with apps and files loaded and everything, and claim you'd brought them in Brazil originally, you're fine. So that's what people do. If you have a legitimate need to bring multiple devices to and fro, at one point there was a form you'd fill out at the airport when leaving where you'd put down serial numbers and they'd verify on return. With something like a PS4 it might be a little riskier, but you could probably spin some kind of story they'd accept, as long as it appears similarly used and not in packaging. ("I was visiting family and my nephew wanted to play PS4 so I brought mine for the week!")

NullPrefix 6y ago
>With something like a PS4 it might be a little riskier, but you could probably spin some kind of story they'd accept, as long as it appears similarly used and not in packaging. ("I was visiting family and my nephew wanted to play PS4 so I brought mine for the week!") Or you could say that you run Linux on that PS4 and that's your main PC.

perryizgr8 6y ago

If I'm buying the phone for myself there is no customs. Unless I try to claim that I bought 10 brand new Iphone 12 pros for my personal use...