General Ranting on Amazon

[AndreaDraco]

... I hate Amazon.com!

Almost everything I'm interested in can't be shipped to Italy, but only inside the US!

[Rudy]

Indeed, games can't be shipped outside the USA through Amazon. Another thing with Amazon is that you have no exact idea of how the item looks like, only a description but no pics. And worst of all, it's not an auction site, making it less likely to get a good deal and destroying the fun of bidding.

Meh... eBay is good enough for me.

[DeadPoolX]

There isn't an Italian version of Amazon.com? I know there's an alternate website for Canada, Germany, France, Japan, Australia and the UK.

As for shipping items outside the U.S., there will generally be a notice under Product details that reads: "This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S."

There's also a page within the "help" section called "International Shipping" that details how long it would take to ship an item from the U.S. to another country. Here's the European List and Italy is included.

As for games... well, I think Amazon recently changed their policies. Maia has ordered games from Amazon.com in the past. She can't do that today since Amazon.com won't ship games to Canada -- they want her to check out Amazon.ca instead. Unfortunately the selection at Amazon.ca isn't nearly what it is for Amazon.com, but at least I can use my Amazon.com account there too.

[Collector]

Being in the US makes the shipping no problem for me, but as Rudy said, it is hard to be sure what you are getting. This is especially in the case where there were multiple releases of a game, such as an AGI and an SCI release. Often the sellers have no idea what they have and Amazon does not make it easy to find contact information for the seller.

[Tawmis]

You could always find an American you trust, have it send to them, then you send them money (for the shipping cost), they send it to you.

[therogue]

Shipping stuff from the US can be problematic or at least expensive because of customs regulations.

[DeadPoolX]

Finding an American you trust wouldn't do much good -- not unless you can get them to pay for it, too. Amazon.com will recognize your credit card as "foreign" and not allow the purchase if whatever you're intending to get is prohibited from being sent outside the United States. If you can send it to other countries, then Amazon won't care.

Assuming everything works in your favor, make sure your friend writes that the item is a "gift" on the customs form. If it's labeled a gift, then the receiver shouldn't have to pay any duties, taxes or fees when getting it.

At least that's how it is for Canada. I'm not sure about other countries.

[Collector]

Finding an American you trust wouldn't do much good -- not unless you can get them to pay for it, too. Amazon.com will recognize your credit card as "foreign" and not allow the purchase if whatever you're intending to get is prohibited from being sent outside the United States. If you can send it to other countries, then Amazon won't care.

Assuming everything works in your favor, make sure your friend writes that the item is a "gift" on the customs form. If it's labeled a gift, then the receiver shouldn't have to pay any duties, taxes or fees when getting it.

At least that's how it is for Canada. I'm not sure about other countries.

Almirena knows this well. She had trouble getting a dealer to accept her card. She had to give me money to pay for for her. Of course PayPal took a health bite out of that deal, too.

[Rudy]

Occasionally, when an item is rare and the seller doesn't ship outside the US, i asked other moderators to help me out with a purchase on eBay. Usually it comes even cheaper as they don't charge extra for shipping to Europe. Usually marking it as gift is sufficient to avoid that customs opens it up but, for larger items it's better to be careful. They enjoy opening big boxes here, and if they find something which seems a bit too valuable for a gift, they'll contact you for sure.
The most annoying thing here is that they do not only charge import tax on the purchase value of the items, but also on shipping costs. Yes, on shipping costs, would you believe that?! Shipping costs from the US to Europe are usually more than the actual purchase value of the item too.

[Tawmis]

I was going to say, my wife and I do this frequently for Alm, also.
I trust, love and adore Alm - so she could tell me to jump off a bridge and I'd probably do it.

[DeadPoolX]

Occasionally, when an item is rare and the seller doesn't ship outside the US, i asked other moderators to help me out with a purchase on eBay. Usually it comes even cheaper as they don't charge extra for shipping to Europe. Usually marking it as gift is sufficient to avoid that customs opens it up but, for larger items it's better to be careful. They enjoy opening big boxes here, and if they find something which seems a bit too valuable for a gift, they'll contact you for sure.
The most annoying thing here is that they do not only charge import tax on the purchase value of the items, but also on shipping costs. Yes, on shipping costs, would you believe that?! Shipping costs from the US to Europe are usually more than the actual purchase value of the item too.

Like you said, customs likes to examine larger items in order to assure themselves that nothing illegal (i.e. weapons) are being shipped across the border. If you ship a desktop computer, they may open the package, but it's rare that they'd actually check it. It's often too much of a hassle to look through a desktop hard drive when they have other shipments to look into.

A laptop, however, is easy to check and so they often do. In fact, I wouldn't recommend bringing a laptop with you to the United States. USCIS tends to take laptops away from visitors to examine them. You may not get it back anytime soon, too.

I think the reason USCIS is so paranoid about laptops is because they've found terrorist plans and other potentially disastrous data on laptops before. I can't say I blame them, but it's certainly a nuisance to anyone visiting and wants their laptop handy.

Even without USCIS, when going through TSA, you'll have to place the laptop on the x-ray conveyor belt and/or turn it on. They also request you place cameras, camcorders and cell phones in the conveyor belt trays, but I never do that. If they want, they can inspect my bag and the camera or camcorder. I also stuff my cell phone into one of the carry-on bags.

Fortunately, CATSA is far more lenient in most cases, although they will check electronics (but at least you don't have to remove your shoes). I wish that same leniency carried over to CBSA. It doesn't and I've found they can be just as bad as USCIS.

As for shipping costs... well, I can understand why it's so much. Even shipping an item using regular mail, the costs are higher going to and from the U.S. and Canada (let alone Europe, Asia or Australia). Part of the reason is time needed in shipping and processing, customs inspection, changing services (USPS needs to hand the item over to Canada Post), and any duties, taxes and fees required of incoming or outgoing items.

It's a long and complicated process. Because of this, shipping fees can be astronomical. In all honesty, I'd rather the cost be higher than expected if the item arrives safely.

NOTE: I realize some here may not know all the abbreviations I used, so if you're interested in finding out, here they are:

1. USCIS - United States Customs and Immigration Service (which replaced INS) when DHS was created.

2. INS - Immigration and Naturalization Service

3. DHS - Department of Homeland Security

4. TSA - Transport Security Administration (also formed when DHS was created)

5. CATSA - Canadian Air Transport Security Authority

6. CBSA - Canadian Border Services Agency

7. USPS - United States Postal Service

As you can see, I've spent way too much time traveling back and forth between Canada and the United States.

[Almirena]

I have got to give a public thanks to Tawm and Aim, who have been so helpful to me for items that I've been asked to get but can't get outside the US.

And Collector was a godsend for a transaction recently. He was so patient and helpful...

I can't express how fantastic it is to have friends one can trust like this!

[Tawmis]

I have got to give a public thanks to Tawm and Aim, who have been so helpful to me for items that I've been asked to get but can't get outside the US.
I can't express how fantastic it is to have friends one can trust like this!

Well don't tell anyone but I kinda adore ya and worship ya! But shhhhhhh!

Honestly though, Alm - you're someone (dunno why or how) - that I just really respect and would bend over backwards to help if I could. (And even if I couldn't I am sure there's a long line of people who would be glad to bend me backwards!).

You're simply an amazing spirit and person!

And you're Australian.

How effin cool is that?