Originally Posted by
Batman's brother
Thanks all for the insights. To clear up several misconceptions. TVs are NOT cheaper here. They are 40-50% more expensive because duties are added on top of shipping costs. These duties apply to any shipping service such as Amazon, FedEx or the others mentioned. Also, I know US TVs work here I have two from COSTCO that came in a container.
My savings come 'cause I get a personal exemption (as does everyone) up to $500, so no duty would be charged. Thus a baggage checked TV would only cost me the $100 oversized charge. I get two bags free and TVs don't trigger the overweight fee.
Finally, yes this seems a little goofy even to me, but I've seen it done in the Middle East, and several people here report they've done it. Again, thanks all for the insights. Still exploring...
Might your brother Batman be able to do it cheaper and safer?
I know the Canadian customs form has an "item to follow" thing when one enters the country. Can you do that for where you are?
The closest experience I had was shipping a bread maker. It arrived fine. Some of the advises I got were:
1 - not only you need to worry about the baggage handlers, you need to worry about TSA
2 - I got conflicting information on whether to label it fragile. Some say that some baggage handlers enjoy throwing fragile boxes around. In your case, I guess it is hard to disguise the box
Also, to those who are discussing NTSC vs. PAL, don't HDTVs have different standards? (Still different but not the old way. Taiwan, for example, is on NTSC for analogue but went with the European standard, whatever that is, for digital.)