Am I going to have a problem w/ customs
 

I wasnt sure which forum to post this so if I got it wrong, I apologize in advance....

A Brazilian friend of mine has asked me to buy something here in the US and bring it to Germany where we are scheduled to meet next week. apparently a DVD player and installation kit for a Land Rover is three times the price in Brazil so I plan to lay out some US$1700 for it here and bring it over.

1 - Would you advise against doing this and if so, how strongly?

2 - Were I to proceed with the plan, woudl best course of action be to break down all the extraneous packaging and put it in my carry-on bag? I'm flying continental from EWR to FRA next week.

I'm kinda thinking that once Newark securing screens my carry-on and concludes that its not a bomb that they'll let me proceed. I'm also suspecting that German customs will not pay me any attention and that I'll happily stroll thru there stations with 'nothing to declare'.

What do all you experts advise? Is there room here to take a chance?

Thanks very much!!
LAR

The one time I've been stopped at German customs was with my skis in March. The agent proceeded to carfully inspect each ski to see they weren't new (they were obviously used) and allowed me to proceed. I would not worry too much about it.

I've taken tons of stuff to the UK - it's pounds for dollars on electronics. Nobody at security ever cared. I tried to leave it packaged as much as possible, put it at the top of the bag (carryone), and told the screeners "there is a 4-Track DAT recorder in my bag" so they wouldn't be surprised.

i'd make sure your friend was 'prepared' to cover the cost IF you get duty charged _ it could be as much as $800

Are you aware that, in general, DVD players from North America will not play DVDs marketed in Brazil, and vice-versa?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD#Region_codes

Also, part of Brazil uses a different standard for video than the US (PAL vs. NTSC)... I think this is more a function of the data on the DVD rather than the DVD player itself, but I'm not very clear on that. I'll post more if I find out...

I found the bible on the subject:
http://hometheater.about.com/cs/dvdl...gioncodesa.htm

USD 1700 is way above your customs allowance, so you will be breaking the law.

I agree with others that you are likely to get away with it because they don't do a lot of checking.

Having lived and worked in Brasil for five years a few years back and having now visited Europe in general and "cleared" customs in Frankfurt many times, IMHO, the principal threat is upon your friend's return to Brasil. (Please be aware that I only cleared customs in Rio and San Paulo as part of my travels to Miami about every two months during this period.Thus I can not comment on entry issues in other gateways into Brasil.)

Good luck :)

Most DVD players available in the USA aren't made here. Most of them will play NTSC & PAL and they will also play all region codes. You'll likely have to set the region code when you first turn it on and you may be limited on the number of times you can change it. DVD players are not the "fancy" technology they used to be. My new $50 DVD player does everything I could ever want it to where my old $500 DVD player was very limited.

The above statements may have been true a few years ago but I doubt you'll run into any problems with compatibility. Even so--it would be wise to double check.

I travel Brazil frequently and had to once explain to the customs guy why I had three laptops and some other electronics. :p The real reason of course was that all the electronics are at least three times more expensive in Brazil than they are in the States. You will have absolutely no problems going to Europe. If going to South America better have a good reasons.

Note that many players don't care.

We have a DVD player bought in the US.

My wife played a PAL format region-6 DVD on it, no problem. The only reason I even know the encoding on it is I tried to play it on my computer.