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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!gamma!epsilon!zeta!sabre!petrus!copp
From: copp@petrus.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.travel
Subject: Warning re Shipping Stuff Home
Message-ID: <7600004@petrus.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 30-Aug-85 08:16:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: petrus.7600004
Posted: Fri Aug 30 08:16:00 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 31-Aug-85 07:44:40 EDT
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Inc.
Lines: 15
Nf-ID: #N:petrus:7600004:000:781
Nf-From: petrus!copp    Aug 30 08:16:00 1985

I would like to pass on a warning to people who are considering
buying things abroad and having them shipped home.

In London we bought two sports jackets (about $200).  We naively
asked to have them shipped.  We paid about $20 to the store,
AND an unexpected 18% duty when the package was delivered.
If we had hand-carried the jackets, there would have been no $20 fee,
and no duty (we brought back less than $400-per-person).

In Paris it was even worse--the store fee for $250 worth of stuff was $45.

On the bright side, we did not have to lug large packages across
Europe, and the Value Added Tax was deducted on-the-spot, avoiding
paperwork and delays.  On the other hand, we could have bought another
suitcase and hired a lot of porters to carry it with the $150 we wasted.