Hi @fkeel,
Hey, I am inspired by your other-media work.. and I am sure others will be too. Can I link to your stuff from here??
http://yourduino.com/whatcanido.htmOur "Shop" is a combination of two guys from the ends of the Earth, with one end being the Electronics Hub of Shenzhen, China. See:
http://arduino-direct.com/sunshop/index.php?l=page_view&p=about_us ...and the other end being wherever my International Librarian wife gets a job. So far that has been Tunisia (in mythical Carthage, .5 Km from Zine Abidine Ben Ali's Palace ), Shenzhen, China - near Hong Kong, and now the Middle of the Middle East at KAUST.edu.sa . Home is Vermont USA where we live in a Log Cabin in the Woods (
http://www.terryking.us/photoalbum/v/china/workers/ChinaWorkers--05.jpg.html, and
http://terryking.us) where we will end up after the next two years or so in Genoa, Italy, closer to ArduinoLand.
AFAIK there are no export taxes from China, and in (many) countries small shipments of < $150 or so are not usually taxed. But Customs is unpredictable, and you may have to end up paying duty if they pull you out of the crowd. Where I live in Saudi Arabia, stuff can sit in Customs for 20+ days :0 We try to label stuff "Educational Electronics" FWIW.
So It's really a big World, and I am fortunate to have friends from so many places and cultures and experiences. It's a long story that I have to write.
Peng and I have done many things together, such as
http://miluoriver.cn/ and I am as home in his small village in rural China (
http://www.terryking.us/photoalbum/v/china/ruralchina/)as I am in Vermont.
Peng and I are both concerned about the future of China's villagers, and the jobs they have now and in the future:
http://www.terryking.us/photoalbum/v/china/workers/ We are working on ways the Village can become involved in the value-add of the modern world without giving up rural life and moving to Shenzhen. We are talking to Uncle Zhou, who is the "mayor" of Gao Ping about how the economics of the village work today and what the future might bring.
Peng has written one book and most of another, and I have done a lot of discussion and editing with him.
So it is an exhilarating journey, and someday we may both make a living at it. But the Journey, and new things to try, and communicating with people is what matters.