Jantje:
Paul__B:
You have answered your own question!Not that I am in the US, but the situation is the same.
You are buying "cheap stuff",. Below a certain amount, it would cost more for them to attempt to collect duty on the items, than the duty collected. The amount is generally about $1000, but may be less. Certainly, collecting 10% duty on a $100 item is barely worth the paperwork (including opening the items and estimating value), especially as people are likely to dispute the value and it would just become bad "PR".
rofl you are not living in Belgium ]
We pay for collecting the custom guy to collect the money :~
On my custom invoices there is a line for customs and for duties.
Duties is mostly more than customs.
I hear you. I have heard many people here complaining about customs in their countries. That's why I am a little surprised I've never had an issue. Never once. I've probably ordered 50 items from overseas over the last 2 years I have been in the electronics scene here. The value has never been over $100. Most of the time, I bet it is under $20. I'm getting cheapo stuff - various parts. The only expensive things I have are instruments which I have always bought domestically from authorized dealers, except for a refurbished 2465B Tektronix scope which was from a domestic eBay dealer who specializes in repairing, refurbishing, and calibrating Tektronix scopes.