I get unlucky. At least the larger markets deal with VAT effectively. I have had a few shipments not due for import VAT held up at customs with a demand for payment I cannot even reconcile to the shipment because of the forwarder's sloppiness, no matter how clearly I fill in the customs papers. I actively avoid UPS now for that, even if they are the cheapest option. It takes MONTHS to sort out with the tax office and you can expect delivery to be delayed for at least a month while that is done.This is a particular issue for me now, thanks to Brexit.
I still get lucky though if the transaction doesn't involve eBay etc.
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
eBay bargains - what's your latest conquest?
- Thread starter Hughmac
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
When I bought some Laserdiscs from the U.S., the postage surpassed the cost of the items, so the seller contacted me and very kindly asked that I select a few more discs and he'd include them for free as compensation.
UPS should be avoided for everything, in my very humble opinion. See the anecdote below for context...
I find it easy (taxwise) to order stuff from ebay and outside of EU as ebay charges for VAT in advance. If the sender (companies usually do) marks his IOSS-number on the shipment then it arrives to me without me doing anything. If he doesn't (privates etc.) then its just a matter of 2 minutes in Customs web-service to fill in the missing data. After that its immediately released to delivery. We do not have to pay customes for anything cheaper then 150€ and when we do the customs are usually something small like couple of %.
Amazon works great too. I order from .de, .co.uk and .com depending on the goods. I obviously prefer .de as its in EU and quickest but sometimes there are stuff on other shops not available in .de. Like last week I ordered some Apple adapters from .com which were not available in any of their other shops. I've never had to do any customs declarations on amazon-orders. And they are home delivered.
I myself have lots of interesting stuff I would like to offer internationally for sale but like I said our local shipping options are so expensive I am rarely been able to compete with anybody or even rise interest.
Another example: 10+ years ago I sent a Nakamichi tape recorder to UK for a refurb. Shipping it over there with an insurance was about 250€ and when they sent it back it was about £40. 🤬
Amazon works great too. I order from .de, .co.uk and .com depending on the goods. I obviously prefer .de as its in EU and quickest but sometimes there are stuff on other shops not available in .de. Like last week I ordered some Apple adapters from .com which were not available in any of their other shops. I've never had to do any customs declarations on amazon-orders. And they are home delivered.
I myself have lots of interesting stuff I would like to offer internationally for sale but like I said our local shipping options are so expensive I am rarely been able to compete with anybody or even rise interest.
Another example: 10+ years ago I sent a Nakamichi tape recorder to UK for a refurb. Shipping it over there with an insurance was about 250€ and when they sent it back it was about £40. 🤬
As soon as I see the brand name Nakamichi, I instantly know what that signifies.
Was it the Dragon?
Yep. 👍
At the time the last "official" Nakamichi service still alive in EU, and with parts stock, was in UK - the Bowers & Wilkins. Originally the same company as the speaker manufacturer, they used to import Nakas to UK and their service department, later a separate company, serviced them until the owner retired few years ago.
I was delighted to have picked up a working Pioneer CT-W806DR for about £120 very recently and I was blown away by the sound of even fairly poor cassettes in that, especially as I had a decent Technics machine from the 1990s to compare with. I can only imagine how much better the Dragon would sound. So glad I kept my tapes as not all of them made it to CD. It's one area where retro recorders>>>>>>>>>>modern recorders in every conceivable way.
I lost most of my tapes in the 90's but not all. When I met my wife she brought hundreds of self recorded tapes with her. 
Since I resurrected my hifi hobby I've bought 100+ new blank tapes, which I suspect will last me a lifetime.
Yes, IMHO analog sound is so much better than plain CD-sound. But I enjoy music in digital too, even Minidiscs played with a good quality player.
Since I resurrected my hifi hobby I've bought 100+ new blank tapes, which I suspect will last me a lifetime.Yes, IMHO analog sound is so much better than plain CD-sound. But I enjoy music in digital too, even Minidiscs played with a good quality player.
Last edited:
Latest acquisition — let’s take a RAID, rip out the drives and sell the remains as a totally different device.
Result: A totally over-engineered adapter that requires a power supply and cost(s) 200 bucks. 🤣 But at least it has the mighty Light Ridge in it.
Result: A totally over-engineered adapter that requires a power supply and cost(s) 200 bucks. 🤣 But at least it has the mighty Light Ridge in it.
Are you saying that this Thunderbolt to eSATA adapter is the same as Little Big Disk sans drives?
Basically, yes. Same enclosure, Thunderbolt controller, SATA controller. But I haven’t cracked it open yet to see if re-adding drives would be possible/feasible.
It seems like Anytime shipping in the US goes airborne, pricing gets stupid. I remember selling a guitar FX pedal to a buyer from Cont. US to Hawaii and shipping for something that tiny was $40 and this was around 2006. Just crazy town.
I have the Kanex version of this. Got it so my poor iMac 2011 could taste USB 3.0 at least once in its life. Thing is that the USB 3.0 port gets super hot even when idling and the heat manages to travel through shorter USB cables to attached devices. I used it with longer cables initially then gave up as I wasn't confident that Kanex paid enough attention to heat management for me to use it safely on either my iMac or any attached peripheral. I assume that powered TB docks work better in this regard.
I had the Kanex dongle too (I think it's with @TheShortTimer now) but didn't use it often enough to notice excessive heat. At least it connects using PCIe 2.0 so it's not limited to ≈200 MB/s like the Belkin TB1 dock is. I wonder if all those USB-plus-eSATA/Ethernet TB dongles are more or less the same internally regardless of whose name is on them.
That's right, it's literally in my hands.
There certainly is heat surrounding the TB connector - but I experience this with almost everything that has a TB connector - including even my DisplayPort/TB to HDMI adapters which become noticeably warm very quickly. However the Kanex has never generated a level of heat that has given me cause for concern, even after prolonged usage.
I went the TB dock way to get USB3, they have few connectors of different kinds depending on the model. What I use with my iMac is the Elgato TB2 dock, which has faster USB than the Belkin one. Prices on these is going down too as people are moving to newer machines. I've seen several in about 30-40€ region recently complete with PSU.
Even Elgatos TB3 docks can be had for similar money but its not as handy as one also needs the Apples TB2 to TB3 adapter to connect it to TB1/2 ports.
You’re referring to Belkin‘s TB1 dock? Belkin‘s TB2 dock fixes the slow USB speeds.
… prices of which have soared recently. On the plus side, a TB3 dock allows connecting two displays even on a TB1/TB2 Mac (except the 2011 MBA) and provides 10 Gbps USB 3.1 Gen 2.
Last edited:
Yeah, I've never seen Belkins TB2 dock personally. The TB1 docks seem plentiful and I have experience on those (and Elgatos TB2 and TB3 docks).
All of them seem to be very cheap now.
And the inclusion of FW highlights the craziness surrounding Apple‘s adapter. But I’d better be quiet now, otherwise prices for the dock might soar too.
Last edited:
Wait wait… AMERICANS DO IT TO US, TOO
At that price, I hope that precious used SSD is hand-delivered in an artisan-crafted box encrusted with gold leaf and fairy dust.
And it better had a Bitcoin wallet worth gazillions on it!
At least a week ago you could still order the Apple adapters from Amazon US-store for 25€/$27 each. I ordered 2 for myself - not for resale. I have also 2 of those Belkin Docks. So, I am good for the foreseeable future on this matter.And the inclusion of FW highlights the craziness surrounding Apple‘s adapter. But I’d better be quiet now, otherwise prices for the dock might soar too.
I just need to find some more Apple TB2-TB3 adapters from somewhere for decent price. I need couple of those too.
And on topic: I bought an Apple A1016 BT keyboard for 15€ today. Don't really need it but it will be a nice addition for my collection and somewhat period correct for some of my early flat panel iMacs. I bought one new but it broke in tragic Coke accident when almost new.