Is it legal for an American to mail a new computer to Norway or Sweden?

[ChaosLord]

Piru wrote:

In fact I recently bought two 400GB Seagate HDDs from Denmark, 174,36 eur per drive.

I haven't priced 400GB drives.

All I know is I bought a new 80GB drive a couple of days ago for $5.00 at the local store.  My brother got one also.

2 weeks ago they had a 300GB Seagate drive for $90.00 at the same store.

[Piru]

@ChaosLord
pricewatch.com says cheapest price $212 for the drive in question (ST3400832A). link

Back when I ordered it it was $230 or so.

[Elektro]

ChaosLord wrote:

Elektro wrote:
Why wouldnt it be legal?

Because loads of stuff is illegal in the tyrannical European Empire.

Anyway, if it was legal to go around shipping products to Europe then everything in Europe would be the same price as in USA.  But in fact everything costs LOTS more in Europe.

Your friend will have to pay import taxes plus VAT though.

AHA!!!  And how much is this "import tax"?

How much is the VAT on a new computer?

Fine. But you better never order anything from outside US cause paying import taxes is illegal and therefore you'll be commiting federal crime and end up in Guantanamo Bay...

 :roll:

[whabang]

Shipping to Europe is legal, but the receiver generally has to sign a document, agreeing not to use the stuff for terrorism, etc.

The receiver has to pay customs fees for the goods (tarrifs vary depending on the type of goods), and then you generally have to pay "VAT" for it (though it's called "moms" in Scandinavia).

[amigakit]

Norway is in Europe, but not in the European free trade restrictions - its a rare European country that needs a Custom Declaration CN22 form for it.  

Therefore there could be potential customs charges from parcels within Europe going to Norway.

[KThunder]

paying taxes on stuff going into a country or state if that ends up hapenning is not a bad thing. it costs money to ensure that a country/state whatevers borders are safe. safe from hazardous meterials, munitions, illegal wares etc etc.  that money comes from the government and taxpayers unless the individuals transporting the stuff pay. the "european empire" isnt evil and neither is the "american empire"  well at least on this point. what if there was no customs and you could bring weapons, drugs , biological agents anywhere you wanted and someone imported a nuclear bomb; you would complain then that the government did nothing to stop it. trust me its better this way.

[Doobrey]

whabang wrote:
...the receiver generally has to sign a document, agreeing not to use the stuff for terrorism, etc.

 Did Chief Wiggum push for that rule?

[adonay]

the norwegian VAT is 25%->of main value not sure you pay that much but you pay alot. For instance i bought a mediator LT4 payed US$165.95 was TAXED US$42.3
having sayed this you dont ern much with importing stuff.
The thing is when i bought my BPPC\BVISION RAM etc a total 500$ but went trught tax free for some weird reson damn lucky i was.

adonay :-D

[weirdami]

Also , it was declared as a GIFT.

If it wasn't a gift, then that's likely to be illegal because you're avoiding the taxes business. I think ChaosLord could get around the taxes because it IS a gift. :-)

[ppc4me]

>All I know is I bought a new 80GB drive a couple of days ago for $5.00 at the local store. My brother got one also.

>2 weeks ago they had a 300GB Seagate drive for $90.00 at the same store.

It's not cool to buy "fallen off the back of a lorry" stuff! :-o

[Sparky]

Of course it's legal!

Things you'll want to do though before it gets shipped.

1)  Check what import duties (tax) you'll have to pay when it comes into the destination country. (you customs department will tell you)

2)  Well thats abou it to be honest :-)

Get the person to ship it via FedEx or DHL (or some other big company), they've done this sort of thinga million times before and will give you all the forms you could ever wish to fill out .. trick is you need to get the shipper/seller to fill those forms in properly for you, alternativly you can pay for DHL to collect it from the seller, and they'll make sure it's wrapped up and the forms done correctly.

Also make sure the multiple copies of the documentation are on the outside of the box, and that they describe EXACTLY what is inside, state in numerous places on the docs that it's a SECOND HAND Amiga and you might get away with no import duties at all.

Just noticed the shipper is you .. makes it easier :-)

I had an SGI O2 with LCD shipped out from the states to the UK (bought via eBay), had one phone call from customs, paid them their bit of tax and that was it.

If you follow the rules, it's easy .. deviate from the rules and it gets harder.

[whabang]

Doobrey wrote:

whabang wrote:
...the receiver generally has to sign a document, agreeing not to use the stuff for terrorism, etc.

 Did Chief Wiggum push for that rule?

I think it was the department of homeland security... :-P

Just look at the sales aggrement if you buy a Dell-computer.

[Orjan]

@amigakit

Norway is in Europe, but it is not a member of the european union, that is why you have to fill out custom forms when shipping stuff there.

[Orjan]

@whabang

I noticed that when I bought my Dell.. So that effectively stops all terrorists from buying Dells, otherwise they would violate the agreement!  :lol:

[whabang]

Actually, If you violate the agreement, they'll force you (through legal instances) to send the computer back.

[billt]

That might actually be a tricky question, even if comparable computers are for sale in the destination country.

I've recently had to learn a little about USA export regulations. You'd have to talk to some customs person to get a solid answer regarding your particular harware to that particular country. The law is complex, and you'd really have to find someone that knows it enough to give you a definitive answer, and don't trust anyone here unless they work in USA customs or whatever other government agencies deal with that stuff.

Did you know that an employee in a USA office of an international company can NOT transfer the silicon/schematic design for an FPGA larger than 40000 gates capacity to an office of the same company but in a different country, unless there is an export exception license for that particular item? Yup.