Ordering stuff from abroad

[earlyretirement]

When I was in BA I ordered something on Amazon and it took forever but I got it. My other friend there said he ordered something and it came through to him fairly quickly (within 9 days) but he ordered from Amazon Europe since he is from Germany. I don't know what accounts for some people having issues and some not.

Some friends said they ordered small electronics from Amazon and paid import fees on the front end and it came to them. Some said things were missing but Amazon credited it. The safest thing seems to be to use Grabr.

My friend uses Grabr all the time and he said the girl bringing it is a flight attendant that always flies to EZE so now he just orders directly with her and he saves the commission and they both make out.

Apparently many of the people that bring with Grabr work on the airlines and it's a way for them to make money each week.

Many, many items you can't order from Amazon USA to Argentina. Just try and you will see when ordering it that it will say, "not available to ship to destination". Hopefully this changes in the future but the only things that I hear about going through ok are usually things like books. But try many other products and it won't even work. You will get an error message like this below on Amazon when trying to order.



@Uncle Wong, you are correct that many people doing Grabr are airline personnel. My friend orders all the time from one of his friends that works for an airline.

 

[FuturoBA]

My friend uses Grabr all the time and he said the girl bringing it is a flight attendant that always flies to EZE so now he just orders directly with her and he saves the commission and they both make out.

Apparently many of the people that bring with Grabr work on the airlines and it's a way for them to make money each week.

Sounds like he's got quite the setup but as airline employees great way to make some side money and easier for those using it too.

 

[Betsy Ross]

Sounds like he's got quite the setup but as airline employees great way to make some side money and easier for those using it too.

Yes this is what my friend told me as well that used Grabr. My friend buys clothes all the time on Grabr and it is easy as customs never hassles for non-electronic items so airline personnel can bring as much as they want. On Grabr once you use someone dependable a few times you can arrange with them. You have the trust factor but after a few times you get comfortable. You always have the risk of sending them stuff and them maybe not bringing it where as on Grabr you have escrow system but the thought process is no one is going to screw with you when you already have their shipping address, name, etc.

In Argentina many things are trust based. It's not really any different than sending to a cueva. You have to develop a network of trustworthy people if you want to get things done in Argentina.

 

[Jeep]

Many, many items you can't order from Amazon USA to Argentina. Just try and you will see when ordering it that it will say, "not available to ship to destination". Hopefully this changes in the future but the only things that I hear about going through ok are usually things like books. But try many other products and it won't even work. You will get an error message like this below on Amazon when trying to order.

View attachment 4174

@Uncle Wong, you are correct that many people doing Grabr are airline personnel. My friend orders all the time from one of his friends that works for an airline.

Whenever I try to order something on Amazon I get this error when trying to ship to Buenos Aires. What are people ordering on Amazon that works?

 

[Vince]

Good for them! Aerolineas Argentinas pilots' and flight attendants' salaries are ridiculously low. https://www.glassdoor.com.ar/Salari...L.0,12_IM963_KO13,18.htm?countryRedirect=true

All salaries are really low in Argentina.

 

[Jenn]

Hello @Sunny. No one orders from Amazon here as the customs here in Argentina is really horrible. They will tax you really high taxes and IVA taxes. The import taxes are very high here. Typically it is not worth it with the high fees. Customs many times even if you have a receipt showing X price will charge a higher price.

Most people wait to go back to the USA or will ask a friend to bring things. Or you can also use a service like Grabr. There should be some posts on this board about Grabr. The best deals are in Paraguay not Brazil. Brazil is very expensive as they have very high import taxes as well. Chile is a little better but still more expensive than back home. Check out Paraguay as electronics are cheaper there. What are you looking to purchase?

Shop Overseas Products with International P2P Delivery | Grabr

grabr.io

Thank you for the suggestion of Grabr @Betsy Ross. I suggested it to my friend and she successfully used it for several items. She said it was fairly quick and only took a week. Thanks!

 

[Spend Thrift]

Thank you for the suggestion of Grabr @Betsy Ross. I suggested it to my friend and she successfully used it for several items. She said it was fairly quick and only took a week. Thanks!

I just used Grabr and it works great! Thanks for mentioning it. A lifesaver here where products are a rip off and too expensive.

 

[dai]

Has anyone used Grabr as a traveller? I wonder if it's worth signing up before my next trip.

 

[Spend Thrift]

Has anyone used Grabr as a traveller? I wonder if it's worth signing up before my next trip.

Hello @dai. Do you mean that you are willing to be the mule and bring stuff? I have only used it to buy items and someone else brought it here. I guess it's a good idea to possibly bring stuff here and get paid for it. The last time I went back to Portland I just brought an extra iPhone and iPad to sell it here in Buenos Aires. You always can sell them here for a good profit. I guess it wouldn't be a bad idea to sign up and bring something.

 

[import export]

Has anyone used Grabr as a traveller? I wonder if it's worth signing up before my next trip.

I have done this @dai. It's been a while but I used to have a house in the US and whenever I would go back for a few months I would load up on things. You will find people offer very low prices but you can make an offer to them. The best items are typically ipaids or iPhones. However, as SpendThrift mentioned, you typically can make far more just bringing one yourself and selling here on Mercado Libre. The problem is that many times people want the box and it's never a good idea to bring in a box as customs might hassle you. My favorite things to bring were clothing items as you never get hassled by customs.

Also, people are willing to pay high prices sometimes for medical devices they need. Or believe it or not people are willing to pay a high % for essential things they need like ear plugs. For whatever reason, I many times would see earplugs for Buenos Aires. You can see an example now someone is willing to pay $10 to bring $32 ear plugs right now to Buenos Aires. You can typically ask for a little more. Maybe get $`15 to bring these.

The thing to be aware is if you live in a high sales tax state. Sometimes people don't want to pay a lot of sales tax if it's very high.



I also don't like to take many electronics unless they are very small items. You can see this charger as well someone is willing to pay 50% of the cost. $6 for a $12 item. You can stack on many smaller items that customs won't hassle you on. Just make sure to take everything out of the box. I always told people I'm willing to do it without the original box unless it was very small items.

 

[Betsy Ross]

Has anyone used Grabr as a traveller? I wonder if it's worth signing up before my next trip.

I haven't but my friend does all the time.

I have done this @dai. It's been a while but I used to have a house in the US and whenever I would go back for a few months I would load up on things. You will find people offer very low prices but you can make an offer to them. The best items are typically ipaids or iPhones. However, as SpendThrift mentioned, you typically can make far more just bringing one yourself and selling here on Mercado Libre. The problem is that many times people want the box and it's never a good idea to bring in a box as customs might hassle you. My favorite things to bring were clothing items as you never get hassled by customs.

Also, people are willing to pay high prices sometimes for medical devices they need. Or believe it or not people are willing to pay a high % for essential things they need like ear plugs. For whatever reason, I many times would see earplugs for Buenos Aires. You can see an example now someone is willing to pay $10 to bring $32 ear plugs right now to Buenos Aires. You can typically ask for a little more. Maybe get $`15 to bring these.

The thing to be aware is if you live in a high sales tax state. Sometimes people don't want to pay a lot of sales tax if it's very high.

View attachment 6550

I also don't like to take many electronics unless they are very small items. You can see this charger as well someone is willing to pay 50% of the cost. $6 for a $12 item. You can stack on many smaller items that customs won't hassle you on. Just make sure to take everything out of the box. I always told people I'm willing to do it without the original box unless it was very small items.

View attachment 6551

Great advice. My friend mostly does clothes. She said people are always willing to pay a bit more and you can always negotiate so probably best to ask for more and see what they say. Take note of the date they need it by. People get more desperate the closer they are to the max date they need it by.

Clothes and shoes my friend said are very easy without the box. You can get an idea of what people in Buenos Aires are asking at this link. Just be aware some of the stuff people ask for can only be from specific countries.

Browse orders

And @dai sometimes you will meet people that always want stuff. My friend has co-workers that always come down and one person would just exchange WhatsApp with them after they did a few successful operations so after that you can just work directly with them. Some people will want food or candy that they can't get here. My friend once brought a case of gummy bears and the person paid them $5 per bag. Customs never hassled her with candy or food either.

 

[Uncle Wong]

I was wondering about this. What happens if customs stops you on something and makes you pay some big customs fee? I know Grabr said you are protected but what would happen if I was bringing an iPad with box and customs makes me pay $300 and the buyer refuses to pay that extra amount? Many of the iPhones and iPads require the box. And if I'm forced to pay that and the buyer refuses to pay extra it seems like I would be screwed because although I could return it to Amazon/Apple, I would be out the $300 extra to EZE customs? Anyone know how this would work?

 

[Vince]

I was wondering about this. What happens if customs stops you on something and makes you pay some big customs fee? I know Grabr said you are protected but what would happen if I was bringing an iPad with box and customs makes me pay $300 and the buyer refuses to pay that extra amount? Many of the iPhones and iPads require the box. And if I'm forced to pay that and the buyer refuses to pay extra it seems like I would be screwed because although I could return it to Amazon/Apple, I would be out the $300 extra to EZE customs? Anyone know how this would work?

This is one of the reasons that I wouldn't agree to do it if they needed a box or at least specify ahead of time and get agreement from the buyer if a customs fee is charged then they agree to pay that after you give them the receipt. You can see the terms and conditions of Grabr here.

https://help.grabr.io/hc/en-us/articles/115004005394-What-are-customs-duties-Do-I-need-to-collect-or-pay-them

They leave it up to you to research this ahead of time and it's not really realistic to get buyers to agree to pay for customs fees. Best thing is to get agreement in writing on Grabr messages that if they are requiring a box and you're forced to pay customs fees they will pay it. If you have a box, and customs stops you, they will think you brought it to Argentina to sell and not using it for personal use.

People are paying Grabr ahead of time so no risk there. I have many friends that have been mules. They avoid smaller items because it's a waste of time to meet up people for only $6. Just remember you should meet people in public places and have to meet them for each item you bring. Some people don't mind but some people it's a hassle.

It can add up. My friend once paid for his ticket to BA doing this.

 

[dai]

Such good tips and suggestions everyone, thank you very much for all the information! You're awesome.

The last time I went back to Portland I just brought an extra iPhone and iPad to sell it here in Buenos Aires.

Sounds like a good idea, if there are no good offers on grabr. Did you also use Mercado Libre to sell or just asked around?

The thing to be aware is if you live in a high sales tax state. Sometimes people don't want to pay a lot of sales tax if it's very high.

Making it to one of those tax-holiday weekends during summer would be awesome Thanks for the great advice, really good insight. I should get ready registering and check some of these deals then

Customs never hassled her with candy or food either.

Exactly! That's exactly why it seems like a good idea to know what people actually need, so everyone's happy this way

It can add up. My friend once paid for his ticket to BA doing this.

Every little helps! If this goes well, I feel like I should already be planning my next trip haha. It would really help with covering up the expensive flight tickets. Ticket prices have been crazy lately.

I was wondering about this. What happens if customs stops you on something and makes you pay some big customs fee? I know Grabr said you are protected but what would happen if I was bringing an iPad with box and customs makes me pay $300 and the buyer refuses to pay that extra amount? Many of the iPhones and iPads require the box. And if I'm forced to pay that and the buyer refuses to pay extra it seems like I would be screwed because although I could return it to Amazon/Apple, I would be out the $300 extra to EZE customs? Anyone know how this would work?

I mean yeah I think I would just consider items without a box. I also feel like you'd be left on your own if you had to pay the Argentinian customs tax, as @Vince explains.

Hope I'm not wrong but I think the customs don't hassle people for their own products. They x-rayed my robot vacuum and just ignored it. It was obviously for my personal use. I usually travel light so have much free space so this time it might help the budget too!

 

[Vince]

Such good tips and suggestions everyone, thank you very much for all the information! You're awesome.


Sounds like a good idea, if there are no good offers on grabr. Did you also use Mercado Libre to sell or just asked around?


Making it to one of those tax-holiday weekends during summer would be awesome Thanks for the great advice, really good insight. I should get ready registering and check some of these deals then


Exactly! That's exactly why it seems like a good idea to know what people actually need, so everyone's happy this way


Every little helps! If this goes well, I feel like I should already be planning my next trip haha. It would really help with covering up the expensive flight tickets. Ticket prices have been crazy lately.


I mean yeah I think I would just consider items without a box. I also feel like you'd be left on your own if you had to pay the Argentinian customs tax, as @Vince explains.

Hope I'm not wrong but I think the customs don't hassle people for their own products. They x-rayed my robot vacuum and just ignored it. It was obviously for my personal use. I usually travel light so have much free space so this time it might help the budget too!

De nada. You shouldn't have problems @dai. My friend does it each and every trip. He has regular "customers" that he met from Grabr and routinely brings stuff. Once you get to know them better you can even have them just order directly from Amazon if you don't want to pay for the items up front. But be aware that there are some privacy concerns but my friend sent things to his PO Box so he didn't care. But he actually said he preferred to pay for the items.

He got really into the miles/points collecting. He got to a point where he was paying for all his trips to BA with collecting miles and points from buying stuff for Grabr.
@dai go to this website:

BoardingArea

Required Reading for Frequent Flyers.

boardingarea.com

You can sign up for credit cards with big sign up bonuses. Most of them you have to spend a few thousand dollars but once you do, you get up to 100,000 frequent flyer points. He would use Grabr and buy expensive items and get paid to bring them but also he would make more with the frequent flyer points.

Also, he said that many times you can ask these people if they need something else. Until you do a transaction people might be more hesitant but not sure how often you are coming but there are always people that need stuff here in Buenos Aires because the taxes and import fees are so expensive.

Also you are right customs doesn't hassle you if they think it's your own items. So you just have to say it's your own stuff. They typically don't hassle you unless they see you are bringing tons of items. My friend got a bit crazy at times where he would bring 6 iPhones at a time. But a trick he would do is just keep them on him. He would bring a jacket and not put them through the x-ray machine. Some people would want the empty boxes and typically the boxes don't cause problems in the x-ray but just carry the iPhones on you so you don't have to put it through the X-Ray machine.

I have also brought in several iPhones before. I think many people do this that live here. I believe I read @GlasgowJohn also brings in some from time to time. You can easily sell these here.

 

[Uncle Wong]

De nada. You shouldn't have problems @dai. My friend does it each and every trip. He has regular "customers" that he met from Grabr and routinely brings stuff. Once you get to know them better you can even have them just order directly from Amazon if you don't want to pay for the items up front. But be aware that there are some privacy concerns but my friend sent things to his PO Box so he didn't care. But he actually said he preferred to pay for the items.

He got really into the miles/points collecting. He got to a point where he was paying for all his trips to BA with collecting miles and points from buying stuff for Grabr.
@dai go to this website:

BoardingArea

Required Reading for Frequent Flyers.

boardingarea.com

You can sign up for credit cards with big sign up bonuses. Most of them you have to spend a few thousand dollars but once you do, you get up to 100,000 frequent flyer points. He would use Grabr and buy expensive items and get paid to bring them but also he would make more with the frequent flyer points.

Also, he said that many times you can ask these people if they need something else. Until you do a transaction people might be more hesitant but not sure how often you are coming but there are always people that need stuff here in Buenos Aires because the taxes and import fees are so expensive.

Also you are right customs doesn't hassle you if they think it's your own items. So you just have to say it's your own stuff. They typically don't hassle you unless they see you are bringing tons of items. My friend got a bit crazy at times where he would bring 6 iPhones at a time. But a trick he would do is just keep them on him. He would bring a jacket and not put them through the x-ray machine. Some people would want the empty boxes and typically the boxes don't cause problems in the x-ray but just carry the iPhones on you so you don't have to put it through the X-Ray machine.

I have also brought in several iPhones before. I think many people do this that live here. I believe I read @GlasgowJohn also brings in some from time to time. You can easily sell these here.

This is great Vince! Thanks. That is genius using Grabr for sign up bonus spend. I'm going to try that. Sometimes I will sign up for new credit cards for the bonus points but spend becomes a problem as you have to do it typically in 3 months. I'm going to try this. Thanks.

 

[Spend Thrift]

Such good tips and suggestions everyone, thank you very much for all the information! You're awesome.


Sounds like a good idea, if there are no good offers on grabr. Did you also use Mercado Libre to sell or just asked around?


Making it to one of those tax-holiday weekends during summer would be awesome Thanks for the great advice, really good insight. I should get ready registering and check some of these deals then


Exactly! That's exactly why it seems like a good idea to know what people actually need, so everyone's happy this way


Every little helps! If this goes well, I feel like I should already be planning my next trip haha. It would really help with covering up the expensive flight tickets. Ticket prices have been crazy lately.


I mean yeah I think I would just consider items without a box. I also feel like you'd be left on your own if you had to pay the Argentinian customs tax, as @Vince explains.

Hope I'm not wrong but I think the customs don't hassle people for their own products. They x-rayed my robot vacuum and just ignored it. It was obviously for my personal use. I usually travel light so have much free space so this time it might help the budget too!

Happy to help @dai. On the iPhone there are always people that will buy it. You can go to Mercado Libre to see the prices they are charging. I found if you price lower you can sell it. I just lowered the price a few hundred dollars and it sold right away. Some things that I noticed is don't buy too big memory that is very expensive. The locals seem like the lower 256 GB sell faster. I went on ML and looked what the most sold was (Mas Vendido) and you can see instantly which one sells the most.

Just beware most people will want the box so I'd save it. Just like Vince mentioned, I just kept the iPhone in my pocket (along with my personal iPhone) and didn't have problems with customs. I also brought in an iPad as well with box and didn't have problems but I separated the iPad and didn't have it in the box. They don't suspect tourists of trying to sell. More locals my assistant told me are the ones they stop. I'm very clearly an old gringo.

My assistant told me another trick that his friend does is you can send a message to these sellers on Mercado Libre and the big ones will typically buy them from you if you have receipt, box, etc. You won't make as much as selling yourself but less risks and hassles so maybe try that too.

 

[import export]

Such good tips and suggestions everyone, thank you very much for all the information! You're awesome.


Sounds like a good idea, if there are no good offers on grabr. Did you also use Mercado Libre to sell or just asked around?


Making it to one of those tax-holiday weekends during summer would be awesome Thanks for the great advice, really good insight. I should get ready registering and check some of these deals then


Exactly! That's exactly why it seems like a good idea to know what people actually need, so everyone's happy this way


Every little helps! If this goes well, I feel like I should already be planning my next trip haha. It would really help with covering up the expensive flight tickets. Ticket prices have been crazy lately.


I mean yeah I think I would just consider items without a box. I also feel like you'd be left on your own if you had to pay the Argentinian customs tax, as @Vince explains.

Hope I'm not wrong but I think the customs don't hassle people for their own products. They x-rayed my robot vacuum and just ignored it. It was obviously for my personal use. I usually travel light so have much free space so this time it might help the budget too!

Most people are willing to pay the sales tax. So don't be afraid of asking for that and add up all the fees. As mentioned, people are willing to pay a bit more than the price they quote. Most people are willing to negotiate a bit. Given the options of either not getting it and someone bringing it down, they will pay all fees. Some things in Argentina are 3X normal prices or impossible to get here.

People are nailing it when they mention manufactured spend. Grabr is a good way to sign up for credit cards and buy high ticket items to reach minimums. There are som good websites on that. I know people that don't spend any money on airline tickets as they just manufacture spend.

Guide to increasing credit card spend

Here's a big picture rundown of current Manufactured Spending techniques, with pros, pitfalls and tips on how to earn rewards.

frequentmiler.com

 

[earlyretirement]

Great suggestions everyone. I've never used Grabr to be a mule but wondered how it would work. @dai everyone is right about iPhones. You will find with the theft of phones there so high, there is someone that always gets their iPhone stolen. Most people that use iPhones never can switch back to Android or non-phone so they are typically desperate to get an iPhone if they lose theirs.

I go back and forth to Argentina all the time for work and I always bring an iPhone with me. My biggest problem is all my close friends know when I'm coming so they always load up on things for me to bring. I don't charge them. But typically I have to check in an extra 50 pound suitcase with stuff I bring for them. Many times it's clothes since it's so expensive here.

I've never not been able to sell a new iPhone here. My problem last few trips is I'm bringing in so many electronics for friends that I don't want to bring in extra stuff. But my friends never ask for the box so it's not an issue. As the others mentioned, I just carry the phones on me in a jacket so I don't have to pass it through x-ray and don't have issues.

 

[Pink Panther]

Has anyone used Grabr as a traveller? I wonder if it's worth signing up before my next trip.

I have used Grabr to order stuff and it works great! I didn't even think about signing up to bring stuff here!