Item is in Hong Kong

[KJ4UZL]

I haven't bought any radio equipment on e-bay from Hong Kong for fear of the stipulation about customs and possibly added fees. Has anyone had a problem with customs fees from e-bay Hong Kong purchases or other negative results from such a Hong Kong transaction? Thanks for any help. 73, Kat 

[K2OWK]

I have bought many items from Hong Kong through EBay without a problem. The items I buy are usually under $100.00 The most expensive being a frequency counter. Customs fees are normally not charged on items less then $100.00 or so, but they can be. If you do have to pay customs fees the amount is small, about 10%, so I would not worry about it. Just make sure the company you are buying from is reputable. Check his feedback as you would for any EBay seller. I have not had any problems with the items I nave bought from overseas.

73s

K2OWK

[KL2TC]

I too have not had a problem, but as with the previous post, only items under $100.

73

Al

[K7UNZ]

If you are considering a radio, make sure it conforms to U.S. specs.

Many of the Asian models have different freq coverage, and some different bells and whistles.

73, Jim/K7UNZ

[NO2A]

Not sure about hf radios,but vhf/uhf ht`s or mobile radios cover different parts of bands that they will transmit/receive on,as the Asian market is different for frequency allocations. If you order any radio make sure you specify the coverage as being for U.S.A.

[KJ4UZL]

Great, Thanks for the input. 73,  Kat KJ4UZL

[N3QE]

I haven't bought any radio equipment on e-bay from Hong Kong for fear of the stipulation about customs and possibly added fees. Has anyone had a problem with customs fees from e-bay Hong Kong purchases or other negative results from such a Hong Kong transaction? Thanks for any help. 73, Kat 

I have bought many small items from Hong Kong (components, boards, small assemblies) with no problem at all.

They arrive via US Mail and I've never had a single hassle with customs. Note that you really want to avoid UPS, Fedex, etc., other couriers wherever possible for small personal orders; there isn't going to be any actual custom fees but their default brokerages will charge you $50 in brokerage fees nevertheless on any item. Use US Mail and there's no problem.

I think there is some trick in international airmail rates that result in the shipping from Hong Kong to be surprising cheap and fast. Works out well for you and me :-).

I've also bought stuff from Eastern Europe/Former Soviet Union on E-bay and had it shipped via US Mail. There the only hassle was that it was sent registered mail which means I have to show up at the post office and sign for it. There's no out of pocket monetary cost but the hassle of getting to the post office and waiting in line can be pretty major.

Tim.

[N9LCD]

If the item was made in the U.S., make the seller marks the carton and shipping documents "RETURN OF US MADE GOODS" or something to that effect.  That saved me a few hundreds in duties of a WJ Quad-8 from Europe.

N9LCD