Any Experience Ordering Online From The Us (Amazon, Etc)

[internationalguy]

I've contacted the place I want to order from. They were very helpful and WILL ship to Argentina (shipping costs are nuts but it's to be expected). Now I hear all this talk among people and shopkeepers about import restrictions. Will my order ever make it, or will it be confiscated somehow? I'm not trying to IMPORT so I can sell the stuff, I just want a few things I can't get here. Will my items be held, taxed, confiscated? Will I break a law or get in trouble? Thank you all for any useful information.

 

[Risu]

My Argentine friends have had very bad experiences ordering from EBay and Amazon. They complain that either the stuff disappears and never arrives or they are heavily taxed. They would not even order Xbox games, which are light in weight & a huge savings buying from the US. Suggest you find someone to bring it via suitcase. Best of luck.

 

[Splitty]

All of the above will happen or they disappear.
You have heard of Alibaba and the forty theives. In Argentina we have Kristina and 40 million thieves

 

[Farenheit]

I get the stuff delivered to my mum and she kindly send it on to me in plain packaging, not signed for and no more than half a kilo at a time. So far, touch wood and fingers crossed, everything she's sent this year has arrived.

 

[Farenheit]

By the way, my mum sends from UK, others from US would have to vouch about stuff arriving ok from there...

 

[GS_Dirtboy]

So far no problem with stuff arriving from the US via regular mail.

 

[caitij]

I have ordered books from amazon with no problems but I had them delivered to a business address rather than a home address. I found when I had items sent to my home address that there were more delays.

 

[syngirl]

Amazon will work for books -- BUT you have to select the Expedited shipping or they are pretty much guaranteed to disappear. I forgot to do so on my last order -- ordered a few children's books, forgot about the expedited vs normal problem and they have never arrived, however Amazon has reimbused everything. Clothes are a different issue. I've had luck in the past, but because the package was under 500gr. This week I was going to order again but they've put up the shipping and duty charges so much it just doesn't seem worth it (again, this was for kid's clothing -- for adults I wouldn't even bother because it probably won't arrive!)

 

[camberiu]

All of the above will happen or they disappear.
You have heard of Alibaba and the forty theives. In Argentina we have Kristina and 40 million thieves

"Argentinians are a bunch of thieves , from the first to the last one of them"
--Jorge Batlle, former president of Uruguay

 

[EricLovesBA]

I was buying some things recently to build a 3d printer, so the following advice applies more to smaller imported items.

The printer parts were extremely difficult to find here, some impossible, and everywhere I went to buy it was always the same scene. A guy or couple in their 20's, operating out of a small business or from their house, buying and selling full time. I asked where did the stuff come from, and it was always from China, and being sold here at about a 50% markup. This advice is an outline of what I learned, asking numerous such vendors their advice.

• Order from China, because they tend to have low-cost or free shipping, good prices, and more of a tendency to mark a yet-lower price in the shipping paperwork.
• If you buy from a china vendor with a good reputation, they are in the buying/selling business, not in the business of ripping you off. There might be occasional problems with quality, but they're not likely to just take your money and run.
• Customs is in the business of getting all the money they can, but their resources are not limitless. To greatly increase your chances of the package passing custom-free straight to your door, follow these rules of thumb:
• Order amount less than US$100
• The smaller package dimensions, the better. (this seems to help it get here faster too, as the low cost china shipping is also low priority to get loaded on the plane. There will more likely be room on the plane if you have a small package)
• Weight, best under 500g. Up to 2Kg is possible.
• If the vendor is putting a lower declared value than the actual value, best it is not something common. If the custom agent recognizes it to be a cell phone, bicycle part, etc, something common, they're going to know the real value.
• Use regular air mail, china post, usps, etc, NOT UPS, Fedex, etc. (I believe this also relates to pickup in retiro vs EZE if it happens to not pass customs, correct?)

Some interesting sites for this type of purchasing: ebay, dx, aliexpress, dhgate​