Buying a laptop from the US

[djyoshii]

Originally Posted by Wink

Having a relative is easy just mark it sent as a gift = no tax.
Include something like a birthday card inside to be sure and have it wrapped in gift wrap.

Yup that was what i was original thinking of doing but when i had a look at the customs site they had the following which made me unsure if the "gift" loophole still existed.

LINK

GIFT CONCESSION

The gift concession (by-law number 9740019) was revoked on and from 1 October 2008. However importations up to a value of AUD$1,000 are exempt payment of duty and GST (except for alcoholic beverages and tobacco products), see tariff updates for more details.

[Matt_NZ]

I don't think it's much of an issue anymore, but make sure the A/C adapter can support the 240v power used in Australia and NZ. I know my HP adapter can handle both 110v (US) and 240v just fine but I'm not sure if that's the case for all brands.

If it doesn't then you'll need to factor in the cost of picking up a new one...

[bennyg]

Originally Posted by Matt_NZ

If it doesn't then you'll need to factor in the cost of picking up a new one...

Which, worst case scenario (you buy a Dell adapter from Dell ) is $150, you're still ahead.

[SLATYE]

Originally Posted by Matt_NZ

I don't think it's much of an issue anymore, but make sure the A/C adapter can support the 240v power used in Australia and NZ. I know my HP adapter can handle both 110v (US) and 240v just fine but I'm not sure if that's the case for all brands.

Even my Toshiba 386SX-16 laptop can handle 110V and 240V. Any modern laptop will be fine.

If you get it sent over by a relative, marked as a gift and with a declared value under $1000 then it'll probably be fine. Of course, if you use one of the mail forwarding services then you won't be able to get them to lower the declared value, so this only works if you've got relatives over there.

[djyoshii]

Originally Posted by bennyg

Which, worst case scenario (you buy a Dell adapter from Dell ) is $150, you're still ahead.

Yeah still way ahead, especially when the difference is $900AUD with heaps of bonuses as well

Even with the tax it would work out ahead, but i'm trying to stick to a budget.

[adante]

I'd just like to point out that declaring a package (actually, iirc this actually is packagevalue*(duty+1) + shipping) < $1000 so you are not taxed that is more of a risk-reward situation than a pure win-win. Customs do request receipts/invoices and if you get your package insured, then I imagine there is a good chance that customs will check the insured value against against the declared value (they did on mine) and possibly issue a please explain (maybe fine) if they are out of sync.

I'm not saying one should/should not go for this, but wanted to point out that there are certain risks involved, one way or another, which may bear considering. To be honest, I'd be interested in hearing about the outcome if someone had a stab.

[Dr1fty]

It's great to see people buying shit from overseas, even with warranty issues possibly having to be handled overseas, its really an argument that is void in todays times.

I'm sick of people in the trading forums who blab shit like: "Yeah but thats EBAY" etc..

At least ebay/paypal offers protection, and honker's shipping is sometimes faster than fucking Aust Post. It's really much of a muchness these days.

Buy overseas, there are no borders anymore.

[bennyg]

Originally Posted by Dr1fty

Buy overseas, there are no borders anymore.

I don't think I'll be buying anything direct from China anytime soon.

[djyoshii]

Reading through the customs site, it mentions you'll have to pay import tax, customs duties and GST.
Now seeing as GST will be included even though it was purchased overseas, if i then take the laptop overseas with me (within the 30 days allowed) can i then claim the GST back again?