Jake Posted July 1, 2010 Posted July 1, 2010 I used forex but they probably were not the least expensive but I did like the ability to track my boxes http://www.forexworl...iceLocator.aspx Well, thank you Traveler -- I think so far, we have at least a half a dozen of shipping companiesservicing West and East coast and few others from Australia and Europe. Thank you guys for thelinks for various shipping companies. What I would like to know is how you guys dealt with custom duties (if any) for big ticket items like an LCD TV. Do you guys describe the contents fictiously and place an amount under a certain value? I heard whatever you write on the shipping docs for BB boxes, do not value anything over a certain amount, otherwise you will get taxed. Is that true? Respectfully -- Jake PS -- I also understand that weight does not matter, as long as you can stuff the contents in theirstandard size BB boxes. I would assume for larger boxes, you would pay extra. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travis Posted July 1, 2010 Posted July 1, 2010 I used forex but they probably were not the least expensive but I did like the ability to track my boxes http://www.forexworl...iceLocator.aspx Well, thank you Traveler -- I think so far, we have at least a half a dozen of shipping companiesservicing West and East coast and few others from Australia and Europe. Thank you guys for thelinks for various shipping companies. What I would like to know is how you guys dealt with custom duties (if any) for big ticket items like an LCD TV. Do you guys describe the contents fictiously and place an amount under a certain value? I heard whatever you write on the shipping docs for BB boxes, do not value anything over a certain amount, otherwise you will get taxed. Is that true? Respectfully -- Jake PS -- I also understand that weight does not matter, as long as you can stuff the contents in theirstandard size BB boxes. I would assume for larger boxes, you would pay extra. I listed used personal items, clothing, pots & pans etc. so I did not pay any taxes on them but I did not even try to ship a tv over & I just used the largest boxes & stuffed them full of all I could fit in them. sorry I cant help with big ticket items coz I do not own any of those. small apartment small tv Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted July 1, 2010 Posted July 1, 2010 Hiya: We sent our 62" flat screen TV here, from las Vegas, to the small village of Morong, almost 19 months ago. It cost $320. We used the local, "Philippino" company that sends boxes here each month to send it for us. It arrived within 40 days. It was and is OK. We bought the TV on sale at Circit city bankruptcy sale. Even with the shipping cost, it still cost almost 1/2 of the price if we were to try to buy the same size TV here.We used the original box. We opened it, and using 2x2 wood, i made a protective frame around the tv, and filled in the rest of the box with pillows/blankets/sheets/ect. We also send a $120 surge Protector. So you have....Wall outlet-------step down converter---------surge protector-----------TV. Excellent suggestion about getting a step down converter (transformer) and surge protector for your critical electronic devices. Even though my HP computer has a switch to select 220 vac, I would definitely get a step down converter with a built-in regulator. And then have a heavy duty surge protector as its output to feed my LCD, computer and printer. The function of a regulator is to provide stable output during power fluctuations. Well, at least it will try to stabilize within a certain range. Unlike here in US where 120 vac is pretty much stable, the 220 vac in PI may go down to a level (below 180 vac for example) where the internal power supply of a TV would be overworked. I would rather have the converter/regulator crap out on me than smell something burnt inside a TV or computer. Check out the below link -- it even has a tutorial on how to select a converter based on total watts used by all your devices connected at one time. Very important, you do not want to buy an under rated converter (1000w vs 2500w).http://www.220-electronics.com/Respectfully -- Jake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted July 1, 2010 Posted July 1, 2010 Hiya: We sent our 62" flat screen TV here, from las Vegas, to the small village of Morong, almost 19 months ago. It cost $320. We used the local, "Philippino" company that sends boxes here each month to send it for us. It arrived within 40 days. It was and is OK. We bought the TV on sale at Circit city bankruptcy sale. Even with the shipping cost, it still cost almost 1/2 of the price if we were to try to buy the same size TV here.We used the original box. We opened it, and using 2x2 wood, i made a protective frame around the tv, and filled in the rest of the box with pillows/blankets/sheets/ect. We also send a $120 surge Protector. So you have....Wall outlet-------step down converter---------surge protector-----------TV. Excellent suggestion about getting a step down converter (transformer) and surge protector for your critical electronic devices. Even though my HP computer has a switch to select 220 vac, I would definitely get a step down converter with a built-in regulator. And then have a heavy duty surge protector as its output to feed my LCD, computer and printer. The function of a regulator is to provide stable output during power fluctuations. Well, at least it will try to stabilize within a certain range. Unlike here in US where 120 vac is pretty much stable, the 220 vac in PI may go down to a level (below 180 vac for example) where the internal power supply of a TV would be overworked. I would rather have the converter/regulator crap out on me than smell something burnt inside a TV or computer. Check out the below link -- it even has a tutorial on how to select a converter based on total watts used by all your devices connected at one time. Very important, you do not want to buy an under rated converter (1000w vs 2500w).http://www.220-electronics.com/Respectfully -- Jake Jake, as far as the computer, it should be OK to use any computer that has a 220 switch on it without a converter, that was what they were made for. I always use UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) to give me time to shut down with the constant power flickers and outages, and they are also good to protect against surges, not only in the Philippines but in all counties.. I use one in the US as well and most have a surge group and a battery backup group so I just plug in the modem, router, computer and monitor into the backup and the others into the surge outlets. Sorry a little off topic but thought it was worth mentioning. If your TV's are not brand new then I would suggest selling them and buying new in the Philippines, it might cost more but the parts are often different and repairs might be a nightmare for someone who has no idea which part might be needed for that unit. Our Cebu bought TV got zapped because it seems the cable TV services there has quite a bit of voltage on the line and the cable guy hooked it up and left out the in-line filter that the TV came with because he got tired of going back and forth and thought the filter might be bad, bad idea because it zapped the main board on the TV and lucky for us the TV was still under warranty but the part had to be ordered from Manila and all these guys know how to do is changed circuit boards and not how to test them. The new board had a different problem and the guy tried to tell me that the TV has to go into the shop and I pointed out the while the first board seemed unfiltered and produced lines, the new board had no picture at all, so he put the old board back in and guess what, the picture was back but lines in it, so he ordered yet another board from Manila and luckily they had one or it would have had to come from Korea and he might not have known what board to order for a US TV if they happened to be a little different than the ones made for the Philippines and from what I know, model number are different for different stores and different markets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted July 1, 2010 Posted July 1, 2010 Hey Lee,That might be the way to go rather than shipping a used 32" LCD from the states. Did youget that UPS from PI? Actually, depending upon money left over after arrival to PI, I wouldrather purchase big ticket items there for local parts availability. Thank you for your advice.Respectfully -- Jake Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Lee Posted July 1, 2010 Posted July 1, 2010 Hey Lee,That might be the way to go rather than shipping a used 32" LCD from the states. Did youget that UPS from PI? Actually, depending upon money left over after arrival to PI, I wouldrather purchase big ticket items there for local parts availability. Thank you for your advice.Respectfully -- Jake Yes, I bought the UPS in the local computer store in Cebu Ayala Mall and I would have to agree that with all the shaking and bouncing around of often rough seas and poor handling, I do not think shipping expensive items that might be shook loose would be a great idea, but if there is no resale value for an item, then people might have no choice and be willing to take a chance. IMO why use a converter for each major items group when you can just plug them in. There is always Craigs list to list the items locally and try to sell them that way. My wife and I have shipped BB boxes and we also have brought items in our suitcases over time and most have gotten there working but I would never even try to ship a TV over because of the different model number used in the US verses in the Philippines. Even when we go to a store such as Best Buys and then a different store such as Target that handles the same looking item, the model number is most often different because the stores ask that they be different so people cannot cost comparison shop, and also many have different features so the parts may be different because of that as well, even when they look exactly the same. If I was anyone who was going to try to bring over an item, I would contact the manufacturer and make sure the parts and a service department would be available in the area that we were planning to move to. IMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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