Anyone experienced with international shipping?
 

Ok here's the story. I met this guy online who said he sells cellphones at wholesale price from Nigeria. Obviously I was wary of the whole situation from the beginning, so I decided to just order one phone to see if he's legit or not. He told me to send him $130 for the phone and $20 for shipping, grand total of $150. So I went down to Western Union and sent the guy $150. After I had made the payment I got an e-mail from him saying he gave the phone to a shipping company that I must pay $180 in "custom and tax charges." LMAO. I knew this guy was gonna try and pull something, but where the hell does this extra $180 fit into the picture? So there are basically two explanations: 1.) I don't know shit about international shipping and it really costs an extra $180 or 2.) He's making up these little custom tax charges to scam extra money. So my question to you guys is, which is it? If he is correct about this whole thing, my only argument is why the hell didn't he tell me about the extra charges in the first place so I could have sent the whole grand total the first time?

total BS..I bet ya never see the phone or the $
..Nigeria????
Western Union???
exactly how long have you been on the net?
you've been scammmmmmmmmmed!

Well not so fast. I don't know 100% sure yet that I've been scammed. As it stands now, he claims he is paying the "custom" charges and sending me the phone, and once I get it he wants me to then pay the extra charges.

And you don't need to be saying dumb shit like "how long you been on the net?" Like I said above, I obviously assumed it was a scam, but decided to give it a go because the price was worth the risk and would be a great price for the particular phone I'm trying to get...

Nigeria should have been your first clue.

I am sorry Sticky, but I must concur... Didnt you hear all the warning bells on the way?

You guys don't seem to understand. I handled this transaction purely as a "gamble." Gee, someone might rip me off from all the way in Nigeria? No shit? Ya don't say? LOL. Get over it, I am completely ready to lose my big sum of $150. The point of this thread was to at least see if anyone else has heard of custom-type taxes...

Nigeria is the #1 country for scams. They have schools where they teach them how to scam on the net ...

The only time I've been charged for customs ... was after I received an item.

Well ok then, there was a 99.9% risk of losing the dough and you took it. No, there arent any such customs taxes - its pure BS.

sorry bro..not trying to be rude..just seems unbelievable to me that anyone would risk their money with anyone from Nigeria? it's a classic well known scam situation..
and at this point with the 150 + the 180 youd be into the deal for $330..how much could you be saving to risk being taken for $330?

good luck..but I still think you've been scammed

For future reference get your cellphones from this place. I've ordered a couple of unlocked gsm's and they work like a charm. Some of them come with an international recharger but they include the adapter for North American outlets.

www.myworldphone.com

actually the more I think about it..you're calling me a dumb shit?...:1orglaugh :1orglaugh :1orglaugh

Sounds like a scam but anyways. Customs is brokerage/duties and taxes. I once got a gift from someone, and the person claimed it as $300 USD, and I had to pay around $100 bucks CAD to customs for duties/brokerage/taxes! The taxes part is a given but they charge like 50 bucks for the duties/brokerage... That is fucking insane

I would never pay an extra $180, so if it all ends up being a scam, then i'm out $150...

i said you don't need to be "saying dumb shit" etc etc. I didn't call you a dumb shit...:Oh crap

Ok, so then maybe he really isn't bullshitting about the extra custom charges or whatever? I should probably be nicer to the guy because technically he hasn't scammed me yet...

the customs duty would normally be paid by the receiver, ie you, at the time the shipment was delivered to you..20.00 is pretty cheap to ship anything out of Arfica..is he using DHL ?

See now I am starting to think that the guy is being totally legit about the whole customs charges. I just don't get why he didn't tell me about them beforehand. According to him, the charges must be paid before the shipping company in Nigeria will send out the package...

thats not correct...no way would Nigeria know what the usa customs would levy on the shipment....the duty is based on the value of the shipment as valued by the US customs..phone DHL International, they will walk you through it..

The customs tax is too much and you would be paying upon delivery.

I just had a laptop shipped to me and we undervalued it at 500 and payed only 80 dollars in customs.

Scam imo.

fucking idiot lol

LOL
After reading this thread, I am - to use your own words - "starting to think", that you are talking yourself into actually believing that this might be legit. What the HELL kinda phone, from NIGERIA no less, could be worth $150 - or $330...

Whew~~~~

Sorry man, but please terminate yourself, you're a moron. You still don't believe you're scammed hahahahahahah! Please use Google, this is their classic trick, hey send me 10k and I'll send you my inheritance to hide out of the country, oh thanks for the 10k, now the bank is asking for another fee of 5k, thanks got that, but I am having trouble getting all the paperwork signed I can't free my money but need 3k to get all the lawyers taken care of, and on and on it goes until the little pea in your head goes squash and you realise you've been had. If you send this scamming little African't one more cent you are a complete idiot.

idiot.............

haha, ok its more than obvious that this thread is a joke but I'll bit eanyway

1. You should be paying custom taxes, not him

2. yes thay can be pretty high, on a item that costs you 10 bucks in China you might be asked to pay 200 bucks in canada for example

3 Custom taxes (not always but most I guess) are calculated on the value of the item but there is a MINIMAL tax for each item - e.g. you can import a fridge from Germany and ask the trader to write you a 'fake' invoice wich states that the value of the fridge is $50, basically that will not help you much.

4 And to answer Shemp's question, yes you can ship a small item for $20 from Africa, DHL costs $50 +, but if you choose slower courier it gets much cheeper, I send the latest (South African) movies to a friend of mine in the UK and it costs me about $6 or so and they get there in 5 days max.

It's a scam. You'll never see shit except for a hole in your bank account. My old man got taken for 5k a few months back by Nigerians running a smiliar scam. He convinced himself it was legit as well - even as he kept sending them ever increasing payments. They prey on the gullible, lonely and greedy.

I would not go with Nigeria