The ironic thing when you cut out the freight forwarder, is that 75 percent of all the $ charges dissapear.
When I imported arcade stuff from the USA via Seafreight, with the advice of my brother who had worked in freight forwarding for many years, a lot of the so called mandatory charges and fees become free exemptions if you do a "self import".
Customs House in any large city or capital usually can provide all the info on what to do and what not to do.
If the person overseas who is sending you your freight doesn't have all the correct paperwork in order, then no matter what you do here, u are screwed $ if u cannot provide what the system demands upon arrival and clearance.
If u do your homework, and self import you can save a bundle.
You can also use a experienced and efficient freight forwarder, but they are like 2nd hand car sales yards, you really have to shop around to avoid the shonks.
Buying from AMD at a set price is stress free. And the machine will work here straight away with warranty etc.
The rules and red tape with importing changes all the time. It's not a headache free exercise.
Done it before very successfully, but wouldn't do it again. The savings are minimal these days and it's just not worth the hassle on BNIB machines.
2nd hand stuff, different story IF u have the time and desire.
