Customs and Taxes???

You can never tell if you're gonna get charged or not. Marking as a <$60 gift works, but a lot of online stores don't do it ("It's unprofessional").

USPS does it for me though, only got charged once withem, and it was like 7% of what I paid.

I never said the courier marks it as gift, and I've seen a bunch of online stores who refuse to mark as gift (normally the bigger ones). Again, this is based on my experience, so don't hate.

I read your post several times and every time I still get the impression that you said USPS marks it as a gift for you. I apologize if I'm dyslexic.

Well I can see where you're coming from about the big stores not wanting to do it, they have a lot to lose. But it all depends on your approach and how you talk to them. Almost all big stores will go through a 3rd party broker who declares the packages for them. Even if it's "illegal" practice, it will never come back and bite them in the ass.

For instance, Karmaloop explicitly states on their site that they do not mark items down or as a gift because it's illegal. But when you talk to a customer service rep or shoot them an e-mail, they will do it. Who really wants to lose a sale especially when all they have to do is misconstrue the truth a little....

No hatin' here, this thread is meant for informational purposes. If you have personal experiences, then share it with specific examples. That way we can all learn from our each other and not get screwed shopping abroad. That's the whole point of this thread isn't it?

You can never tell if you're gonna get charged or not. Marking as a <$60 gift works, but a lot of online stores don't do it ("It's unprofessional").

USPS does it for me though, only got charged once withem, and it was like 7% of what I paid.