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Local Items: Ebay
Bonaire Talk: Local Items: Archives: Archives - 2008: Ebay
Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Samir (New BonaireTalk Poster - Post #1) on Wednesday, May 28, 2008 - 5:42 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I'm new to the island and was wondering a little about EBay...can you use this service here, as in, having things shipped to you here or does customs not allow it??

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Antony Bond (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #325) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 5:31 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Hi Samir.

It is a nightmare having goods posted from abroad, especially Europe.

For whatever reason, letters and packages from England take 5 to 10 weeks!

You can use Fedex but again, the service isn't great. I ordered an item from the States and paid for a 3 day service. It took nearly three weeks after first being delivered to Bonaire in the USA and then an address in Curacao.

If you can get people to take the stuff out of the country or bring them in, that is your best bet.

Good luck!

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kevin W. Williams (Bella Vista Estates) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #541) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 6:58 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

Yes, EBay works. Antony's experience on shipping has been bad. I've had much better luck, but 3-day shipping isn't to be expected (even though it has happened).

Plain old US Mail is good, and usually takes 2 to 3 weeks. I just had a new tenor guitar shipped here from California ... it left on May 16, and I picked it up May 26.

FedEx works well, is faster, but expensive. I have had overnight pouches from Washington DC actually arrive overnight, and no other shipper has ever accomplished that. I have had looping problems with FedEx, where the package got caught in a loop between Belgium and New York when people couldn't figure out the difference between the Netherlands and the Netherlands Antilles.

UPS is about the same price, and a little slower than FedEx. I have gotten goods in 4 days from the east coast. I have never had a crossed shipment with UPS.

DHL is a nightmare. They have the boundaries of the Netherlands Antilles entered into their system incorrectly, and consider Bonaire to be a country, not a state. Packages constantly loop and cycle between Puerto Rico and Memphis, and never get here on time. Strangely enough, the faster shipping you pay for, the more often it gets lost in the loop. Avoid at all costs. Since Amazon uses DHL for its expedited service, you should never pay for expedited service from Amazon. Standard shipping is cheaper, and gets here faster.

If it is really bulky and unpleasant, the best way to get it here is to ship it to AmCar Freight in Miami, and then have them reship. This also works for location problems: if someone won't ship outside the US, they will still ship to Amcar. Be prepared to pay upwards of $100 for a small package if you do that, though.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Walt III - www.RecTekScuba.com (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #395) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 7:02 am:     Edit PostPrint Post

I use Ebay and Amazon all the time with no problems. I have all the stuff shipped to Amcar in Miami and they forward the batch of stuff to Rocargo who clears it. You go there and pay them and pick up your stuff. It will take several week but it is totally painless other than the Duty, Taxes and clearing fees.

I have also used Fedex or UPS for things I need fast and both have worked well 98% of the time as long as Curacao has their act together. Now some of it by passes Curacao coming through San Juan PR so that is not as big a problem.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By michael gaynor (Supreme BonaireTalker - Post #3129) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 12:00 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I receive ebay packages daily through www.geteszone.com The cost is $2.50 per pound in addition the the cost to ship to the forwarder in Miami. You only pay duty and OB, not all the added charges from Rocargo. For small packages up to 25 pounds it works out to be much cheaper and quicker.

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Kevin W. Williams (Bella Vista Estates) (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #543) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 12:53 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

I haven't used them, but I'm willing to bet that Michael meant www.getezone.com

 

Top of pagePrevious messageNext messageBottom of page Link to this message  By Antony Bond (Experienced BonaireTalker - Post #326) on Thursday, May 29, 2008 - 2:19 pm:     Edit PostPrint Post

Kevin.

It must be an England thing.

Even posting out on our first Christmas on the island we sent 26 cards and only 9 arrived after 7 weeks.

To make it worse, I wasn't aware that it would have been cheaper not to seal the envelopes so it cost a hideous amount.

The next year, I sent one package containing all cards. I figured that everyone or no one would get a card. This time they did arrive in the UK after 6 weeks.

 


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