Advice sought

Folks - if I purchase a piece of astro equipment from a US store and have it shipped to a relative's address in the US (purely for their personal use of course) and they decide they don't want it, if they then ship it over to me, what's the best method of doing that?

I think a few folks here may have bought astro gifts for relatives in the US who then didn't want them and shipped them over to Ireland. I'd appreciate your thoughts.

Dave

I know that a major US retailer's website can accept payment from one person and ship to another i.e. I could buy a Meade scope with my credit card details & billing address for Ireland and get it shipped to a US address no problem. This would be great if I wanted to buy a nice expensive pressie for my friend in the US. However, if they don't want it, they could then ship it to me - no point in a $10k CCD camera just sitting idle!

If you don't have relatives/friends in the US, you can buy one. There are mail forarding services, whereby you pay for a temp US address. This temp address sends the package to a handling depot. Upon receipt of the package it immediately get's sent on to you.
www.myus.com/
www.mailforwarding.biz/

Now of course, if you were getting an item sent to you from the US which you had previously sent over for a "Warranty Repair", then you shouldn't have to pay any taxes upon re-entry to Ireland. You need to make sure it's marked "Warranty Repair" on the package though. If asked for proof of purchase at the airport from customs, I'm sure you could find a way to show an "original" receipt indicating your name, Irish address and that the item is almost a year old (i.e. not new). It is often the case that receipts are done electronically and immediately upon purchasing the item the receipt is issued to you. It would of course be tragic if the receipt indicated a purchase date which was incorrct by several months.

Hope this helps. This is what I would do anyway.

I've had equipment shipped from a friend in San Diego, he uses nightline for this, it costs abit but I havent lost anything yet.

Folks - if I purchase a piece of astro equipment from a US store and have it shipped to a relative's address in the US (purely for their personal use of course) and they decide they don't want it, if they then ship it over to me, what's the best method of doing that?

Dave,

I have used this technique on two occasions the past year with high-end AP equipment ( ) and highly recommend that you continue to shower your relatives (or friends) with items they do not like and which will be redirected to you. Just make sure they do not send your gifts to them back as gifts to you. A nominal home invoice would go a long way on many fronts.

I needed a fast high-end APO such as a Tak FSQ-106/f5 for widefield CCD imaging as well as solar eclipse trips and such a gift which was rejected stateside should be here next week.

Surely you wouldn't avoid paying your lawful customs charges would you ?

The thought never crossed my mind...