Originally posted by ozlizard Well luck had nothing to do with my DWI experience. Customs had checked the attached invoice as the plastic envelope on the outside of the package had been opened. All this revealed to the customs was that the price of the enclosed goods was below $1000. I didn't ask them to do this, but hey I'm glad they did!.
I fail to understand why you discount luck. In my experience with imported packages (couriered, not posted) that I've received
not a single one has not been perved at at the paperwork/invoice level.
That's pretty standard for private couriered material, not so with postal carried packages though.
Refer the AU Customs website, it indicates all of this re different transport medium and processing methods.
That's not inspection, inspection is the full cavity search bit. The physical package itself is opened and dissected, not just the obligatory rip the plastic and glance at the paperwork, then pass under the nose of sniffer dogs on the conveyor.
Even so, not all customs staff are camera gooks, or are even keen enough at their job to check off with their official reference sheets of true market values. So there's always the odd 'camera' listed as worth $250 on the paperwork, when it's actually a spanking new 5D-II that they physically look at inside the package, that gets through. They're only public servants after all, and some have little training or experience.
And that's where, I still contend, you are simply one lucky shit. Stuff coming from DWI wasn't on their hitlist for checking on that day. So yours copped the blind rubber stamp treatment -- Score for that game:
ozlizard 1, Customs nil.
Fwiw; Other popular grey sources known to writedown values have been targeted pretty hard, DigRev was one I believe.
(And I'd say that the more discreet approach where the dealer like DWI openly states in print that "It's your responsibility to.." and, so there's no real collusion between the buyer and them vendor [like you say, you didn't ask, they didn't promise - nudge nudge wink wink...], might help somewhat to pacify Customs from putting them under strong microscopes.)
.R. -- ...say no more.
Last edited by Hypocorism; 02-22-2011 at 06:36 AM.