This article is 💩 mammoth shit
This means its value is not in informativeness, but in memory of how it was
There may be an update at the end of the article. Or there may not be.
Today I'll tell you about what I already told about, but most likely it flew by unnoticed - namely, about shopping through internet and customs duties.
Preface
Even before coming to Czech Republic (long time ago it was) I loved making purchases in online stores - not only is it cheap, but in most cases it turned out faster and better quality.
Having arrived in Czech Republic, I didn't stop making purchases in online stores, on the contrary. The quality of stores here is quite high, so in addition - also excellent postal service.
Already in the first days of stay I bought myself a phone (still works great, by the way).
Then there were books, and much more. To this day I make many purchases through internet.
A bit of theory
Czech Republic is Europe in the most direct sense of these words, so here rules apply that aren't the most pleasant for a typical Russian.
First I'll cheer you up - ordering any things from European online stores is a pleasure.
Everything arrives quickly, cheaply, boxes in 99% of cases arrive in ideal condition. Czech online stores themselves provide various interesting services, purchases can be received both by mail and in store.
It's also interesting to receive purchases in peculiar box-pickup points. This method usually turns out cheaper than mail delivery.
But it's worth mentioning the fly in the ointment. A typical Russian buyer makes many purchases from China, a bit - from USA, sometimes even from Russia something needs to be ordered.
As you might have guessed, all such purchases from stores outside the EU are subject to duties, and considerable ones.
Purchasing in online stores outside EU
Students often buy goods, for example, from China. You need to know that such purchases are subject to customs duty if their cost is above 22 euros (just over 600 crowns, about 25 dollars).
You'll need to pay 20%, the exact amount is set by customs. If the goods price is above 150 euros (about 165 dollars at current rate), then you'll also need to pay VAT (from 1 to 10% of cost).
Who calculates these amounts? Usually this is done by postal employees, through which the parcel goes. The whole process is covered with a veil of darkness, some want to take money even for the calculation process. In general, be on guard.
You can ask the seller to indicate goods cost less than 22 euros, then you won't pay extra money. But you need to be careful with this - you shouldn't lie with obviously expensive goods.
Come up with an adequate sum. If customs officers think that a phone can't cost 20 euros, they may ask to provide a receipt, and there you'll pay quite considerable money.
Here, by the way, the other day another parcel from China arrived, this time clothes.
This time it was visible that customs officers in Czech Republic cut the parcel to make sure the content corresponds to description. Strangely, there were no accompanying papers about this, although there should have been. Of course, nothing terrible, everything is in place.
In general, orders in online stores - it's cheap and fast. Usually, such parcels arrive in 1.5-3 working weeks.
Purchasing in EU online stores, including Czech Republic
Everything is very simple here.
We choose, buy, order delivery, wait. There are no additional payments. Markets of Germany and Poland are especially popular.
Main Czech online platforms
First, when choosing any product, use price search. It's most convenient to do this on the site heureka.cz. You look for the needed product, compare prices, everything is simple.
The only thing, you need to know Czech language. Without it nowhere here, still. On the other hand, thanks to purchases we enrich our vocabulary :)
Don't forget that many goods can be bought with discounts, various promotions are always held.
If you didn't find a good price, definitely look on local flea markets aukro.cz and bazos.cz. Don't forget about Facebook Marketplace either.
From interesting, I, for example, bought a used guitar in excellent condition for only 250 crowns.