Post: #26

If I ever go to Brazil, this is what i'm planning to do. I will take as many electrical gadgets as is plausible, and ship the packaging separately. Profits enough to pay for your flight at least.

I remember when the dollar crashed in late 2007, took an almost empty suitcase to New York, bought so many clothes, electrical stuff etc. The electricals stuff I sold in England on Ebay, made enough profit to pay for my flight, hotel, spending money.

Post: #27

I flipped an iphone5 during my trip to brazil. Crazy thing is we got hit up for three more. Flying on a buddy pass with enough stuff i could pay for my trip and some. Looking at another trip in march.

Post: #28

Details Tex? What'd you pay and how much did you sell it for? How did you find a buyer? Was it packaged or opened?

This thread is awesome. With the travel knowledge of everyone here we could compile a pretty complete list of "Global Sales Arbitrage" I bet.

When I was in Peru the one thing i noticed that apparently showed huge price discrepancy was guitars. I don't know anything about them, but my friend bought some fancy hand made guitar for 1000 soles ($400) which he said would go for about 800-900 back in Canada.

Post: #29

I bought an iphone5 cash for the applestore in atl for 708 and sold it for about 1900 rais or 950 usd. They go for 2400 rais in the stores. Hardest thing is finding buyers but we had a few connects out there already. I kept mine unopened. My boy sold an unopened 4s and made 150ish off of it

Like somebody said, iphone ipad victoria secret and supplements. Jack3d is huge out there. The women love that shit. mark up is crazy out there.

My family is from belize and told me the regular iphone 4 goes for 200 more than the ones out here. We are driving there for easter so my trip will be paid for.

Post: #30

Are the fears of iphones or ipads being confiscated in security hype or is there truth to them?

US-based relatives of mine came to visit my family when I lived in China, and brought an Ipad as a gift with them. I remember them telling us that they wanted to bring more, but they were scared of it being picked up by customs.

Post: #31

What are penalties for being caught? Is it a police matter?

I am moving to brazil so my situation is different but i am bringing like EVERYTHING in my house, even blankets

Post: #32

There is usually a limit on cash or the cash value of merchandise you can bring into a country before you have to declare it and pay taxes. For example, in the US, it's $10,000.00. Anything over that and you have to declare it and pay taxes on it. Anything less than that doesn't matter. If you had $9,999.99 worth of iPhones, still in their packaging, you'd be fine.

Not sure how it is in Brazil.

Post: #33

Gentlemen, I have recently been designated as a "registered companion" for this girl who works for American airlines. Basically I can fly anywhere and only have to pay the tax on the ticket. My trip to Thailand is coming up, if anyone knows something that would sell there let me know!

Post: #34

(02-02-2013 02:36 PM)Fisto Wrote:  Gentlemen, I have recently been designated as a "registered companion" for this girl who works for American airlines. Basically I can fly anywhere and only have to pay the tax on the ticket. My trip to Thailand is coming up, if anyone knows something that would sell there let me know!

Registered Companion... Now THAT is worth a Data Sheet! Nice one...

Post: #35

I don't understand why it would be that hard to put up an AD in a country you're trying to sell? if you don't understand how it works, it would be easy to get a girl to help you?

Post: #36

I hate to dig up an ancient post but has anyone actually done this? I read everywhere that its possible, but I have yet to find any detailed instructions or hear of anyone's successes with this, beyond lining up a seller through connections in Brazil. I was there last year and took a new ipad and iphone 5c. Put both on craigslist and go zero nibbles. Going through CL tonight it doesn't seem like it has caught on there. I hear about the mercado livre site but I can't imagine selling something ebay style, then telling the person you will ship it in 2 weeks when you arrive. If anyone has recent data on how to do this, I'd be interested to hear it. I've been to Brazil twice and have never been searched, of course my one bag looks small compared to the majority of Brazilians that have 3+.

I will also add that I was just in Rio 2 weeks ago, the guy who checked me into my apartment told me selling the iphones in Rio is a waste of time because of small profit margins. He said the big bucks are in playstations. Of course those are a lot harder to transport and this is one person's opinion.

Post: #37

There are people who do this between Istanbul and New York. Guitars are quite expensive in Turkey, what they do is, they buy 2nd hand guitars in USA and sell it here for a good profit.

Post: #38

The reason you don't hear anyone talking about this in detail anywhere is because to do it more than on a casual basis would require a lot of local connections, the type that you can't just build overnight.

Anybody who is doing this isn't going to be broadcasting about it due to the grey nature of the business. Doing this at scale requires shady connections at the airport.

Post: #39

Ok, I have a bit of knowledge on this topic and plan on importing some electronics on my return to Peru in a month. Less developed countries often have trade restrictions/barriers for a variety of reasons and account for the inflated prices of certain products. Two of the major reasons why countries do this are ...

1. To protect local industry by raising the prices of imported goods in order to make locally produced goods more competitive
2. To generate revenue.

The actual effectiveness of protectionism is debatable, but it is exploitable for us beaver hunting penny pinchers. I can't speak for Brazil but its neighbor (Peru) probably has similar laws. In Peru you are allowed 1 laptop, 2 cellphones, and I don't think anything else without being taxed. You should declare any items that exceed the personal limits. Any item over the limits is subject to a 12% tax. In order to minimize the taxes either save a receipt or print off the cheapest price you can find on Ebay or Amazon. If you dont do this they will find the most expensive price and tax that.

Also, I have been warned again and again to only transport these electronics in your carry on luggage.

I just plan on bringing 2 laptops, a bunch of phones, and maybe 1 or 2 other things.

Hope that helped you guys. And if you want country specific information try searching for groups on facebook. For example, I got most of my information by asking a question in a group called "young expats in Peru". Good luck kiddos.

Post: #40

(11-07-2014 08:31 PM)ridiculous_nicholas Wrote:  I hate to dig up an ancient post but has anyone actually done this? I read everywhere that its possible, but I have yet to find any detailed instructions or hear of anyone's successes with this, beyond lining up a seller through connections in Brazil. I was there last year and took a new ipad and iphone 5c. Put both on craigslist and go zero nibbles. Going through CL tonight it doesn't seem like it has caught on there. I hear about the mercado livre site but I can't imagine selling something ebay style, then telling the person you will ship it in 2 weeks when you arrive. If anyone has recent data on how to do this, I'd be interested to hear it. I've been to Brazil twice and have never been searched, of course my one bag looks small compared to the majority of Brazilians that have 3+.

I will also add that I was just in Rio 2 weeks ago, the guy who checked me into my apartment told me selling the iphones in Rio is a waste of time because of small profit margins. He said the big bucks are in playstations. Of course those are a lot harder to transport and this is one person's opinion.

Terma girls are the easiest to sell to. My boy sold Holister, Victoria Secret, and some other brands. Marked them up at an average of 300%. He flipped one iphone6 also. He said he is done with phones and is going into straight clothes. He's a hustler though and the trips are turning into business trips.

Terma girls and dopeboys are the easiest to sell to.

Post: #41

(11-17-2014 07:38 PM)Belize King Wrote:  Terma girls are the easiest to sell to. My boy sold Holister, Victoria Secret, and some other brands. Marked them up at an average of 300%. He flipped one iphone6 also. He said he is done with phones and is going into straight clothes. He's a hustler though and the trips are turning into business trips.

Terma girls and dopeboys are the easiest to sell to.

Any clue how he finds them? Does he have to linger around spas and brothels? Haha I'd like to avoid that. I'm going back to Rio on Thursday, I wanted to snag some Cyber monday deals to take down there but I just couldn't do it. Despite hours of research its just too unclear how to find the buyers.

Post: #42

(11-09-2014 11:05 AM)Safado Wrote:  The reason you don't hear anyone talking about this in detail anywhere is because to do it more than on a casual basis would require a lot of local connections, the type that you can't just build overnight.

Anybody who is doing this isn't going to be broadcasting about it due to the grey nature of the business. Doing this at scale requires shady connections at the airport.

I only really want to do it on a casual basis. It would be nice to at least pay for some of my trips to SA. I don't think I would ever fly down there for this specific purpose though.

Post: #43

To me this absolutely doesn't seem worth it. Aside from what you could say is yours at the airport (1 iPhone, 1 iPad, 1 of a few other things) which doesn't seem like enough to pay for the flight, you are looking at trouble if caught. Not to be a Debbie Downer, but this is textbook smuggling.

It's little different if I made a thread saying "Make money driving to Canada!" and explained all you have to do is load up your car with cheap cigs and booze from the states, cross the border, then sell them to people here.

Post: #44

Has anyone recently done this? Who has tips on the current situation? I’m going to Brazil this year, might as well make a little profit.

Post: #45

any1 in brazil? i can ship u stuff from europe

Post: #46

(07-02-2018 09:41 AM)asdfk Wrote:  Has anyone recently done this? Who has tips on the current situation? I’m going to Brazil this year, might as well make a little profit.

I have the impression that I've posted about this before somewhere, but in any case...

There's many ways to make this hustle profitable.

There's always two risks: 1. you can be taxed when you get into Brazil if you are stopped at customs without declaring the product (this can eat away at your profit margin) and 2. you might not manage to sell the item as quickly as you wanted to.

In theory, you should pay import tax if the item(s) you bring surpass a total of US$500. In practice, you should only have trouble if you are bringing electronics that are not for personal use - i.e., brand new in-box iPhone - or if you're bringing enough stuff to raise suspicion.

To avoid bringing a ton of stuff, obviously you'd want to bring the least amount of products with the most profitable returns. I've brought these multiple times:
- Laptops or acessories
- Camera gear (bodies, lens kits)
- Musical instruments (guitars) or accessories (headphones, guitar effects, other electronics)

Computers and cellphones are a good bet, but I would bring them as my personal items (meaning, turn them on, use, take a few pictures, make a few calls, etc) so you can use that excuse in case you're stopped.

Camera gear is small enough and same rules apply - bring the box, manuals and whatever else, but take a few pictures to pass it as personal items.

Bringing a guitar (if you know what to get) can be a great choice for two reasons: the U.S. has a very wide selection of guitars at much much lowers prices than available in Brazil; and a guitar can be brought in a case as a personal item (in case you already have two checked items). I've played guitar for many years so I every time I brought one I knew what to get to make it worthwhile.

Passing through customs without being stopped is a mix of skill and luck. In my experience passing through customs maybe 20+ times, chances of being stopped are greatly decreased with:

- Inconspicuous look (meaning, don't come with the gringo look, or wearing brand new or flashy stuff)
- Inconspicuous and low number of baggage items
- Arrival at odd hours, like 2-5am (there's often no employees at customs at that time)

Selling can be done on multiple platforms, but I would recommend Mercado Livre (eBay) and Facebook groups specialized in whatever you're bringing (there's tons of musical products groups, camera gear groups, etc). They can both be real headaches to use because Brazilians love peppering sellers with questions and disappearing when it's time to make the purchase. Never take anything for granted until the item is sold and the money is on the Paypal account.

To avoid getting stuck with an item, your best bet would be to get a buyer before you even leave your country. That can be done by advertising a product on Facebook groups and feeling the interest, or using a service such as Grabr (https://grabr.io/pt/). Grabr is a platform that allows people to request products and offer a reward for them. The buyer has to pay for the product first, then ship it, and only then gets the reimbursement with the reward fee. People request stupid and cheap shit there, so it would be wise to filter for things that offer a good reward to price ratio, as well as a reasonable price (you don't want to take 2k out of your pocket for a product).

Disclaimar: I've never used Grabr myself but I have friends who did and said it's fine. I'd be very mindful in contacting and analyzing the buyers, though.

All in all, it's a very profitable way to make money as a side hustle if you're travelling here anyways. I've made a substantial amount by doing this with products that I wanted to use anyways, and when I sold them used months later I still profited on their sales even though I was selling below used market prices (goes to show how much goods are taxed in Brazil).

Post: #47

Whats the profit margin on this Ringo, I was just in brazil and looked at the price of some cell phones and maybe my exchange rate conversion was off but I didn't think the phones were significantly more expensive than back from where I am from.

How is the secondary market? Does it compare profit wise to new product? I have found some really good deals on camera gear where I am and could bring that to Brazil easier than if it were in a box but would it be worth it? I guess I should brows those websites to get an idea of price but if you know off the top of your head that would be appreciated since you have a better feel for the market.

Post: #48

(07-02-2018 02:45 PM)CaptainChardonnay Wrote:  Whats the profit margin on this Ringo, I was just in brazil and looked at the price of some cell phones and maybe my exchange rate conversion was off but I didn't think the phones were significantly more expensive than back from where I am from.

How is the secondary market? Does it compare profit wise to new product? I have found some really good deals on camera gear where I am and could bring that to Brazil easier than if it were in a box but would it be worth it? I guess I should brows those websites to get an idea of price but if you know off the top of your head that would be appreciated since you have a better feel for the market.

It's very hard to say because it depends entirely on the product you choose to bring over.

Off the top of my head, I bought an Epiphone ES-339 Pro guitar back in 2012 for US$400 (less than R$1000 at the time, a far cry from the exchange rate now). I sold it last year - after 5 years of use - for around R$1800. That guitar new costs more than R$3000 new or around R$2000+ used. Even if you factor inflation into the cost, I still made a profit 5 years later.

Keep in mind, this is just gear that I bought for my personal use and flipped at a profit years later. Should I have bought it with the intent to sell it, my margins would have been bigger.

Also, if you can get a buyer before arriving, you can get them packages like the guitar + hard case, or a camera body with accessories + camera bag, and profit off of everything.

Just thought of two other categories: supplements, like pre-workouts. Lower margins but you could bring a couple bottles over with very low risk and flip them easily on Facebook groups. Of course research if there's any banned substances you can't bring to Brazil and what brands would be more profitable. Maybe you can make a couple hundred dollars depending on what you get and how much you manage to bring.

And also, hyped clothing, i.e. Supreme, Bape, etc. There's a growing market for that stuff in Brazil and it can easily be passed as for your personal use. That requires knowing what's hot and actually managing to get your hands on it, though, which can be hard. As far as I'm aware, this can be quite profitable, and I'm sure there's platforms to request/offer stuff, I've just never looked into it.

In summary, is it an effortless profit to bring shit over? No. Will you get rich doing it? No. But it's a nice chunk of change that you can play with.

Post: #49

Great posts ringo!
Would you suggest PayPal instead of cash, and if so, why?
Can you send products by mail while in Brazil or does the buyer have to come pick it up?

Post: #50

Yeah when I went my friend actually asked me to buy him some supplements. Apparently its way more expensive in Brazil and the local brands there suck. I actually stupidly bought a pre made protein drink at a store there and it was 21 BRL for I think 10g or less of protein. When I went though I brought a bunch of supplements in my luggage without any problems.

Thanks bro! If anything it would be nice to bring some stuff over and unload it to pay for my airfare. Would also be cool to see how things move around in Brazil. I really liked the country when I visited, it treated me very well.