Thread: Online shopping in the USA

Received 2 emails from Fed ex fakes today with attachments i was unable to open - check the news banner on the fed ex website as they are aware of the problem. Fed ex suggest deleting them asap.

I've bought heaps of stuff recently from the USA. It can get expensive if they don't ship reasonably. You do have the option of using a forwarder if they don't want to play nice with shipping.

Examples of forwarders are Borderlinx and comGateway.

comGateway will even buy it for you if the seller won't take a foreign credit card. They also offer a repacking service and hold multiple items and send in a single shipment.

I will support local businesses where possible but we (i.e. Australians) are being taken for a big ride by foreign wholesalers (I'm looking at you F__t__l) and others.

The biggest losers in the long run are likely to be the big commercial retail landlords. I don't need to name them. They are household names in this country.

It has been done here forever. Wholesalers export the profit before tax by putting an inflated wholesale price on the exported article to the local wholly owned importer. Many years ago, I used to work for a big name Italian computer manufacturer and I knew what the items were sold for and what they were imported for. Local prices were set to what the market would bear. Those exact words were used in my presence.

The local business was run at a nominal profit which attracted minimum local (i.e. Australian) tax. The profits were made somewhere else for tax purposes.

You can bet that almost everything imported here is run on the same basis at the moment. When enough pressure comes to bear from consumers sourcing goods elsewhere and importing privately, it may change.

These fake emails, which claim they are from Fedex, have been around for a while. I get them and I have never even used Fedex. I would strongly suggest you don't open any attachments or links they may contain. God knows what could happen.

I also receive the occasional email from IRS concerning my income taxes which is interesting since I don't even live in the US and avoid going there unless I absolutely have no choice.

I haven't had Fedex yet but since buying from the US I have started getting USPS (United States Postal Service) notices saying they cant deliver and other phishing stories,,,,with attachments they want you to open.....

Pac Man, as Bob said, suggest you don't try to open attachments for emails you don't recognise as legit, they may hack your computer.

cheers, Ian

[/QUOTE]
Pac Man, as Bob said, suggest you don't try to open attachments for emails you don't recognise as legit, they may hack your computer.

cheers, Ian[/QUOTE]

No worries Ian, at home i heed your warning however twas a work computer