I want to order from the US

[Nedrah]

Hey,
since the dollar is dirt cheap at the moment, ordering stuff from the US has become a pretty attractive option for the time being. Since I am looking into buying 2 Nintendo Ds Lite Units and 2 Slot 1 cards, I now need suggestions regarding shops that 1) ship to germany, 2) don't have insane shipping rates (Amazon.com will ship for 4,99 if you allow between 9 to 36 days for it to arrive, I believe, and 3) it'd be nice if they could give me an idea about how much I'll actually lose in import taxes or have a way (that doesn't involve me going to jail or something) to avoid those altogether. So, any idea where I might start looking?

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

Personally, I just use amazon.com and Play-Asia (which, despite the name, does US to UK as well, as long as you go in with biohazard gear to avoid all the Japanophilia). Both of them, with shipping and taxes included, end up with me saving about £5 on average on a £30 order.

 

[Nedrah]

How's your experience with shipping time and how are taxes handled? I wouldn't assume Amazon is likely to mark packages as personal gifts or samples, after all.

Edit:

Erm, and for any DS users - how about the power supply, I just remembered you US people are using that whacky 110V standard or something, whereas we have 220v. Should I expect any problems with that if I get a us version of the device?

 

[whatusername]

prepare a converter for the charger or else it will asplode :!:

 

[Nedrah]

Why the roll-eyes?
I'm a sociologist, not an electrician. A quick google search came up with "depends entirely on the unit in question, some will work without problems, especially when they have been prepared for world-use, others need a converter". I was wondering wether a portable gaming device might have been prepared for international portability

 

[Admiral Rimjob POOBUM]

How's your experience with shipping time and how are taxes handled? I wouldn't assume Amazon is likely to mark packages as personal gifts or samples, after all.

Edit:

Erm, and for any DS users - how about the power supply, I just remembered you US people are using that whacky 110V standard or something, whereas we have 220v. Should I expect any problems with that if I get a us version of the device?

Yeah, I think you need a converter to stop your DS exploding. Or something slightly less dramatic. But yes, get a converter.
Shipping times... eh, they're usually not too bad, though they vary. It's usually about a week on standard shipping, but I've had it take two weeks before. As for taxes, I'm really not sure, to be honest. Both sites give you the total cost including taxes, and since it came to less what I would pay over here, I was quite happy to fork over without looking into it too much.