Online Shopping Shipping
Upon qatari's request here are a few tips for shipping your online shopping.
Do not use Qatar Post if you can help it, it will take forever to arrive.
I use the Aramex Shop&Ship - Mailbox Service http://www.aramex.com/shopandship
They charge $8 for the first 1/2 kilo and $5 for every 1/2 kilo after that. If you're ordering flash memory it's not cost effective but anything with some weight is worth the expense; time is money and I'm willing to pay the money to save time.
Shipments are received in Doha an average of 3 days after arriving at the US mailbox and 2 days after arriving at the UK mailbox.
So how do you decide which mailbox to ship to? When I ordered the Plasma Ball http://www.qatarliving.com/node/16553 I knew it was coming from Hong Kong. While Hong Kong returned to Chinese sovereignty over 10 years ago now I chose to have it shipped to my UK mailbox because the HK postal service was honed by the British and that fast track still works.
Other times the tax is a factor; If I'm buying a UK-based item then it will be taxed if it's shipping within the UK. I compare the shipping cost to the US mailbox with the tax I'll pay if it ships to my UK mailbox.
The US mailbox is based in NY so any item shipping from New York to NY will be taxed. Same procedure as above.
Shipments from Europe go to the UK address, shipments from Japan go to the US address.
I'll update if I think of anything else. Your input is welcome.
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