Please Tell Me How I Can Take DVDs Home With Me

[dittolist]

i've just gone through the last thread on this subject at dave's, and found that there is no straight answer given. everyone has a story. nobody knows. information conflicts.

www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=22174&highlight=carry+dvd

i have about 700 of them. i have them in cases of 120. what exactly is the rule? i did carry a case of 80 in my personal luggage with me in february, and there was never a question asked, here or in san francsico. but i was undeclared in san francisco, as i only had carry aboard luggage with me at that time. this time i will have my two large suitcases.

i hesitate to ask my fao, as i think he would discourage me from taking them, so he might have some of them himself.

my family is certainly expecting me to bring them back. they have all carried up to 100 with them at one time or another, and can't see what i'm concerned about.

one boy from the college says that he talked to the post office, and was told that i could mail them if i got receipts of some kind. i assume those would be valuations from a vendor. is this possible to get, backdated and in such bulk?

i will also need to send ten fairly small boxes or so of mostly american books (mixed with other things like clothes, etc to keep the weight down) through the mail. i was also thinking of mailing one carrying case of 120 with each box of books.

does anyone have any idea of where good info can be gotten on this subject? everything seems so anecdotal, confusing and conflicting?

i never really worried about it much before. now, i am getting close to the wire, and really don't know what to do. can somebody help me with this?

[George61]

Sorry, mate. I can't help you. I am one of those people who sail blithely through Customs and never get asked to open my cases. Must be my honest face. I can't see any problem. They are your personal property. You are not carrying vast quantities of any one title. Just call them souvenirs.

[Nate M]

As long as their out of the covers you bought them in, and as long as you don't have dozens of copies of the same movie, you should be fine. If you have one of each, they can all be designated as 'personal use', and they won't take them even if they are pirates, to my knowledge.

[Raoul Duke]

Yes, a number of people have told me to take them out of their covers and ship them in CD album books. They look a lot more like a personal collection that way, perhaps...anyway it seems to work.

Others have suggested quietly shipping them home in separate batches of 20-25 discs per box. Apparently such a small number slips under the Customs radar.

Hope this helps!

[Ruth]

I'm very interested in this topic, although we don't have anything near 700 to take home. Kids and grandkids would love us, though, if we added to their collections. I had the thought of taking them out of their cases and using an album book, but I'd kind of like to have the cases, too.

So, does anyone have a story about anyone who's been caught, had CDs confiscated at customs, thrown in jail?

[Lotus Eater]

Everyone who has visited me has taken huge numbers of DVDs and CDs home - and left more for me to bring back for them!

They were all taken out of the cases, although one daughter needed the paper CD covers as she has a radio program and needs to note stuff on it. The cases were too heavy - way too overweight. I took back almost all of the CDs (100+) I had brought over with me (talk about coals to Newcastle!), plus a pile of left over DVDs and CDs from visitors - not a word asked.

I have had friends tell me that they sent 500 back to the US, but I'm not sure what they did with them - but no hassles.

I am currently trying to send DVDs and CDs back to my daughter and have had hen duo mafan trying to get the post office to accept them. Don't work in a militarily sensitive university!! I had to get a receipt (nice kind student asked for a receipt for her DVDs and then passed it on to me - it had to state that they DVDs did not contain illegal information and were bought legally). P.O. - no you need this PLUS a letter from the University saying they have been checked and are kosher. FAO arranged that for me - lovely red stamps everywhere. No-one has actually looked at the DVDs or CDs but I now have the peice of paper - will try again sometime this week.

Chinese teachers advice was to take them to a P.O. far away from here and post them in groups of 3-4 with other stuff.

[George61]

I have had that sort of trouble at the PO......I reckon they just like to make their days interesting by m'kaying up a Laowei.

[Mr Nobody]

dittolist said:

. nobody knows.

Sorry, I don't know for sure.

But I have just walked through with more than a hundred through Oz customs no worries, both cds, dvds, software, all pirated, from HK. All in plastic wrappers, not cases. They only seem to care with several of the same title, and explain you lived here. Shouldn't be a worry, methinks.

Which seems the same everyone else is saying.

Cheers.

[acjade]

I dunno either But a member of my family regularly flies home from KL with a suitcase load of DVD's so I really don't think it's a problem unless the DVDs are all copies of the same film.

[Dr. Gonzo]

We just shipped a heap of stuff back home, honestly declared the contents and none of it was queried. Only about 100 DVDs though.
Just state up front what you've got and take your chances.
I've been waved through more customs desks than I've had sex with [insert fantasy here].

[acjade]

It won't fit.