My girlfriend lives in Coronda, Santa Fe and she really needs a new cell phone, but doesn't currently have the money to buy one. I got the bright idea that I would just buy a phone here (I live in the US) and send it to her. After looking around on this forum and others, I'm starting to sense this is not the best idea after all.

I've read some old posts that said using EMS (USPS Priority Mail Express International here in the US) is a door to door service so if you have to pay customs it would be on delivery. Is that still true? This option has tracking and is supposed to arrive in 3 to 5 business days. I'm also concerned about how much they would charge if it does even get delivered. The phone is refurbished, but looks brand new and has a value of $90. If they charge her the value of the phone as a fee, I don't think she could afford that. Is there any way I could hide it, for example, could I put it in a book (I've read there are no taxes on them) and shrink wrap the book or something? or would I just be better off just sending her the money so she can buy it herself?

Any thoughts, ideas, experiences would be appreciated.

Thank

Quote from Splinter

Welcome to the forum mule2086

You'd save both of you a lot of bother and serious messing about if you just sent her the money through Western Union, to be honest.

She could pick up a decent phone for $100-$150 down here.

For example:

https://www.mercadolibre.com.a…91-4f50-b44a-1a9f8d387824

That's about $88 if she changes USD on the black market at $175.

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Thanks for the advice! I didn't know about the black market, that's a big difference, I think I'll just send the money then. Have you ever used Moneygram in Argentina? I usually use them when sending money abroad, their fee is only $4.99 and I've never had any problems, but not sure how they are in Argentina.

Wow, that's crazy. How are they able to do that? And are they reliable? I would worry about getting fake currency back.

Quote from UK Man

The advice from Splinter is the way to go. Sending anything that can also be bought here is a waste of time and hassle. Personally I'd rather go without than give the bastards the import fines for an item I can't get here.

Thanks UK Man, glad you guys steered me away from a stupid decision.

Quote from GlasgowJohn

Western Union is the way to go. You do it on line in minutes and your g-f can pick it up at the local WU ofice .

Check with her that she has one local to her , before you do it !

There were several WU branches, even in her small town. Sent the money to her yesterday, and she picked it up today! Easy!