Quote: (07-02-2018 09:41 AM)asdfk Wrote:
Has anyone recently done this? Who has tips on the current situation? I’m going to Brazil this year, might as well make a little profit.
I have the impression that I've posted about this before somewhere, but in any case...
There's many ways to make this hustle profitable.
There's always two risks: 1. you can be taxed when you get into Brazil if you are stopped at customs without declaring the product (this can eat away at your profit margin) and 2. you might not manage to sell the item as quickly as you wanted to.
In theory, you should pay import tax if the item(s) you bring surpass a total of US$500. In practice, you should only have trouble if you are bringing electronics that are not for personal use - i.e., brand new in-box iPhone - or if you're bringing enough stuff to raise suspicion.
To avoid bringing a ton of stuff, obviously you'd want to bring the least amount of products with the most profitable returns. I've brought these multiple times:
- Laptops or acessories
- Camera gear (bodies, lens kits)
- Musical instruments (guitars) or accessories (headphones, guitar effects, other electronics)
Computers and cellphones are a good bet, but I would bring them as my personal items (meaning, turn them on, use, take a few pictures, make a few calls, etc) so you can use that excuse in case you're stopped.
Camera gear is small enough and same rules apply - bring the box, manuals and whatever else, but take a few pictures to pass it as personal items.
Bringing a guitar (if you know what to get) can be a great choice for two reasons: the U.S. has a very wide selection of guitars at much much lowers prices than available in Brazil; and a guitar can be brought in a case as a personal item (in case you already have two checked items). I've played guitar for many years so I every time I brought one I knew what to get to make it worthwhile.
Passing through customs without being stopped is a mix of skill and luck. In my experience passing through customs maybe 20+ times, chances of being stopped are greatly decreased with:
- Inconspicuous look (meaning, don't come with the gringo look, or wearing brand new or flashy stuff)
- Inconspicuous and low number of baggage items
- Arrival at odd hours, like 2-5am (there's often no employees at customs at that time)
Selling can be done on multiple platforms, but I would recommend Mercado Livre (eBay) and Facebook groups specialized in whatever you're bringing (there's tons of musical products groups, camera gear groups, etc). They can both be real headaches to use because Brazilians love peppering sellers with questions and disappearing when it's time to make the purchase. Never take anything for granted until the item is sold and the money is on the Paypal account.
To avoid getting stuck with an item, your best bet would be to get a buyer before you even leave your country. That can be done by advertising a product on Facebook groups and feeling the interest, or using a service such as Grabr (
https://grabr.io/pt/). Grabr is a platform that allows people to request products and offer a reward for them. The buyer has to pay for the product first, then ship it, and only then gets the reimbursement with the reward fee. People request stupid and cheap shit there, so it would be wise to filter for things that offer a good reward to price ratio, as well as a reasonable price (you don't want to take 2k out of your pocket for a product).
Disclaimar: I've never used Grabr myself but I have friends who did and said it's fine. I'd be very mindful in contacting and analyzing the buyers, though.
All in all, it's a very profitable way to make money as a side hustle if you're travelling here anyways. I've made a substantial amount by doing this with products that I wanted to use anyways, and when I sold them used months later I still profited on their sales even though I was selling below used market prices (goes to show how much goods are taxed in Brazil).
