Example 1. My mother went to Italy about 8 months ago, and brought back some delizioso chocolates called Pocket Coffee, which have real (liquid) coffee in the center. She paid about $5.50 (US) for 32 pieces. They cannot be found in the States, but they can be ordered for $32 (!).
Example 2. While in the Toronto area (St. Catharines) back in late '02, we saw what I had been waiting for: my favorite boombox with USB port (which I originally saw in Atlanta, Georgia, USA), finally updated to play MP3 CD's! I saw that it was significantly more money than the earlier model, so I thought, "Eh, I'll wait a while and get it when it's a bit cheaper." <horn>EEEE-WAHH!</horn> Turns out they sell that boombox EVERYwhere on Earth exCEPT the USA!
What I propose is this: you (in any country) go to www.InDeServ.com (or whatever), order the product of your choice what ain't available in yer own country, and the appropriate person (who is also a member of the site) goes down to their store (wholesale, if possible), buys it, and ships it to you. There is, of course, a nominal markup to cover overhead, plus a healthy profit. Alternatively, this could be a non-profit or low-profit setup. Your choice.
This would be a small but real benefit to the economies of those countries having representatives in this group, and a great convenience for those actually buying said products.
<aside>I was going to call this www.bribeaforeigner.com, but wasn't sure that'd sound right. I'm not entirely sure the current title is right. I'm open to suggestions.</aside>-- galukalock, Nov 23 2003 Multi Coloured Swap Shop http://www.bbc.co.u...wapshop/intro.shtmlSee dobtabulous' anno. [DrBob, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004] This is a good idea. Not everything can be ordered over the net.-- Detly, Nov 23 2003 Sounds like a great idea!
Some countries have strict import/export rules and taxes for international 'orders', but person-to-person delivery is usually exempt. I wonder if they'd apply a new rule to such person-to-person deliveries on a large scale?
Good (cheaper) for international birthdays, too!-- not_only_but_also, Nov 23 2003 A lot of stores will ship stuff to you, for a charge. To do this, every store would just need to list their wares on the net. Give em a decade - heck, you can't even get a conference schedule listed on the net some places. But soon it will all be here.-- bungston, Nov 23 2003 + from me. I propose that the site should ban monetary exchanges in favour of bartering. I'll swap my English marmite or Tetley tea bags for some of those funny curled up biscuits they make in Belgium for example. In the u.k. there used to be a TV show called "swap shop" - this could be the internet version (only without the appalling host Noel Edmonds). No doubt somebody less lazy than me can post a link.-- dobtabulous, Nov 24 2003 I like this idea and I like dobtabulous' take on it. (linky)-- DrBob, Nov 24 2003 International Swap Shop? That would be very good, especially if it eliminated duty charges. Also would save me a drive into New York every time I run out of Spaghetti-o's or oyster crackers, strangely unavailable here.-- lintkeeper2, Nov 24 2003 Ebay?-- RayfordSteele, Nov 24 2003 Nice idea - a sort of peer-to-peer Amazon. The idea's a bit dated ("MP3CDs"!) but I could still use this service.-- hippo, Dec 08 2014 random, halfbakery