My name is Saintnova and I'm not a Terrorist nor a scammer. (International members of R2R and the issues we face)

Saintnovakai · Sep 18, 2019

Robg139 said:
Why not send your brother the money since it will be shipped to him anyway. The he pays and gets it brings it home. Seems like a way to beat it.

The issue is him being able to walk into the country with it. It's not so much the payment. The invoice over the $50 is the plight. I'm sorry if persons feel offended. This is not my intention. I blame noone. I am just relaying an experience that others might never have thought about. That's all. It simply felt bad. A feeling does not have to be logical.

AZMSGT · Sep 18, 2019

Sorry bud.. I can promise you I would not sell an item internationally for anyone. To many hoops to jump through. Call it anything you like. But sellers have the right to refuse to sell. If they aren’t comfortable with a transaction they can say no. Same with buyers, they can cancel too.

Just best to chalk it up to lesson learned and move on.. I can understand the disappointment.

Saintnovakai · Sep 18, 2019

AZMSGT said:
Sorry bud.. I can promise you I would not sell an item internationally for anyone. To many hoops to jump through. Call it anything you like. But sellers have the right to refuse to sell. If they aren’t comfortable with a transaction they can say no. Same with buyers, they can cancel too.

Just best to chalk it up to lesson learned and move on.. I can understand the disappointment.

Yeah I know. I respect it and understand it better. Thanks for the insight.

Peach02 · Sep 18, 2019

All I’m going to say is this isn’t racism.
As others have said it is within a sellers right to deny a sale for reasonable reasons and shipping a item to one place but paying another seems fishy no matter how legitement whoever you are dealing with is.

I’m also not from America and accept that I can’t buy things from America but in Australia we have LFS’s which you say, you don’t have so that complicates things. But I wouldn’t call someone racist for not wanting to sell internationally or be involved in dodging taxes. Hell even I’m skeptical of a person in my country selling me worms off gumtree.

If life in Jamaica is so difficult why do you not try to leave if the government is corrupt? (I know that sounds rude but if I lived in a country where the tax rate was 200% for anything imported and the government was corrupt I would want to leave)

Sashaka · Sep 18, 2019

Robg139 said:
Why not send your brother the money since it will be shipped to him anyway. The he pays and gets it brings it home. Seems like a way to beat it.

I wondered the same thing.

Saintnovakai said:
he issue is him being able to walk into the country with it. It's not so much the payment. The invoice over the $50 is the plight.

Thank you, Saintnovakai, for sharing your difficulties trying to reef in a country without internal resources. We are spoiled here! I did not realize just how difficult the hobby could be to engage in elsewhere. I complain that the size of frags are tiny compared to what they used to be when the hobby was just getting started. I worried when Hawaii changed it's collection laws and implemented bans that I would not be able to get the specific fish I wanted. I feel embarrassed about my concerns reading about what you have to go through to continue reefing. My dilemmas to continue reefing seem trivial compared to yours.

You did suggest that the items be sent to FL to your relative in your original response. I would see if your relative would become a member and just buy the items you want for you. You can then work out with the relative how you want to get them..privately. Rules on a public forum need to be enforced to protect the members at large. Still, I can't help feeling for you and I wish there was a better answer to your plight. When I say good luck with your next purchase, I truly mean it. I promise.