The Official Skybox Thread: Take 2

[d.d.s.]

Jetbox costs are still ok but they have alottt of delays / excuses now. Upon delivery to Miami, prepare to wait two weeks or more to get your stuff.

A padna of mine who with CSF had stuff delivered to Miami on Monday 19th and collected his stuff Friday 23rd.

Also, has anyone brought in plant seeds recently with no problems and with which skybox?

[mitch1980]

yes so a few weeks now trying to buy apple mac air . Tried Aeropost SKybox, and Laparkan, both were unable to be ship to address.

Just now signed up for Jet Box

and was able to successfully add to cart and Order the item

This is only happening with when trying to purchase Apple products that are being sold directly by Amazon. 3rd party sellers are able to go through.

Problem is that amazon usually has the best price.

When you click for more info on why it’s being restricted, it has all the possible reasons including that they don’t ship certain items to freight forwarders.

I tried Walmart as they had a good price on the iPad Air and it also was rejecting the order. Same thing happens with Bestbuy.

on amazon, try different variation, like a different storage capacity or different model. I was getting the 'could not be shipped to selected address' message with some product variations but not all.

Walmart was working fine with a local credit card, last time I tried a couple years ago

edit: also try the alternate addresses that your skybox can provide if you call or email them.

Ordered an ipad pro off amazon delivered to Seabox last week and it went thru. Tried both Websource and Aeropost first but got the “There was a problem with your order...” error

[hustla_ambition101]

Im with JB and they have indeed slowed down ad there is now mandatory prealerting for whatever you shipping

[bluefete]

yes so a few weeks now trying to buy apple mac air . Tried Aeropost SKybox, and Laparkan, both were unable to be ship to address.

Just now signed up for Jet Box

and was able to successfully add to cart and Order the item

Please let us know when you get your items.

[ulquiorra.tt]

Does anyone have any experience with ordering a desktop computer to ship to the skybox? Either from amazon, or from a builder like ibuypower or cyberpowerpc.

Is it reasonable cost wise in terms of fees and customs once you send invoice ahead of time? Any things to look out for if doing this?

Thanks.

[mitch1980]

yes so a few weeks now trying to buy apple mac air . Tried Aeropost SKybox, and Laparkan, both were unable to be ship to address.

Just now signed up for Jet Box

and was able to successfully add to cart and Order the item

Please let us know when you get your items.

Will Do np.

Update 20 hours received in Jet Box Miami.

[X_Factor]

Does anyone have any experience with ordering a desktop computer to ship to the skybox? Either from amazon, or from a builder like ibuypower or cyberpowerpc.

Is it reasonable cost wise in terms of fees and customs once you send invoice ahead of time? Any things to look out for if doing this?

Thanks.

might be cheaper to buy main parts and ship in, get case locally

[Dohplaydat]

Why would customs seize my hemp paper for rolling weed joints? jeez man, where can I buy this locally?

[Hwells]

Does anyone have any experience with ordering a desktop computer to ship to the skybox? Either from amazon, or from a builder like ibuypower or cyberpowerpc.

Is it reasonable cost wise in terms of fees and customs once you send invoice ahead of time? Any things to look out for if doing this?

Thanks.

might be cheaper to buy main parts and ship in, get case locally

seconded

[ulquiorra.tt]

Does anyone have any experience with ordering a desktop computer to ship to the skybox? Either from amazon, or from a builder like ibuypower or cyberpowerpc.

Is it reasonable cost wise in terms of fees and customs once you send invoice ahead of time? Any things to look out for if doing this?

Thanks.

might be cheaper to buy main parts and ship in, get case locally

seconded

Yes I know this might be more ideal but this is for someone not really familiar with doing that or getting it done. I can suggest that after but I want to get an idea of the expected premium of the 'simple' route from a known brand/retailer, to walk that through first. Such as, has anyone here ever ordered from anywhere aside from Amazon like IBuyPower or CyberPowerPC? Any other retailers besides them? How are the shipping fees and the customs fees, they don't seem to often offer the smaller tower size. Will the customs fees be simply based on the value on the invoice, or is something identifiable as a 'gaming pc' charged more?

[kukulook]

Yes I know this might be more ideal but this is for someone not really familiar with doing that or getting it done. I can suggest that after but I want to get an idea of the expected premium of the 'simple' route from a known brand/retailer, to walk that through first. Such as, has anyone here ever ordered from anywhere aside from Amazon like IBuyPower or CyberPowerPC? Any other retailers besides them? How are the shipping fees and the customs fees, they don't seem to often offer the smaller tower size. Will the customs fees be simply based on the value on the invoice, or is something identifiable as a 'gaming pc' charged more?

It is not cheaper to buy parts and build it yourself because it seems that fully built PC are tax exempt while parts are not. Atleast this is according to elec2020 who recently purchased an alienware machine and did not get any tax. For pc parts, you need to pay 12.5% VAT and 7% OPT and potentially a 7% sales tax if your skybox doesn't have an agreement with the store that you are purchasing from.

In terms of pricing for prebuilts, Cyberpowerpc usually has the best prices once you know how to configure their systems correctly and you wait for their regular sales. Last black friday, it was cheaper going with them than buying parts and building it yourself. Right now, you can get a 3600/16gbram/500gb ssd/rtx 3070 for 1035 bucks after 5% coupon but you have to wait for 4 weeks to get it shipped to your skybox. Their ready to ship systems are quicker to deliver but they also represent poor value so I wouldn't get them. The last tip I can give you is that you want to stick to a small case (EVO MINI or Syber) or one that is not heavy since they attract huge shipping costs. Ibuypower occasionally has some good deals but they are much rarer. Newegg's ABS brand also offers an occasional deal that you could consider.

If you do not mind a laptop, there are some incredible deals to be had if you look around. Walmart had a Nitro 5 (i5 9300h/16gb ram/rtx 2060/256gb ssd + 1tb hdd) for 700 bucks. That is comparable to the cost to build it yourself and you don't have to pay exorbitant amount of money to ship the case and deal with the taxes as laptops are tax free and weigh very little.

[maj. tom]

Hey, welcome back ED. Please behave yourself this time. Thanks for the writeup.

[shottah_crew]

Anyone know a reliable skybox that does consolidation? Doesnt have to be the quickest since I use IBC for things I need in a hurry.

I used Bluesky before and put up with the inconsistent service because of the prices but when they cut their consolidation and sea services, made no more sense to use them. Soldiered on with IBC only for a while, but recently Amazon started overdoing the split orders now, sometimes 4 packages being delivered on the same day containing one item each.

[ulquiorra.tt]

Yes I know this might be more ideal but this is for someone not really familiar with doing that or getting it done. I can suggest that after but I want to get an idea of the expected premium of the 'simple' route from a known brand/retailer, to walk that through first. Such as, has anyone here ever ordered from anywhere aside from Amazon like IBuyPower or CyberPowerPC? Any other retailers besides them? How are the shipping fees and the customs fees, they don't seem to often offer the smaller tower size. Will the customs fees be simply based on the value on the invoice, or is something identifiable as a 'gaming pc' charged more?

It is not cheaper to buy parts and build it yourself because it seems that fully built PC are tax exempt while parts are not. Atleast this is according to elec2020 who recently purchased an alienware machine and did not get any tax. For pc parts, you need to pay 12.5% VAT and 7% OPT and potentially a 7% sales tax if your skybox doesn't have an agreement with the store that you are purchasing from.

In terms of pricing for prebuilts, Cyberpowerpc usually has the best prices once you know how to configure their systems correctly and you wait for their regular sales. Last black friday, it was cheaper going with them than buying parts and building it yourself. Right now, you can get a 3600/16gbram/500gb ssd/rtx 3070 for 1035 bucks after 5% coupon but you have to wait for 4 weeks to get it shipped to your skybox. Their ready to ship systems are quicker to deliver but they also represent poor value so I wouldn't get them. The last tip I can give you is that you want to stick to a small case (EVO MINI or Syber) or one that is not heavy since they attract huge shipping costs. Ibuypower occasionally has some good deals but they are much rarer. Newegg's ABS brand also offers an occasional deal that you could consider.

If you do not mind a laptop, there are some incredible deals to be had if you look around. Walmart had a Nitro 5 (i5 9300h/16gb ram/rtx 2060/256gb ssd + 1tb hdd) for 700 bucks. That is comparable to the cost to build it yourself and you don't have to pay exorbitant amount of money to ship the case and deal with the taxes as laptops are tax free and weigh very little.

Thanks a lot for the writeup. Have you got a link to that specific build you mentioned, the "3600/16gbram/500gb ssd/rtx 3070 for 1035 bucks after 5% coupon"? Their site has a lot of options to go through, is that a custom build you were configuring? That config I think would be ideal for them, once it has room for a 2nd HDD to be added (I expect it would).

Yes I was looking at a smaller case (mid tower) but those seem very few between the majority being full tower. I'll try to see if they can hold on til black friday sale. The laptop sounds good but it's to specifically replace a desktop setup and they don't need to move around with it, so that won't be as practical in the long run despite the lower shipping costs.

Also, what else can you tell me about that Alienware? Did that person buy it from a US site and ship to skybox, or is that buying from our region's Dell directly? I was looking at the offerings on dell.com/tt but their Alienware Aurora seems very steeply priced, and no listings yet for the 3000 series cards. I'm a little unclear on how Dell sells to Trinidad now. I see the site has options to buy, but I've also been told that they sell through local resellers like Diamond Systems and Next Technology now. Would contacting one of those two companies for a price be an option as well, and get local warranty on it?

[carluva]

maj.tom

I got the Zotac today and set it up with the 16 GB ram and ssd.

Boot time is fast and drivers all work. Neat lil footprint as well. Hardware easy to install and windows 10 install was smooth.

Landed cost for the PC was US$24. No taxes. Shipped with Aeropost. Got it delivered to skybox last Wednesday and received items in hand today.

So the Zotac, ram, ssd, webcam and Logitech wireless keyboard/mouse cost me US$635. Landed cost for those items which came in 4 packages was US$62. Total Landed cost for the PC TT$4,732. Not bad at all as similarly spec'd name brand systems in small or mini form factors were > the US$635, primarily because of the size of ram I wanted.

I have to buy two monitors now. Any ideas where I can get two Full HD monitors, possibly touch screen, to purchase locally? I don't want to bring in thru skybox as I received a cracked screen TV twice already (once with skybox, the other with sea freight when a friend sent one for me), and don't want the headache of this again.

Good link there man. Thanks again...

[Dohplaydat]

Yes I know this might be more ideal but this is for someone not really familiar with doing that or getting it done. I can suggest that after but I want to get an idea of the expected premium of the 'simple' route from a known brand/retailer, to walk that through first. Such as, has anyone here ever ordered from anywhere aside from Amazon like IBuyPower or CyberPowerPC? Any other retailers besides them? How are the shipping fees and the customs fees, they don't seem to often offer the smaller tower size. Will the customs fees be simply based on the value on the invoice, or is something identifiable as a 'gaming pc' charged more?

It is not cheaper to buy parts and build it yourself because it seems that fully built PC are tax exempt while parts are not. Atleast this is according to elec2020 who recently purchased an alienware machine and did not get any tax. For pc parts, you need to pay 12.5% VAT and 7% OPT and potentially a 7% sales tax if your skybox doesn't have an agreement with the store that you are purchasing from.

In terms of pricing for prebuilts, Cyberpowerpc usually has the best prices once you know how to configure their systems correctly and you wait for their regular sales. Last black friday, it was cheaper going with them than buying parts and building it yourself. Right now, you can get a 3600/16gbram/500gb ssd/rtx 3070 for 1035 bucks after 5% coupon but you have to wait for 4 weeks to get it shipped to your skybox. Their ready to ship systems are quicker to deliver but they also represent poor value so I wouldn't get them. The last tip I can give you is that you want to stick to a small case (EVO MINI or Syber) or one that is not heavy since they attract huge shipping costs. Ibuypower occasionally has some good deals but they are much rarer. Newegg's ABS brand also offers an occasional deal that you could consider.

If you do not mind a laptop, there are some incredible deals to be had if you look around. Walmart had a Nitro 5 (i5 9300h/16gb ram/rtx 2060/256gb ssd + 1tb hdd) for 700 bucks. That is comparable to the cost to build it yourself and you don't have to pay exorbitant amount of money to ship the case and deal with the taxes as laptops are tax free and weigh very little.

Thanks a lot for the writeup. Have you got a link to that specific build you mentioned, the "3600/16gbram/500gb ssd/rtx 3070 for 1035 bucks after 5% coupon"? Their site has a lot of options to go through, is that a custom build you were configuring? That config I think would be ideal for them, once it has room for a 2nd HDD to be added (I expect it would).

Yes I was looking at a smaller case (mid tower) but those seem very few between the majority being full tower. I'll try to see if they can hold on til black friday sale. The laptop sounds good but it's to specifically replace a desktop setup and they don't need to move around with it, so that won't be as practical in the long run despite the lower shipping costs.

Also, what else can you tell me about that Alienware? Did that person buy it from a US site and ship to skybox, or is that buying from our region's Dell directly? I was looking at the offerings on dell.com/tt but their Alienware Aurora seems very steeply priced, and no listings yet for the 3000 series cards. I'm a little unclear on how Dell sells to Trinidad now. I see the site has options to buy, but I've also been told that they sell through local resellers like Diamond Systems and Next Technology now. Would contacting one of those two companies for a price be an option as well, and get local warranty on it?

Yo I'd wait until these new GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD (as well as their new CPUs) start going into supply, you'll get a far better deal if you hold out a few months.

[carluva]

Ulquiorra,

See my write up above. This is what I just received in a small form factor and the components i bought.

This is a home rig. Not for gaming. Mostly on line teaching, Microsoft office and Corel paintshop pro.

[maj. tom]

You can use a 43" 4K TV with Chroma 4.4.4 subsampling for a monitor. Not any regular 4K spec, has to be 4.4.4, not 4.2.2. The link above has tested 4K TVs.

A 4K monitor would be the best, but pricey option locally. I've seen some selling locally and they're not cheap, and more for gaming and photoshop/video editing. I wouldn't spend money on a 4K monitor for my purposes. And i doubt you getting 4k touch screen. The Zotac has a displayport for HD monitors, and the Wizz has the cable for it. And run the 2nd monitor on the HDMI. Or you can use the HDMI output for audio to a dedicated 5.1/7.1 decoder. You can get 1080p monitors at Wizz too, check their website. I have one and i do notice the difference in YouTube 1080p vs 4K. I'm seeing Acer 32" and 27". But personally, i will choose a 43" 4K TV Chroma 4.4.4 for my next PC. I'm not a gamer, so it would work for me.

[ulquiorra.tt]

Ulquiorra,

See my write up above. This is what I just received in a small form factor and the components i bought.

This is a home rig. Not for gaming. Mostly on line teaching, Microsoft office and Corel paintshop pro.Screenshot_20201030-233119.jpegScreenshot_20201030-233203.jpegScreenshot_20201030-233238.jpegScreenshot_20201030-233303.jpegScreenshot_20201030-233139.jpeg

Thanks a lot for sharing, I was actually looking at something like this for someone else who needs a home office setup. The Intel NUCs looked nice but expensive. Saw some BeeLinks but wasn't sure of the brand, first I am seeing this Zotac so I will check it out.

Yo I'd wait until these new GPUs from NVIDIA and AMD (as well as their new CPUs) start going into supply, you'll get a far better deal if you hold out a few months.

Yeah trying to hold off a bit because of this, but the current machine is giving some trouble. Hopefully it holds up until the 3000 series settles in.

[gastly369]

Waiting on case and ram now...

[Rivalry]

First time trying Aeropost, not only the cost to clear was more than the item was worth but they taking over a week to deliver my package. Got my invoice on 23rd and still havent received my package.

[Kenjo]

First time trying Aeropost, not only the cost to clear was more than the item was worth but they taking over a week to deliver my package. Got my invoice on 23rd and still havent received my package.

What you mean by you got your invoice in the 23 rd?once they show up customs charges that means it’s been released by them . The drivers aren’t working every day now but push come to shove pass and pick up your package from them ?

[kukulook]

Thanks a lot for the writeup. Have you got a link to that specific build you mentioned, the "3600/16gbram/500gb ssd/rtx 3070 for 1035 bucks after 5% coupon"? Their site has a lot of options to go through, is that a custom build you were configuring? That config I think would be ideal for them, once it has room for a 2nd HDD to be added (I expect it would).

Yes I was looking at a smaller case (mid tower) but those seem very few between the majority being full tower. I'll try to see if they can hold on til black friday sale. The laptop sounds good but it's to specifically replace a desktop setup and they don't need to move around with it, so that won't be as practical in the long run despite the lower shipping costs.

Also, what else can you tell me about that Alienware? Did that person buy it from a US site and ship to skybox, or is that buying from our region's Dell directly? I was looking at the offerings on dell.com/tt but their Alienware Aurora seems very steeply priced, and no listings yet for the 3000 series cards. I'm a little unclear on how Dell sells to Trinidad now. I see the site has options to buy, but I've also been told that they sell through local resellers like Diamond Systems and Next Technology now. Would contacting one of those two companies for a price be an option as well, and get local warranty on it?

elec bought the alienware from amazon.com. you could buy from dell us too but 7% sales tax is a no bueno coupled with their prices.

That 1035 deal is gone. It was a customization of their EVO MINI series. I think they got smart and jacked up the prices. Here is a similar configuration but costs a bit more. You could still get -5% after you apply the code HALLOWEEN http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/saved/1MYNJN.

You should customize it to your liking. here is a few things you could consider adding/upgrading:

different case
+40 for 32gb ram
+20 for the foam protection (will come in handy when this pc is shipped)
+33 for 1TB 665p SSD over 500gb. If you prefer a HDD, i recommend buying a 4-8TB external HDD from amazon and shuck it. they are usually the cheapest per tb. buying 1-2tb hardly makes sense since they cost like 30-40 per tb.

i don't know how long you are willing to wait but the best time to buy is the week leading up to black friday/black friday that is when they offer all their deals together. Ryzen 5000 will also be out by then but to be honest, their 6c/12t chip costs 300 bucks so you will likely have to pay more, not sure what your budget is. Their radeon chips aren't cheap either as they start at $580 so i don't think it is a huge loss if you buy now. The next thing to consider is that you likely will not get your build until next year if you order so late.

[kukulook]

Waiting on case and ram now...

Did you get taxed?

[gastly369]

Waiting on case and ram now...

Did you get taxed?

..

[stev]

the following are messages from an ICT Whatsapp group I joined.....is this true?

apologies if it was mentioned before...





A: So idk if yall knew this as yet but when buying on Amazon the estimated tax they charge you, you can claim it back once you use a skybox

A: But sometimes I have orders and the tax is 100us and over

A: Once you collect your packages from your skybox you need to ask them for the bill of lading

A: Then they would process it and in a few days you would get the money sent back to your credit card

A: Then you submit that with your order number in a email and send it to tax-exempt@amazon.com

B: wait wait so amazon does give u back the tax money

A: Yes sir, those taxes aren't supposed to be applied if it's shipping out of the US

A: Airway bill works too

[carluva]

When buying from Aeropost, once the skybox address is entered as the shipping address, no sales taxes are applied at checkout.

I don't know how it is done, but it's probably recognized as a FF address and therefore not subject to taxes.

However, I have had a case once when trying to order from GameStop and the order would not go through as the address was recognized as a FF. I kept being prompted for a correct shipping address.

[mitch1980]

yes so a few weeks now trying to buy apple mac air . Tried Aeropost SKybox, and Laparkan, both were unable to be ship to address.

Just now signed up for Jet Box

and was able to successfully add to cart and Order the item

Please let us know when you get your items.

mac air cleared - 235 ttd (with 2t external HD and a USB-C hub)

[h1tach1]

When buying from Aeropost, once the skybox address is entered as the shipping address, no sales taxes are applied at checkout.

I don't know how it is done, but it's probably recognized as a FF address and therefore not subject to taxes.

However, I have had a case once when trying to order from GameStop and the order would not go through as the address was recognized as a FF. I kept being prompted for a correct shipping address.

$415USD to deliver a 1100 laptop? Kinda defeats the purpose of saving on the taxes.

[Chimera]

That calculator isn't taking into consideration that there aren't taxes. Probably a old calculator