Bali Expat Forum - Bali Travel Forum

Markit, couldn't tell you the specs even if I wanted too. Im pretty much a computer nerd.

RIMO, that is where we bought the laptop. Definitely cheap laptops, and everything does come installed. This can be a plus, except for the fact they'll put on a lot of stuff like chat programs and games you'll never be needing.

However, the service is ok la.. We had some problems with the outgoing sound (skype) and when we brought it there, it got more worse. A knowledgeable cousin fixed this in ten.. They do put on 200-500 songs if you ask

-Theo

Thanks for the info. I've found that here in Europe if you are willing to be happy with last years "hot item" you can usually pick it up for a song from Ebay. Now it seems that a lot of Ebayers here will not do business with Indonesia (Nigeria, China, India, etc., etc.) because of obvious concerns about cheating. How is the situation for those living there? Bali in particular?

I've found even better prices can be found in Mangga Dua in Jakarta. Monitors and peripheries are usually 10-20% cheaper than Bali.

The same goes for cellphones. I bought a Sony Ericcson K810 in Jk for substantially less than I could find it in Australia or NZ...and no tied plans to worry about.

I (mail) order from here now and then:

http://www.ek-gadgets.com/

Markit wrote:Now it seems that a lot of Ebayers here will not do business with Indonesia (Nigeria, China, India, etc., etc.) because of obvious concerns about cheating. How is the situation for those living there? Bali in particular?

Since being in Bali I have not bought from ebay because I am not confident that expensive looking items in packages will arrive. So could it be that sellers have this concern - they receive payment, they ship, the buyer does not receive, then there is a problem resolution process. Maybe they figure it is easier just not to do business in some countries.

Completely the opposite for us, both as sellers and buyers on eBay since December 7, 1996. We’ve had very little problem either with shipping out via sea mail, EMS, regular airmail, or DHL. For goods coming in, we use an import license with DHL, and have no problems with bringing in antique paintings, antique oriental rugs, and sterling silver hollowware or flatware...each of which is otherwise impossible to find on Bali.

We’ve never purchased any electronic goods via eBay, but we would have no hesitance to do so from a reliable seller with a good feedback record.

Hi Roy,

Thanks for the feedback on eBay. It gives me more confidence to give it a go. Is this import license arrangement needed even for relatively low cost purchases?

No, not at all required, and for less expensive items that we purchase on eBay, like old photos of Bali, we have them sent to us by airmail from the seller...again with no problems at our local post office...who even delivers to our house.

DHL is expensive and only makes sense for more expensive items. If I were purchasing a good used laptop, I would use DHL to have it sent in to Bali, but even then an import license is not required.

For anyone here in Bali who is not regularly importing things from outside Indonesia, any of the air express carriers will do nicely. In that case I would ask the seller to ship to my name and to the address of the closest air express office to me for pick up there. Then, just track the progress on that particular air express internet tracking web site.

DHL is mighty expensive (I use it for door to door deliveries most weeks..the guys in the yellow vans have got to know me now) but as Roy says, very efficient.

And Indo Post are very good too, albeit a little pricey and slow compared to western post. But I've never had anything go missing from them, fingers crossed, in three years and I've had literally hundreds of parcels and letters over that period. Now I have a PO box (in Dps) and where else in the world do you get a friendly call from the PO telling you that you have mail in your box.

Compare that to Australia. I used to send lots of sample CDs via Australian Post and invariably a percentage would disappear. Sometimes there would be a crack down and it would improve and then get worse again. Thank god for Mp3s and electronic servicing.