Store Owners & Sellers Beware

Wow, should have checked here first, but I had no idea! Never had any trouble with international orders in the past, then came the hit!

Vlad ordered from us :www.bluelinegear.com on January 25, 2006 for $1265 worth of Coogler, Strider and Brock knives. Using card number: 5263461029388126 in his name: Vlad Pavlov. That card was declined, telling us he had an "overdraft on that account" and provided us number 4266922031142710. THAT CARD IS IN THE NAME OF ERIC SCWITTERS FROM CALIFORNIA.

He originally told us that TheKnifeCollector AND James FROM BLADEFORUMS REFERRED HIM TO US. With that in mind, and the good reputation of BF, we sent him the goods. He wanted to keep the value to $35 for customs. He then sent us an email saying "Thank you for my previous order , I'm really happy customer , it's arrived fast and was packed really well. Please declare my order small value, about $30, thanks for your business."

He then placed another order using card number 4266924000511321. Fortunately he ordered things not in stock and we never sent the order.

Hopefully, giving out this information will help track this mo fo down or encourage him to pay up!

We've, like others, stopped doing business with international customers unless they pay in advance.

We will be posting information on Vlad on several other forums we're on - You will be punished! Pay up Dumb ass - be a real man!

Like most here, we're not a huge business that can easily absorb such a big hit. I'm a cop, with a decent home business, who exchanged several emails with Vlad and got taken. After the chargeback we sent several other emails to him with no response.

Thanks for the vent. We'll try to float around here more often.
 
When customers ask you to declare a false value on merchandise you're selling and shipping to help them defraud their Customs, that should always be a warning sign. Fraud is fraud and stealing is stealing whether it's from an individual or from a government.

It seems that dealers/Makers are reluctant to post information on buyers who rip them off until the thief has already stolen from multiple victims and made a good haul. I hope this will change so that the thieves who set out to steal from good natured and trusting dealers/Makers will be publicly exposed a lot sooner. The only way to stop these dirt bags is to let as many people know as possible so that they can be avoided.

You can contact all the police in the world and they will do nothing about things like this. They have bigger fish to fry. The banks and credit card companies don't care either. It's usually not their money anyway and what they do loose is passed on their customers in the form of interest and fees.
 
Kevin Wilkins said:
When customers ask you to declare a false value on merchandise you're selling and shipping to help them defraud their Customs, that should always be a warning sign.
Click to expand...

I always do that (+ have all packages marked as gifts) just to avoid 32% VAT + custom fee. And I do not know enybody who would want to pay the premium for their knives...

David
 
Nobody likes paying taxes but the law is the law. Anybody can make a lot of money smuggling as long as you don't get caught. Do you really think your Customs officers are so stupid that they will believe an expensive custom knife being shipped from a dealer in knives to a private person in another country is really a "gift?"

BTW, according to the Czech Consulate General in New York, VAT (sales Tax for US readers) in the Czech Republich is 19%.
 
From what I have read the VAT is indeed 19%, though there is also a duty on many products. I'm not sure if knives have a duty or not. Anyway, 19% is a lot. In Canada it is 7% (going down to 6% July 1st), and I think that is too high.
 
Kevin Wilkins said:
Nobody likes paying taxes but the law is the law. Anybody can make a lot of money smuggling as long as you don't get caught. Do you really think your Customs officers are so stupid that they will believe an expensive custom knife being shipped from a dealer in knives to a private person in another country is really a "gift?"

BTW, according to the Czech Consulate General in New York, VAT (sales Tax for US readers) in the Czech Republich is 19%.
Click to expand...

Yes, the VAT is 19% and there are also custom fees + duty involved. BTW I have all knives shipped from personal address..

David

PS: All dealers + custom makers so far were willing to ship the knives the way I requested.
 
Well, if you have the seller undervalue it for tax evasion purposes, I'd think you'd only get the devalued amount back when it is lost in the mail...
Only fair.
 
Just curious as to any results from Shaldag's possible visit? It would be good to hear that vlad has been charged, incarcerated, something...

shaldag said:
... I will be going to Israel in early 2006 (Jan-Feb). I am going to meet with a senior officer in the Israel Police Fraud Unit, and we are gonna have a little discussion about this SOB... I am laos going to recommend that such file be turned over to the tax authorities...I am gonna make sure that this guy's life is going to become rather unpleasant soon...
Click to expand...

Jjohn, Good to see that you made it over here. Too little too late, I'm afraid, but still good to see you here.

Edit for spelling

All the best,

Stuart
 
Kevin Wilkins said:
When customers ask you to declare a false value on merchandise you're selling and shipping to help them defraud their Customs, that should always be a warning sign. Fraud is fraud and stealing is stealing whether it's from an individual or from a government.

It seems that dealers/Makers are reluctant to post information on buyers who rip them off until the thief has already stolen from multiple victims and made a good haul. I hope this will change so that the thieves who set out to steal from good natured and trusting dealers/Makers will be publicly exposed a lot sooner. The only way to stop these dirt bags is to let as many people know as possible so that they can be avoided.

You can contact all the police in the world and they will do nothing about things like this. They have bigger fish to fry. The banks and credit card companies don't care either. It's usually not their money anyway and what they do loose is passed on their customers in the form of interest and fees.
Click to expand...
To tell the truth,everyone I have ever sold to or traded with form outside the US has asked me to list the item as a gift with a low value.
Just wanted to say that in case anyone reads this and then has a deal with a good forumite here that asks for this.It doesn't mean they are bad just that they do not want to get ripped by thier customs or draw unwanted attention to a package with a high value that might increase the odds of it being stolen.
 
u812 said:
To tell the truth,everyone I have ever sold to or traded with form outside the US has asked me to list the item as a gift with a low value.
Just wanted to say that in case anyone reads this and then has a deal with a good forumite here that asks for this.It doesn't mean they are bad just that they do not want to get ripped by thier customs or draw unwanted attention to a package with a high value that might increase the odds of it being stolen.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Asking for the item to be listed as a gift doesn't say anything about the buyer one way or the other.
 
FRICKEND@MMITTOHELL. How have I missed this going on? I apologize to everyone in this thread---

The Israel Police have indeed opened an investigation into our friend Vlad. The Israeli tax authorities have also been notified by yours truly--and have opened a separate investigation. I had arranged this when I was there (was it April?). The wheels of justice for something this small grind exceedingly slowly in Israel (the police, who also deal with antiterror, are a little busy), but they also grind quite finely. And, as you might imagine, tax fraud is not looked upon lightly. I had the impression that they wanted to make an example.

For some reason, I have missed the posts later in the thread. I feel like a jerk. If jjohn or anyone else has any documentation on his actions (including copies of emails), please PM me and I will get it sent to the Israeli police.

In Israel, listing an item as a gift does not exempt it from VAT.

I am sorry for not noticing this sooner. Should this happen again, please do not assume that I have lost interest. I will be visiting Israel again soon, and will see if I can light a hotter fire under the behinds of the investigators.

:grumpy:
 
Kevin Wilkins said:
Nobody likes paying taxes but the law is the law. Anybody can make a lot of money smuggling as long as you don't get caught. Do you really think your Customs officers are so stupid that they will believe an expensive custom knife being shipped from a dealer in knives to a private person in another country is really a "gift?"

BTW, according to the Czech Consulate General in New York, VAT (sales Tax for US readers) in the Czech Republich is 19%.
Click to expand...



I agree with you totally.I rarely ship overseas/internationally due to the additional headaches and people asking me to be involved in aiding them in breaking the Law.No way around it,if you declare a gift or false value you are breaking the Law.It also can come back to haunt you if it is lost or stolen,because you cannot collect for the proper value.A great example of this is in this thread.

http://www.bladeforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=392093

Here the person is expected to share in the loss after he helped him evade paying the taxes in France.A nice kick in the teeth I would say. :barf:

In anycase, no matter how common the practice,I would suggest to everyone not to accomodate these requests.Paying duties,taxes, are all a part of doing business.
 
Thanks for the update Shaldag. Jjohn (R) should be in touch soon.

No need to apologize for the delay. Easy to get jammed up with other things. It's just good to note that someone in a good position of advantage is willing to take some of these things to the next level.

One other thing: On your next visit, would it be possible to determine if Israeli civil law allows for one person (read as an entity) to act as the "agent" of a group of "foreign clients" and to combine all embezzled losses into "one mutually similar loss" and in order to file one combined civil lawsuit in an effort to seize assets?

In other words would you be willing to take yet another step and seek advice as to if it would be possible for one person in Israel to act on behalf of those who have been victimized here and file one class action type civil lawsuit to be distributed amongst the victims?

Just an idea...

All the very best regards,

Stuart

Edit in vain attempt at clairification
 
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