The Weekend Economists travel the Yellow Brick Road, November 14-15.

[MattSh]

49. Our Xmas frenzy started weeks ago...

There are so many things that you just can't get here, and if you can find them, you're likely paying list price, or you risk getting counterfeits. Ordering stuff for our family is manageable; where it gets out of hand his when she permits extended family to participate. Meaning I have to do it because I'm the one who understands English...

And it's not just ordering stuff and waiting for it to arrive at your doorstep. It's ordering it, sending to our shipping company in NJ, or DE for taxable items, ensuring arrival dates are not spaced too far apart (anything that sits in their warehouse too long incur additional storage fees), separating it into different boxes (too many things at one time in one box might incur customs fees and delays), filling out customs paperwork and filling it out in such a way that it doesn't grab someone's attention, leading customs or the shipper to delay the shipment. Oh, and I mustn't forget the credit card hustle. There are a number of companies that don't like to see a US issued credit card, registered to a foreign address, especially Ukraine, shipping to NJ. This fairly screams "fraud" is many a mind out there. Though it's better than 7-8 years ago...

I would like everybody to stick to Amazon, not because they are the most ethical company to work with, but because they are the easiest to work with. And just stuff shipping from Amazon warehouses, not their marketplace sellers. But her cousin, the one who married into a political family, must have exactly what they want, even if it takes many extra weeks to ship from China or the moon or whatever. Then last year, my wife added her uncle into the mix, and his thing is Ebay. Now Ebay is part of my wife's thing too. So many different policies for so many different shippers, and I'm the one who has to read the shit to ensure what they actual hope to get done can actually get done. But at least some of that can be shipped directly to Kiev, at no extra cost. And imagine my surprise earlier today when I found out we had bid on an item. An item we had already bought from another seller. My wife apparently clicked the "Bid" button instead of the "Add to Cart" button. English is not her native language, and she's worse with reading than with speaking. So I had to write the seller asking that the bid be cancelled (ours is the only bid right now), and write to Ebay to see if there is a way to block all auctions so we don't accidently bid on something again.

I hope your Xmas frenzy is nothing like this...