only purchase things na talagang malayo price or not available locally... Kung oorder ka through web always pay using credit card coz you have 30 days to dispute any charges unlike money order/transfer wala kang habol. Hence the term credit, di ka papabayad ng cash agad, may protection ka.

Using a card online is no more dangerous than using it sa store, gas station, resto, etc since anyone can copy your number and perform multiple swipes etc. Pare pareho lang pwedeng iclaim (actually, restaurants and clubs have the HIGHEST number of fraudulent charges... taga Citibank misis ko kaya alam ko kwento hehe)

Pag wala ka card, dont bother, 1st, mas mahal wire transfer, 2nd wala kang habol.

duties are a b1tch, but may way to circumvent, just ask the seller to include a receipt saying it's a sample or promotional material - no commercial value ok na. di ka na kakaltasin sa post office.

happened to us dati when I requested some sample products from germany. the company sent me 6 bottles of products weighing more than 8 kilos... Nakita ko na ngiti nung matanda sa post office kala nya makakapera sya sa tax, pag open nya ng box, lahat ng invoice nakalagay "Samples - No Commercial Value".. Kawawa sya hehe. Sabi nya "grabe naman ata magpadala ng samples mga to!" (usually may under the table deal if you dont want to pay for the full custom charge, gagatungin ka ng officer to pay "him" instead of the custom rate, hayup)...