Hellobee Boards

Aww I'm sorry. How much do they cost to ship? Could your mom ship it to you?

OMG, tell me about it! Not only does stuff cost twice as much, there is half the selection!

I would do so much on line shopping and have it shipped to my parent's home it wasn't funny. Every time we'd go through customs, it was a debate as to wether or not we'd declare our goods and if we'd get pulled out to open our suitcases, lol.

I'm trying to buy LO a kidkraft kitchen too. Of course, Amazon US won't ship it here to Beijing. I found the kidkraft vintage at a store in one of the shopping malls but it costs 3445 rmb which is like $550 US. It's outrageous. It's like that with anything imported here in China. A can of formula is at least $ 50 but there's nothing you can do you just can't trust any of the Chinese products.

@zippylef: for the fridge, what if you got a nightstand with a cabinet door, and painted it to match the kitchen?

I think that's perfect! I think it's going to look great when you're all said and done!

@zippylef: That Ikea hack is so cute! Could you just get a cheap Ikea cabinet & add long Ikea handles to make it look like a side-by-side fridge?

Like this one maybe... http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70189041/ with these long handles.. http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/70189041/

@zippylef: It's frustrating, isn't it? It's the VAT that really screws you over here.

@winniebee: Two words for you - import tax. Even if zippylef had it shipped to her parents' house and sent here as a gift, even gifts attract import tax here. Packages get stopped at customs, opened, import tax applied and then you get a letter inviting you to visit the local post office depot and pay to release the item. Not only do you have to pay the import tax on it, you are also liable to handling fees payable to Royal Mail. It's why I can't buy anything from Esty, sob sob.

@zippylef: it's the same in Canada, everything is so insanely expensive

someone used an ODDA chest as a fridge http://www.ikeahackers.net/2009/07/vintage-style-play-kitchen.html

This is what I hate about living abroad too. I have had to give up on so many things I really wanted as a first time mom because they cost twice as much here or are just not available.