“The markup on glasses (specifically frames) is stupid ridiculous. We can buy a frame for $4, then turn around & sell it for $160. Lenses too… lenses that cost us under $10 can easily be marked up to $100. I mean business is business but taking advantage of people who can’t see is sorta s@#tty lol”
-hopefulcynicx
I can personally vouch for the broker making this claim because I know first hand that if you are importing small items into the USA for personal use, your stuff has to be flagged by a CPB agent who wants to build a case against you from an insider tip.
Only high profile importers or large gray area container loads ever see eyes on the documents and then screeners rely on instinct to only flag what might be knock-off shipments or suspected large quantities of drugs.
My case was developed as a personal vendetta from a politician with whom I had exposed for criminal activity, and I was flagged for investigation due to his criminal conviction. The customs agent then imported over a quarter million in fake drugs and claimed I was a co-conspirator in a drug trafficking ring, all because I bought some viagra for personal use from a non-USA source to save less than $100 for a few pills. I had to pay restitution to ELI LILLY and PFIZER fo their loss of profit in the amount that the border patrol agent imported. The evidence was photographs of a drug bust from some other on file customs seizure, with no actual drugs involved, and since I was barely scraping by and not a big-time dealer with connections and cash to pay an attorney, I moved the case closer to home which meant I had to plead guilty of the crime. We just had a child, so I was in no financial position to properly fight the charges. Headlines read: "
Missouri Man Charged With Counterfeit Viagra And Cialis" true story