The cheap US dollar (read: weak) has made a lot of people think about shopping for christmas presents online from the US, but the cheap dollar may not be so cheap after all. I too decided to give it a go and bought a couple of t-shirts from an US-based online store. The goods were cheaper than similar goods in online shops in Europe and because of the cheap dollar the goods were even cheaper. But… when the package arrived to Finland I got a call from the customs. First they put a 22% VAT on the goods, then about 10% customs tax and finally about 10 euros for some customs fee. A package that would have been about 100 euros, got up to almost 150 euros because of all the taxes. What do we learn from this? Do not buy anything from the US!