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I have a dear friend in Jamaicawho emailed and asked me to send him a pair of soccer shoes. He said they are very expensive in Jamaica. I think it would be expensive to "mail" a pair of these shoes to him and would be just as inexpensive to wire him the money to buy them there. Am I right.... or is there an inexpensive way to ship them to him? He lives in Runaway Bay. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Shipping the shoes would cost an arm & a leg....shipping fees & duty adds up along with your friend probably having to pick them up at the Mobay customs...inconvenient. They aren't more expensive to purchase here, so sending the money would be a much better idea.
yup the right way to do the gift thingy is to send money......
but don't be surprised if dem use the money for sumthin else.....like food etc
or go with dem when you der to like Sav and have him pick dem soceer shoes out.......
you'd be able to buy three sets of soceer shoes in Jamaica if try to buy and send down those shoes from N America......lol
of course you can try to bring down a pair but he might be waiting a long time for you to reach.....lol
Cool Runnings,Marko
Maybe you could buy the shoes and ship them to a boardie who will be on the island soon?
Remember that money spent at a store in Jamaica produces a multiplier effect on the entire Jamaican economy. It might not matter to your friend - he still gets one pair of soccer shoes - but it certainly matters to the country as a whole.
Good quality soccer shoes - ones that will hold up in vigorous play - start at around $60. in the US, and leather ones around $100. To most in Jamaica, that would qualify as "very expensive".
I am not making a blanket statement for everyone as each person sees things differently. In my case, people from Jamaica don't email me or call me looking for me to buy them things period.
If I feel like bringing them a "gift", I do that but most of the time it is for work shoes, work pants etc. (I think you get the picture). Bling and fun and games are not on my gift list. I would not even send anyone money to buy themselves any thing but items that would further their education or enhance their ability to make a living.
I have brought soccer related equipment but as a donation to a town or school mostly through "Bounce Across Jamaica"
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Bounc...a/269592098856
I used to look at things differently but I now like to help my friends help themselves. I believe that part of the problem is that foreigners want to look like Santa Claus and Jamaicans want to be given gifts and our generous behavior only makes things less valuable to Jamaicans because they don't have to work for them and spend their hard-earned money for them.
I love my friends in Jamaica but I also believe in the value gained by working for something.
This is just my opinion and, I am sure, not shared by the majority of those who will read this.
Peace and Guidance
For the most part, I'm with you. Nobody emails or calls me for money or gifts, and my priorities are similar to yours. And I've posted here before about what I perceive as confusion between "he's my friend" and "I'm his customer".
That said, if I was going to get something for somebody, I'd buy it in Jamaica rather than here because then I'd be helping a Jamaican shopkeeper earn his living instead of undercutting him. And I do acknowledge that there are some things my Jamaican acquaintances will never be able to earn for themselves. Even in the U.S., softball and soccer teams do fundraising to pay for equipment, uniforms and fees. And as a previous poster noted, food etc. is going to take a higher priority on anything they can earn.