Informal entry and the need of having a person in the country of or

I'd like to join the recent discussion about informal entry. I was told that, if
it is the first time one is importing, it is advisable to hire a custom broker,
even though the merchandise is worth less than U$ 2,000. Is this right?



Also, I am negotiating with several suppliers in Brazil and I am thinking of
importing merchandise from 5 different suppliers. I have to alternatives:



1) To hire a person in Brazil, who would receive and gather all merchandise
from the different suppliers; check the products' quality and ship it to me when
there is a satisfactory quantity or value of merchandise (more than $2,000).



2) To have different entries from each supplier, but each entry would be
less than $2,000. In this case each supplier would send me the merchandise by
mail an I would have to clean it by myself.



Which alternative is the best, considering costs, time, quality control and
workload? Some people advised me that it is better to have someone in the
country of origin in order to check the quantity and quality of the products
before sending to U.S. However, I am not sure if it is really necessary. I think
I can handle all informal entries by myself, since mail entries seems to be an
easier process.



Any thoughts or past experiences that can help me?



Carolina Freire

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