Hi everybody.
I live in Portugal, and I want to buy the Pixel 3a (it's the only smartphone within budget with a decent camera/software for me, in fact I want 2 of them; one for me and for a family member) and I was looking for ways on how to get it safely to my country/address for the price of 399€ + accessories + shipping. It's not sold officially on my country in the Google store, but it is sold on France, Spain and Germany; since they're part of the EEA I shouldn't have to pay any additional VAT rates, nor should they get retained at airport customs and presumably it's totally legal being in Europe (if it's not, please tell me why).
I know that I can use a parcel forwarder to have them delivered to me, but I'm worried that they might open the phone box, fiddle with the phone and possibly damage/replace some original goody before it arrives to my home, which is something I don't want! Alternatively, I could board a plane and go to Germany or the other options., and buy the phone there, but the trip price might well exceed any attempts of having the parcel handled at a warehouse and then expedited to my location, plus I'd have to have an adequate interval in mind.
What would be the safest way, do you know of a company that is reliable, quick and won't open my phone for inspection, etc, and preferably that doesn't charge too much?