[deanhills]

[...]

While I was in Russia I bought a Xiaomi Mi Pad 3 through one of the shops. It was ordered on Sunday and three days later I could pick it up. The original thing. Fully working and in perfect condition. It even included a EU power adapter for the charger. I use it right now to write this post.

Thanks for sharing your experiences.  Wow - a real eye-opener for sure.  I'm curious about Russia though.  Which city and shop did you buy the Xiaomi from?

What was particularly interesting for me too is that the prices you paid for some of the products may even be half that of Amazon in Germany.  Looks as though gearbest.com is having a super sale on as well. 

Only drawback for me would be customs in South Africa also in Canada.  They're two countries who can kill with custom duties because of how protected their economies are.