Great 'Buy now from the US' Hunt.

jnd

............

600wkm

Have just tried buying a watch from fossil.com, but because i haven't a US credit card they have declined my order.
Has anyone else had the same experience? & come up with any ideas to get around this, apart from buying the item from a UK store.
Thanks
600wkm

khdgsa

afro wrote:

http://www.playusa.com might be worth a look for CDs and DVDs

Remember Play USE DVD's are Region 1, so you will need a multi-region player.Otherwise, very cheap, and you can get some titles months before they are released in the uk (sometimes when they are still in cinemas).

kilo_2

msl_boss wrote:

I've just got back from a holiday in New York. While shopping in Macy's store, I casually asked for discount because I am from England. The salesman told me that overseas visitors get 11% knocked off everything (same as not paying the additional tax) by simply showing my passport at the Customer Services desk.
Also found that haggling was pretty easy at this time of year, as shops were not busy (New Yorkers are on vacation) :j

As stated by jnd in post 143 this is not a haggle but a standard thing Macy's as done for years. In the past you could only obtain these cards in a handful of stores in the USA (probably 4 stores with visitor centres) although they could be used in most stores. . The cards used to last for about a year. It however seems you can now obtain them from smaller stores although they seem to be stamped with expiry dates within a week or 2.

US residents can get Macy store cards which have lots of discount offers and hence rarely find the discount cards of much value.

Also as jnd stated Cosmetics and Perfumes and a few other items are excluded.

kilo_2

RDA wrote:

Many states don't charge sales tax on clothing. One of these is Pennsylvania, which is easy to reach from New York and New Jersey.

There are some great outlet malls in PA, including Franklin Mills and King of Prussia which is a regular mall with over 400 stores.

From some time this year IIRC, New York State also abolished tax on clothes/ shoes...certain conditions apply.($110 item value upper limit)

New Jersey State (neighbours New York State) also hasn't charged Tax on clothes for a while. Delaware further south doesn't charge state tax on any goods. A few other states in the US have tax free holidays lasting days or 1-2 weeks.

Art_2

khdgsa wrote:

Remember Play USE DVD's are Region 1, so you will need a multi-region player.Otherwise, very cheap, and you can get some titles months before they are released in the uk (sometimes when they are still in cinemas).

Playusa is good but a better one is Deep Discount. They deliver free in the US and will also ship to the UK but there is a charge for this. When I order from them I have the DVDs delivered to my US address and bring them back with me.

http://www.deepdiscountdvd.com

Regards,
Art.

kilo_2

fatboyonadiet wrote:

The best places are, in the following order:

Thomas Global Exchange (based in London)
Travelex (online)
M&S
Post Office

If you're not in LOndon order online from Travelex and on the day you place you're order ring TGE and then get Travelex to price-match it. Bingo Bango!

The best (non-bulk) rates I have ever found are opposite Victoria station (not within the station) in London. There are a handful of places there. Can't remember the name of the outlet I go to although I could find outEdit: I have just realised this is actually a branch of Thomas exchange (a tiny branch too) as fatboyonadiet stated above. There are 2 or 3 others in the vicinity which offer similar or occasionally slightly better rates but I always go to Thomas exchange and ask for a match. They should however matcn each other. The buy rates for foreign currency are also excellent - I even had to ask them how they make their money!

I also use M and S when I don't travel through Victoria station. I'll probably try the travelex collect at airport service sometime soon.

http://www.thomasexchangeglobal.co.uk/contact.php

gjchester

Art wrote:

All imported goods arrive at a Customs depot in the Midlands. It is here that they decide if any duty is payable and the Post Office collect the money on delivery.

Regards,
Art.

Not all stuff theres a custims place in London Mount Pleasant depot, Mines usually got there stamp on it.

I guess it depends which airport it comes in via, no point sending everything from manchester airport down to london to ship it back up north.

gjchester

badgerman wrote:

I am a member at costco over here, I just tried to sign up for the US one on the weblink but you need a US address to do so. How do I order stuff to be shipped to the UK when I have no friends or family in the US whose address I could use?

If your a UK member you can use the membership world wide if you go in person. However they may only ship inside the USA.

Costco USA accepts credit cards too and Uk doesn't

yankee_rower

gjchester wrote:

If your a UK member you can use the membership world wide if you go in person. However they may only ship inside the USA.

Costco USA accepts credit cards too and Uk doesn't

Costco USA only ships within the US (and maybe Canada).

Last time I was in the USA (in Jan), Costco wasn't taking credit cards, only their AMEX Executive Club membership one. Might be worth looking at their website, or phoning the warehouse you plan on going to over there.