Great 'Buy now from the US' Hunt.

tweetster

Hi, I am a very big fan of shopping till you drop when on holiday in the States especially Philosophy "beauty" products which are half the price of here, and also Old Navy which is owned by Gap and sells dirt cheap casual clothing. On returning home I have tried to purchase various things on websites but they do not send overseas and seem to require the delivery address to match the credit card address. The mail forwarding service sounds a great idea but then surely it wouldn't help in this situation. Anyone got any ideas?? Thanks!

versan9

Hi Folks,

Recently got back from the US - before I went out got myself a Nationwide credit card - got excellent rates with no exchange fees. Much better than using a card from the Big Four Banks. (Got hammered once with Barclaycard in the past which made me sick)

(I believe you get great rates when you the Nationwide debit card too)

Would be good for those buying stuff online from the US.

Well done Nationwide for representing the Nation !!!!

Well done Martin for the site - you deserve a seat in the House of Lords.

Justin_Scotland

The following sites are also very good compared to UK prices.

The first is motherhood.com which is for maternity clothes which are often a LOT cheaper than you can find in the UK.

Also another family favorite is sierratradingpost.com

Sierra trading Post offer a lifetime money back guarantee and will happily post to the UK. One of the best returns and money back schemes available. They do a very wide range of outdoor and sports related clothes and equipment. Good for Spyder ski wear. Would highly recommend taking a look at this site as its hard to explain the large range of goods they have.

Justin

TheBaldwins

If you want some specific designer glasses it's worth checking the US sites. I just ordered new Kio Yamato glasses from the US. The frames here in teh UK were £190 but I got them in the US for approx £90. Shipping was $20 (£10). I'll have to get the lenses put in once I get them but I'd have to do the same if I bought the same ones here.
https://www.4eyesonline.com
I've checked the government site and it looks like it's the usual 17.5% VAT and something like 5% duty. Even if it was 50% duty it still works out cheaper. Just remember to try them on in a shop here first and then get the frame number from the inside of the arm.

xpcomputers

Note updated prices! Even better value! (UK prices have dropped as well, but US prices still much better!)

If you buy Zone Alarm products from their US website you can get three licences of their Internet Security v7 (the latest and award winning security package), for [STRIKE]$69 (£35)[/STRIKE] $59 (£30) compared to [STRIKE]over £60[/STRIKE] now £49 on their UK website. It is an immediate download (no box to send), so now postage or customs to sting you. That works out at [STRIKE]less than £12[/STRIKE] £10 per copy!

I highly rate Zone Alarm Internet Security at the moment. I bought it last year for £60 for 3 licences (which is still a bargain when you see the full prices for one copy). This years version has bought in Kaspersky AntiVirus to replace the version it used, which has made the overall package even better. (Kaspersky is currently regarded as the top AntiVirus solution by many reviewers). You also get their award winning firewall. A vastly improved Spam filter. Their excellent Spyware protection. And it is fully integrated as one easy to use package (rather than installing lots of separate packages).

Anyway, this is one of the buy from the US bargains! I fully researched the best security package to buy and in my opinion (at the moment) this is it. I just bought my copy for my machines here using this deal.

Go to https://www.zonealarm.com - select US from the countries list at the top-right. (if you select UK you compare the particular product you want to it's UK rip-off price to see how much extra you are saving).

You can buy any of their products at an equivalent saving. The 3 licence packs are particularly good value, but the 5's are a rip off (cheaper to buy 2x 3's and waste one licence!!)
1 lic IS7 = $49 (£25 per licence) - Compared to £35 in UK
2 lic IS7 = [STRIKE]$59 (£15 per licence)[/STRIKE] Not currently available
3 lic IS7 = [STRIKE]$69 (£12 per licence)[/STRIKE] $59 for a limited time! (that's just £10 per lic!)
5 lic IS7 = [STRIKE]$150 (avoid this!)[/STRIKE] Now $169 - even WORSE deal

If you only want one copy, you might try getting together with a friend or two to get two or three licences for cheaper per copy cost.

I hope this helps someone.

Oh, and you don't need to buy their "send a backup CD" or "12 months permanent download" options. These are a rip off. All you need to do is buy the product you want and untick these "extras". As long as you keep your licence code in a safe place, then you can always just re-download the latest "trial version" from their site (these are full feature trials but 15 days time-limited). When you enter your licence code into the installed trial it unlocks it as the full version with your remaining licence time. You can also burn your own CD if you like once you have downloaded it, but you will find that you get several upgraded versions throughout the year anyway which you will want to download - so a CD will soon be out of date anyway.

Of course there are totally free options. AOL ActiveVirusShield is a FREE antivirus that uses Kaspersky AV product. It is available to everyone (not just AOL subscribers). http://www.activevirusshield.com/
The alternative is the excellent AVG Free from free.grisoft.com

In the firewalls you can get Zone Alarm Free firewall from https://www.zonealarm.com

However if you need 3 licences, then getting the hassle-free suite (which has more advanced features than the free versions) is highly competitive and worth paying £10 for (in my opinion!)... when it is currently worth £35 for one copy in UK (was very recently more than this).

sonniemell

woohoo_postingid wrote: »

Postage is a big thing to factor into the price as well. I want to buy some Mountain Dew for a birthday present (can't buy it in UK normally - only on the net which is shockingly expensive) but as it is so heavy, it costs a bomb to send.

Hello there

You dont have to order mountain dew from the states, u can get it at

cybercandy.co.uk in uk



Regards


Sonnie

carrot81

http://www.localcelebrity.com/

I've bought T-shirts off these guys a few times. They retail at about £25 over here (in Urban Outfitters and independant boutiques) but are all around $19.50-$22.50 on their site, PLUS you get shipping for a dollar if you buy 3 and this applies on UK deliveries too-bargain!! They have always ticked the 'gift' box on stuff they've sent me. The tees are funky but they also fit well and feel really nice.

Chris25

appleseyes wrote: »

bought creative zen in florida walmart in november 2006 for daughter stopped working ater 2 weeks rung walmart they said asda would refund me rung asda head office got number off asda website he said no problem took it to local asda in wirral they point blank refused stood my ground argued with manager nicely they copied receipt and told me they would ring head office as they didnt know how to do it and how to exchange the dollar price to punds i said that this was ridicu:T lous in the world of international shopping waited aweek and got a call collected refund minus quite a few pounds due to exchange rate it was still a bonus so the point is stand your ground and dont forget to get the head office persons name as i forgot!!

My mum received a Walmart cardigan as a present the Christmas before last. It was way too big and she didn't have receipt but we took it ASDA to see what they would say. They agreed to either exchange it for another woolly or give her the same amount that the most similar cardigan they had instore cost. So she got £16. She had no idea the cost of the original gift but felt that they had been more than fair to her

clematis

Recently bought a Nintendo DS game via Ebay USA and even with postage it was cheaper - just make sure you use someone with 100% feedback and with a history of posting abroad.

mary_hendry

McAzrael wrote: »

I buy contact lenses from https://www.visiondirect.com. So far, so good. I've also used american based websites when I have needed to buy a gift for someone in America as it works out a lot cheaper than buying it here and posting it.

Do you have to pay import duty on the lenses? If so, how much?