Great 'Buy now from the US' Hunt.

kazd

I just bought 2 x video ipods @ £162.00 ea as opposed to £219 here and a Bose Soundock for £171. 501's for just over £20 and less than £20 for 505's. Plus a stack of Roxy and Quicksilver, Tommy Hilfiger, Polo etc. We were there on holiday, we go most years and I always restock my husbands wardrobe, kids as well if the season is right.

scotlass99

Hi

Although i've never used them personally, the web site https://www.internationalcheckout.com will order the products on your behalf from any US online retailer and forward them to you for a fee..perhaps if you were considering a purchase they would be worth a look..

bob_a_builder

Someone already mentioned mail forwarding,

While I was looking at these for a potential purchase I found this review here
http://www.mail-forwarding-advisor.com/index.html

Which suggests http://www.usabox.com/

Whilst I've not yet used them, do seem a bit better, since no need to 'join' as such with monthly fees etc
+ these companies will mark value of goods at wholesale value rather than purchase price

jonny_the_rod

Definitely avoid parcel2go.co.uk they suck. I've used them 4 times 1st item got there ok then they totally lost one package, damaged another and never turned up to collect the 3rd. my claims against them were all unsuccessful for reasons that 'goods were inappropriately packaged' utter rubbish.

sainthalo

maverick007 wrote:

Perhaps it might be a good time to invest in a few dollars and exchange them in to pounds later when the rate changes again. Not sure how much you need to make a decent return though.

you're right, there should be a thread about this.

the main issue is finding the cheapest way to float into and out of a currency. that will decide how much money you would need to convert. you can easily make more doing this than having the money sat in a bank account. of course its also risky but right now is the perfect time to minimise risk (ie on a medium term upwards peak).

is there a board suitable to discuss this issue? it would be better than spending all the money in a rush!

UltraCheap_2

Another great place to shop is REI for outdoor gear including hiking, camping, skiing, running, cycling etc. The store started out of Seattle and now you can find them nationwide. It is a co-op, so if you become a member (a one-time lifetime membership of something like $20) you will receive a percentage of your spending back in vouchers each year. REI also carries a 100% guarantee on all of their products, so if the item breaks (and so many things do these days) you can take it back for a full (no hassle) refund.:j

http://www.rei.com/

RDA

Happiness71 wrote:

"Is it worth just buying dollars or travellers cheques now for spending on a visit to the US in the future (early part of next year)"

Now we're getting into currency speculation!!:rotfl:

Only do this if you're getting your currency at bank rate without either declared or hidden commission. When friends visit us on vacation from the US and we fund each other's out of pocket expenses to cut out the middle man.

If you can arrange it, open a US bank account in a friend's name and transfer funds over when the exchange rate's good. A few hundred pounds invested in dollars today will look like a good buy when the pound's back at $1.74 in a few months.

Obviously, use a Nationwide debit or credit card wherever possible.

On the subject of buying from the US, a few points to consider :

- The warranty is unlikely to cover you outside the US
- Power supplies may be multi-voltage but usually have US plugs on and need adapters here
- The import duty and VAT may wipe out any savings
- Mail forwarders often claim you won't have to pay import taxes. You will.
- Carefully check compatibility with UK standards before you buy
- When you buy by mail order, watch the sales tax - it you shouldn't be charged for exports

The trading range of the pound against the dollar over the last couple of years has given a spread of about 24%, but this could easily be lost in a bad deal or unexpected tax bill.

lyniced

I just bought some clothes from American Eagle - I got a few t-shirts in their sale at $11.95 each (approx £6) and a basball cap at $14.95 (£8). However the shipping wasn't cheap - $25, but thats about £12, and delivery was very fast - about 5 days. I wish I'd ordered more now as it's really nice stuff.

https://www.ae.com

martinmarv

AlanS wrote:

i'm off to Canada this weekend where the exchange rate is currently around 2.13CA$ to the pound.

How does prices in Canada compare with USA ?

I'm not sure about most stuff, but video games seem to be quite cheap - I've ordered a couple of games from http://www.videogamesplus.ca/ before, and they've been about half-price.

urbanfrit

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.

UK based Cybercandy.com sell Mountain Dew by post or at their shop in Covent Garden.
Obviously more expensive than the States but if you buy 72 cans you get free postage!

http://www.cybercandy.co.uk/aaasmt/index.php/url_pmet3/xlc_2827/xdbc_25/dbtc_6/pic_1/add_44112/stc_1/scope_short#2827