www.myus.com = How Safe?

jammy78

Hi,

I want to start buying cheap items from the US but a lot of online retailers don't ship to the UK or charge a lot.

I have come accross www.myus.com and they give you a US postal address and then send the items on to you!

Has anyone setup an account with them, as they are asking for a copy of my passport and a credit card statement!

They say it is for security but I fell uneasy sending all this, as it's enough to take my idenity?

Is it worth it?

boots_babe

Myus.com was in an article in The Times last week, and you would hope that they would not have been pointing their readers towards them if they were not legit.

But not used them myself so wait for someone else who hopefully can reassure you.

outbidder

Here is The Times article:
http://technology.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/tech_and_web/the_web/article1713775.ece

Here are the Google hits if youfancy wading through:
http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&q=www.myus.com&meta=

Not used them myself so couldn't recommend or otherwise.

bwatt00

I am from the uk and was one of the first members to use them when they was called access usa,been using them over 10 years now and cant complain,they have got bigger as a company over the years.

HeadCase_2

It's a requirement for all private mail box places. Even if you go to the post office you'll need to fill out a 1583 post office form and give them two forms of ID. To be honest many places ask you to fill out even more forms than just that. If you check out YourUSAaddress they'll ask you to do the same, but if you have any questions you can pick up the phone and call them and speak to a real person, which is good.

DelBoyPhil

dont use that myus they charge $14 just for a letter to the UK use usamail1.com they are great!

jenniewb

Just a question- if you use these companies, are you 100% able to escape customs or is it still possible you could end up getting charged fees?

Also, what are the costs like to use the companies?

M5cruiser

My wife and I took some time to research all the companies that offer package forwarding outside the USA by establishing a US address.

Here is the list we came up with:

Myus.com
Viaddress
Usa2me
Bongous
Borderlinx
Shipito
Usglobalmail.com

We each compared the Shipping prices between them based on the shipping calculators on these sites, We came to the one conclusion : Viaddress.com offers the lowest shipping prices to forward a package outside the US, using FEDEX/UPS/DHL.

They offer 2 types of services: $4.95/package forwarding or $9.95/month for Unlimited number of packages to be forwarded and one can cancel the monthly subscription anytime with no penalties like in the case of some other companies.

The Demo video on Viaddress.com explains how their service works and I have found nothing but good reviews about them on the web.

After chatting with one of their agents, I found out that they offer international customers with a US address just a couple of hours from Fedex international HUB in the state of Indiana...Very Smart !... this actually ends up saving a few days of package routing within the USA.

To test drive their service, I purchased the $4.95/package forwarding service and provided me with my US address within a few minutes.

Last week I purchased Night vision Binoculars from Adorama using Overnight shipping... So check out this timeline:

Monday: Purchase made on Adorama.com
Tuesday: Package arrives at my address with VIADDRESS (They forwarded it the same day!)
Thursday: Fedex driver showed up with my package at my house !!!

Talk about fast service...

This is my unbiased opinion, and I hope this helps guys :A

Liz30

I likewise did a lot of comparing and found usamail1.com to have the best rates. I've been using their service for a while now, and I'm very happy. What I like the most about their service is that I can use my Paypal account, and they ship with the US Postal Service, so I often save on customs fees.

alranson

jenniewb wrote: »

Just a question- if you use these companies, are you 100% able to escape customs or is it still possible you could end up getting charged fees?

Also, what are the costs like to use the companies?

You are not able to "escape customs" with any of these services!

The key is to understand what the threshold is which triggers customs duty (which is where it gets seriously expensive and complicated, as duty is charged on the total of the value of the item AND the VAT AND the shipping cost!).

At the moment, as long as the declared value of the goods is £140 or less (which is about $200) you won't have to pay any duty, just VAT on the declared value, which usually isn't much. It is worth splitting up consignments above $200 in value.

As far as costs go, it depends on the level of service you want. I pay $7 a month for MyUS.com's Premium service, plus the cost of DHL or Fedex for each package I get forwarded. I've used it for about three years and have found their service to be excellent: it's taken as little as four days from ordering an item online to me receiving it in the UK. You normally won't need to contact MyUS once you've set your account up, but if you ever do, they are super responsive and always very helpful.

jaysv

dear all..
i just read all the comments on myusa.com...and i am so glad to come across this page
i was about to join them today as its very difficult to do online shopping from UAE
just wanted to ask if viaaddress is safe site and can be trusted..
please help
thank you