Online shopping to USA

pink-lady

Hi,

I don't know if I'm posting in the right place so feel free to move my post if needed.

I want to send my son some new clothes for his birthday. He's studying in USA and I was hoping I could shop online and have them sent straight to him rather than coming to me then me paying extra postage sending them over to him!

Can anyone recommend any websites or the best way of doing this?

Thanks in advance for any help x

Lisbon

M&S is currently offering free delivery to the USA (no minimum spend): http://help.marksandspencer.com/support/delivery-collection/freedelivery-aus-nz

pink-lady

Thank you, that is brilliant Lisbon! I could send him other gifts from there too! :beer:

Queenriderbrekke

Remember that he may end up with import duties/Taxes to pay on the gift x

Cisco001

Can you use us online retailer?

pink-lady

Queenriderbrekke, that's what concerns me, don't want him to have to pay to receive my gift!

Cisco, I just wasn't sure if payment with a UK debit card would be alright for this and also don't really know many US sites but this would perhaps be the best option.

I've spoken to a colleague at work who's sister lives in US, she told me that she sends Christmas gifts etc using Amazon.com. She said she's never had a problem paying and the gifts are delivered within a few days.

Going to have a look on there now!

Thanks for your help, really appreciate it x

itskat

I can vouch for the Amazon route -- I have friends in the US and Canada; whenever we're doing Christmas/birthday gifts, I almost exclusively buy from Amazon.com and ship direct to them.

I've also made purchases in the past on US sites using my UK debit card and haven't had issues with the payments going through, either. A lot of online retailers now have PayPal options, so you could always look for a site that offers that, as an alternative?

I'm having a total blank right now as to which US clothing stores there are, and I don't know what kind of clothes your son wears, but just for an example, there's something like US Top Man: http://us.topman.com (be careful, it will try to change your location back to UK and you'll have to change the country at the top of the page)

Try to find online clothing sites that are based in the US. So long as you're ordering from a US-based site and delivering to a US-based address, you won't have to worry about import taxes.

Oh, but depending on your bank, you might get charged a fee for purchasing in a different currency (I get charged £1.25 a time). I end up with quite a few transaction fees when I order this way, including - I think - the orders I place through Amazon.com

Sorry, bit wordy!

pink-lady

Itskat - Thank you so much, that's all really helpful!

I tried the amazon.com last night, I just placed a small order just to start with. My son is over in the States on a lacrosse scholarship so I've ordered him a lacrosse calendar for next year. If this arrives at college okay for him, I'll be happy placing bigger orders. It all seemed quite straightforward so I was really pleased.

Top Man sounds good too! He's 20 on Christmas Eve so I'm sure I can find some clothes he'll like.

I really do appreciate all your advice! If you think of any other US sites, please let me know. I'll be having a look too! :beer:

LadyDee

If buying him clothes on a US site make sure of the sizes - I know that ladies sizes differ between US/UK not sure about men's. Perhaps find out which store he prefers and see if you could buy him a voucher online?

pink-lady

Yeah, I'll bear that in mind LadyDee, thanks.
I wanted to send it to him as I thought it would be a nice surprise.
I'm sure he'll appreciate the gift but yeah, he would probably like to choose himself! Lol. He wears a lot of sports wear as he trains and uses the gym daily, but some casual clothes would be good too.
Thank you x