Buying kit from US

Stu · 20 Nov 2008 at 00:53

I'm heading over to the US in a couple of weeks and am considering buying some hardware while I'm there... possibly a 920, P6T and 6GB of DDR3 (and maybe a GFX card, but probably too much to carry). Each of these items are £40-50 cheaper over there.

What's the general opinion on buying from abroad... good saving or too risky in case you have problems and need to return?

Perfect_Chaos · 20 Nov 2008 at 01:10

if it's a place you can send your stuff back to if you got any problems then why not, only bad thing is long wait time if you do get a problem.

pegasus1 · 20 Nov 2008 at 02:50

Do your maths with the actual exchange rate first, not everything is as cheep as you think once the exchanged rate you used is taken into acount.

Adrianr · 20 Nov 2008 at 02:58

Plus you may have to add on any international transaction fees if you're planning on paying by card, and any sales tax.

Benimaru · 20 Nov 2008 at 13:49

If anything I would build your rig there and stress test it, so you know the components are all working and the rig is stable. Thats if you really need to buy your components from the US

Tomsk · 20 Nov 2008 at 13:58

Might not be as cheap as you think.
USA sales tax will probably need to be added as it's usual for retailers to quote prices without sales tax added.
International shipping.
UK Customs taxes.
UK VAT which is calculted AFTER Custom taxes have been added (tax on tax).
Courier processing charges ie what they charge you for paying the UK taxes for you and often their charges are more than the UK taxes.

pegasus1 · 20 Nov 2008 at 17:11

Not all US States charge a sales tax. Im in a lucky position in that i am currently in SE Asia with a US postal address and can get US Dollars at $1.70 for a £ (was $2.04 till up until 1st Nov) and can get US electrical items delvered without any form of tax for $5 delivery. Lots of the guys im with have bought external HDD's but one has had an issue and has had a nightmare getting it RMA'd. I would rather pay a bit more and be able to easily return an item using the more powerfull UK (only) consumer laws available to those who purchased over the internet from UK companies.

Dicehunter · 20 Nov 2008 at 21:46

i bought a western digital velociraptor 300gb version hdd from the states as i refuse the pay the stupid prices over here, it roughly cost £80 brand new and shipping was under a tenner, now look at the prices over here.

Bradley8988 · 20 Nov 2008 at 22:12

Prices dont seem to be much better anymore. I bought some Ram over there in june and cost nearly half price to what it was here at ocuk. Just ordered off newegg and brought it home in my bag so all i paid was the delivery.

Stu · 20 Nov 2008 at 22:44

With the current exchange rate I can get a i7 920 for £200... worth the hassle and risk?

Stu · 20 Nov 2008 at 22:46

Bradley8988 said:
Prices dont seem to be much better anymore. I bought some Ram over there in june and cost nearly half price to what it was here at ocuk. Just ordered off newegg and brought it home in my bag so all i paid was the delivery.

How did you manage to buy from Newegg, as they don't accept non-US VISA cards (according to their help section).