US Hardware Imports

amyparr

amyparr

amyparr

Associate
Joined
20 Jun 2004
Posts
76
Hi guys,

Ok Ok, so I know that we are all British here, and that this is the forum for a British hardware supplier, but my curiosity got me looking at some of the US hardware websites and seeing what the cost is to buy my necessary items over there, and get them shipped here. With the good exchange rate the system I want to build works out over £500 cheaper on one website (Newegg) than what I can find over here, although they do not ship to internationally.

If I could find a US supplier that shipped internationally, is it really worth getting it sent over here, given shipping costs etc? Would there be loads of customs duties payable? Would the power supply even work? Are there any other major obstacles? :confused:

Any feedback would be most welcome. :D

And sorry if I've missed some really obvious point that makes this whole thread completely stupid.

Thank you :D
 
shipping cost would be quite be quite high and you still may have to pay tax when youre importing hardware due to customs...
 
Egosh said:
shipping cost would be quite be quite high and you still may have to pay tax when youre importing hardware due to customs...
Click to expand...

unless posted as a worthless present.. also any rma would be a pain
 
it would be cheaper until its slammed into a box and attacked with the "Deliver to UK" Stciker gun. Its the delivery costs that puts the cost up a lot, so in the end you would just of been better buying from UK. And as Paul said any RMA would be a pain. Stick with UK components, you want a cheap build google is your friend.
 
I've looked into this before as well, as I am American living here in the UK. Basically the 27.5% import tarriff kills any gains you would make. When I go visit the states, I ALWAYS bring 2 empty suitcases with me to fill up on computer stuff/clothes. And hope I don't get stopped going through customs. If you can get the retailer to mark your package as a gift, you might get out of the tarriff, but, if they open it at customs and see an invoice, i think it'll be hard to convince the customs official that it was indeed, a gift.
 
yeh thats how i got my ipod..i got a 60gb one for £160 and when i got it in the post i saw that it was labelled as a gift..should speak to the retailer see what they say about labelling it as a gift..
 
You can get a few items through as a gift but if you are importing an entire system worth of components you will undoubtedly get smacked with import tax. If you know someone there who you can get it delivered to they can post it to you cheaper using a courier or air mail. of course you'd be waiting longer but for the price difference it would be worth it. Otherwise, as above, $500 is only really about £270 or whatever, and i'd be quite willing to spend that much on peace of mind, knowing that i can phone my supplier for less than £8 a minute or RMA with relative ease :P (also knowing i can drive on round there to give the customer service muppets a shake up is nice :P)
 
:( Ok, I'm getting the feeling I haven't stumbled accross the most novel way of saving money, thanks for all the feedback guys, I don't as it happens, know anyone at the place that might label it as a gift, one question though;

what is RMA? sorry to be such a tard.

Any other ideas for saving lots of money? Would customs be different for a country supplying from within the EU? If I don't figure out a miracle cure, I'm gonna have to actually earn all of the money for this system :eek:
 
rma is when somthing comes dead (happens a lot with pc parts and even more so over lenghty postage) and needs to be returned. if things are bought in the us you have to return them to there too

if you want to save money use google with part numbers but dont buy from a lot of diffrent shops as postage will sting you... just do your basket in a few diffrent shops you will be suprised in how much you can save
 
The other thing is that a lot of the US sites which have the best prices dont ship outside the US/Canada. Can be hard finding ones that will post to the UK.
 
I've ordered stuff from the US on a few occasions but only when I can't get what I'm specifically looking for in the UK. Price wise it generally works out much the same price you would expect to pay in the UK once you factor in the delivery and customs charges.

Jokester
 
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