Purchasing & Shipping Within The US

[Oreth]

Hey All,

I have a question regarding purchasing and shipping online in the US. I am going to the US in September and i will be staying in Orlando for 11 days. I am staying in a family home not in a hotel. It is my hope to get a laptop while i am over there just considering the huge savings i can make.

I have quite a good machine at home and i dont particularly want a Laptop that is based around gaming but it would be nice that it can play FFXI without much trouble. I was thinking of maybe ordering one from HP or Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more! but from anyones experience do you think the 11 days would be enough time for it to be purchased and shipped so i receive it before i leave Orlando for Charlotte NC.

Im not sure how good Bestbuy and the likes are for prices in comparison to buying online but if they offer a good range and offer near the same prices i would just get it there but the key is saving money but getting a good spec laptop. Over here there is easily a 20% price increase on laptops purchased in the likes of Dixons / PC World compared to buying online.

Also on that note does anyone have any experience on customs etc for when i am taking it home do i have to declare i bought it in the US or can i say i brought it with me when i came over? Is that something they can and will check out?

Thanks again for the help!

[Qalbert]

You can usually spend extra for overnight shipping, not sure how much extra though.

[Suited Aces]

You can usually spend extra for overnight shipping, not sure how much extra though.

I recently bought a monitor from Newegg. They wanted $60 extra for 2-day delivery, even more(90ish iirc) for overnight. I just did the cheapest standard and got it in 2 days anyway, mostly because they sent it from Delaware and i live in philly.

@OP I think 11 days is plenty of time. Newegg seems to be good about processing and shipping within a few hours from purchase.

[Atreides]

yea, unless you live in like... Guam or Hawaii, even Free Super Saver shipping from Amazon typically takes less than a week to get there (including the time it takes to fill the order)

newegg took a bit longer when I ordered memory a few weeks ago so you might want to spring for a slightly higher tier than UPS Ground but you could always call and ask.

[Tirrock]

Newegg is generally great about shipping stuff quick. I've ordered stuff from them numerous times and never had anything late. If nobody is picking up the package you can mail it to the UPS location itself and pick it up yourself when you get there.

[Olo401]

Yeah Newegg's really fantastic on its shipping. You can usually get your stuff within a day or two of placing the order even on ground shipping (at least in the Northeast US anyways).

[toonces]

My suggestion is: Ship it to Charlotte NC. Delays can be your worst nightmare on a vacation, just ship it to your next destination. It is still in the USA.

Customs:
Now, what country are you leaving/returning too? Cuz don't worry about customs. Just don't declare it and take it off the box and carry it as a carry on.

EDIT: Oh yeah, knowing the country helps, because you do get exempts depending how long your trip is. over 7 nights I think most countries do like 400 USD.

TAXES:
If you pay taxes on the laptop, you can get your taxes back if you aren't an American Citizen (or don't plan to sell or w/e the laptop, they got a nice list for you to read); just ask for the tax return slips at the boarder or at your nearest hotel or agency.

Credi Card: Now this might be your killer, Most companies don't like to ship electronics to a location that is not in the home country of your billing address for international (credit-cards)customers. To alleviate this, call your CC company tell them the address you are going to ship the laptop so they add it to your information and gets shipped with no red tape delays.

[Mistress Stowastiq]

Hey All,

I have a question regarding purchasing and shipping online in the US. I am going to the US in September and i will be staying in Orlando for 11 days. I am staying in a family home not in a hotel. It is my hope to get a laptop while i am over there just considering the huge savings i can make.

I have quite a good machine at home and i dont particularly want a Laptop that is based around gaming but it would be nice that it can play FFXI without much trouble. I was thinking of maybe ordering one from HP or Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more! but from anyones experience do you think the 11 days would be enough time for it to be purchased and shipped so i receive it before i leave Orlando for Charlotte NC.

Im not sure how good Bestbuy and the likes are for prices in comparison to buying online but if they offer a good range and offer near the same prices i would just get it there but the key is saving money but getting a good spec laptop. Over here there is easily a 20% price increase on laptops purchased in the likes of Dixons / PC World compared to buying online.

Also on that note does anyone have any experience on customs etc for when i am taking it home do i have to declare i bought it in the US or can i say i brought it with me when i came over? Is that something they can and will check out?

Thanks again for the help!

New egg if you are doing online purchasing and they have pay for it advanced shipping if you need it. They have warranties also and purchase insurance, I believe. They also provide shipment tracking.

As far as customs, never have a computer in an airport if you are not confident that they can turn it on and see every file/program without flagging you for it.

They will likely ask you what the computer is for so be ready to have a nice, nonthreatening explanation of what it is for and what is on it. They may also ask you about the purchase if you let them know you did in the US so be ready to explain why you bought it here and went through the trouble to do so vs the alternatives. Find out what is ok to buy and bring home vs not ok.

Airports are itching to get people to do these things before they get to the airport and hold up the lines: Find out by calling the airport and checking their website, what the policy is on purchasing things in the US and taking it home. The whole "duty free zone, international purchasing" thing is very confusing to me but you shouldn't just trust info from a forum. You can get all the up to date post 911 rules on customs and airports with international travel if you put aside some time.

Goodluck and safe travels! enjoy your trip

[Erza]

Just buy one and stick it in your bag bringing it home. If you declare it you'll get charged 3-15% import levy and 21% VAT on top of that total, God bless you Irish customs.

[Oreth]

Ok, thanks for the info everyone and the helpful replies. I have been to the US before and i also nearly got in ALOT of trouble when i arrived in Washington i was stopped by customs so thats why i was wondering.

If i am shipping it to the address in Charlotte NC is using a hotels address ok?

Thanks for the tip on the credit card issue i hadnt thought of that and if my memory serves me correct i dont think New Egg will accept my CC because it is an Irish one. I wasnt aware you could do that? just ring my CC company and explain i want to purchase something in the US with my CC for shipping and it should elivate any problems that might arise with using it to purchase things online?

Instead of making a new topic could anyone reccomend any laptop brands or makes that would be what be best for what im after. I dont want the display any bigger than say 15" but i want it to be powerful enough to run multiple applications and also play say FFXI or other low demanding games.

I am very interested in HP TouchSmart tx2z series and then maybe adding about $300-$400 in upgrades to it, but the graphics is not upgradable on it and it comes with an ATI Radeon(TM) HD 3200 Graphics with 64MB Display Cache Memory and i have no idea if that is any good or not. I ideally want something sleek and light for ease of travel but something that could play FFXI easily with little trouble in terms of performence etc, but again not just limited to FFXI but has some future performance on the graphics front, Or is it simply that you cannot get a laptop that will do all that it either has to be a beast of a laptop (Gaming Laptops often 17") in order to get those results.

Also looking on newegg would anyone reccomend any particular brand as they have so many to choose from. Asus, Acer, Toshiba, Sony etc.

PS - (If a mod wants to move this to another section like Tech or w/e thats fine i just didnt want to make another thread for it, but sorry for going off topic)

[ZarakiKujata]

You should be fine w/ customs. In my experience on 3 trips to various europe airports and subsequent returns to the states, US customs are a lot more of a pain in the ass than any European country(Although, getting onto the plane is typically harder in EU.....). You will probably have a harder time getting into the US as a non-citizen then going back to Ireland w/ a new laptop. Just pack the warranty/paperwork for the laptop separate in your luggage and have the laptop in the carry on, and the biggest hassle you should have would be turning it on to get past security to leave the US.

Newegg/Amazon etc. all ship relatively fast, as long as you place the order early in the day they should be able to ship it out that same day. Likewise, you don't need to get the fastest method, especially w/ something as expensive to ship as a comp but if you get something midrange like 3-5 business days it will get to you even sooner in all probability, since UPS typically will still fly it to get it to a nearby routing center. But yeah, as a previous poster mentioned, talk to Newegg and your CC company on the phone so that there is no problem w/ international ordering or w/e, could help speed up the verification process as well after you place the order.

edit: I would call the Hotel and see but it should probably be okay.
Any of the brands should be okay, 64MB could probably handle FFXI but it won't run as smooth/pretty as say a 128 or 256MB card would. When looking for laptops should probably go for better processor/video card as those would be harder to upgrade then say the HD/memory

[toonces]

Yeah check your return policies for Ireland. You might get tax exempts, so won't have to worry about customs at all.

CC: Yeah just call them up, tell them what addresses you will be staying in the USA and the length of your stay. Giving them a local number to reach you would be great too.

WHen you purchase with Newegg you make note of it. They have a box for special order needs. Put in a local number, and they will contact you to approve the purchase. THey might send you an email about can't process, but that is easily fixed by calling them and making sure you CC has your USA information. (Is a hassle but if you are prepared it only takes 30 minutes)

Hotel: If is a nice hotel with concierge or a chain hotel. You should be fine, just let the hotel know in case they receive before you. (I have done this). Now if is a cheap hotel, middle of no where... ship to Orlando and pray the shipping gods. Good Luck.

[deft]

The maximum amount of time that UPS will take to ship a package to Orlando is 7 days (from Alaska). If your order is taken and shipped in the same day, you should have no problem getting it on time.

If you fix this URL: ups(dot)com/maps?loc=en_US you can enter the zip code for Orlando (32801) or the zip code of the place the computer will be shipped from if you know it. Either way you getting it on time will be a matter of whether the company ships your order quickly.

[ertyu]

Um... I might just be wrong about this but when I made my first order from NewEgg it took a while for them to do the verification process, so you might want to do it in advance. Other than that though, newegg is great about fast shipping. If you are getting a machine that's already built it only takes a few days to ship. If you are getting a custom machine made (ie Dell, Alienware, HP, etc) then it can take several weeks.