tip: never order stuff in america
serious - the best tip all time:
if you're in the states, never order in the states.
workaround: order in europe!
england, italy, germany, doesn't matter where.
it will be faster in your hands as any normal us shipping would.
Feb 13th 2008
Depending what you buy, it’ll probably also be a lot more expensive!
Feb 14th 2008
not really… for example:
try to buy 4 x 1N4001 diodes in the states. there is no fuckin’ shop that sells those kind of electronic parts, what means you have to order it online. everybody will tell you “radioshack”, thats the thing you hear in under a second from everybody without thinking. now go to radioshack.com and search for the diodes and also a european style terminal stripe. it will cost you around 9 dollar without shipping. shipping costs additional 6 dollars, with taxes you end up with around 16-17 dollars. 17 dollars are 11.70 euro. before i forget about it, it will take at least 5 workdays till you have it in your hands. so lets say you order on tuesday, you will get it next monday, if you’re lucky.
if i call my dad or my brother or a friend anywhere in europe and tell them to buy those 4 diodes including the terminal stripe and pack it into an envelope and send it to me asap, it will take 3 days and the costs are 2 euro for the letter, 1 euro for 10 diodes and 2 euro for a pack of terminal stripes.
3 days and 5 euro - instead of 11 euro and almost a week.
btw. thats 4400 miles compared to 50-600 miles.
oh and i ordered a lot the last couple month, you’re also really lucky if you get all the stuff you ordered and the correct model.
for example: i ordered a ac adapter and got instead of a 12V/1.2mA a 15V/1.2mA - and they told me they don’t even have 15V ac adapters and i should take a picture because they don’t believe me. so i researched the model number and it turns out that the model number from this ac adapter from DVI is a 12V adapter but it says “15V” on the sticker next to the model number. so i measured the volts and it was actually 15V. no statement from this shop since then… i bet my ac adapter is a cheap chinese copy.
Feb 14th 2008
Well, it doesn’t work with other stuff like e.g. electronic devices.
Price for classic 80 G iPod at Amazon.co.uk: $286,- (£146)
Price for the same iPod at Amazon.com: $237,-
On laptops there are even bigger price differences (cheaper in US)
Europeans could buy a lot of stuff much cheaper in the us (especially now that the $ is so low compared to the €), if only they were allowed. unfortunately most (if not all) US companies do not allow shipping of those items to Europe… (there are some other ways though… ;-) )
Apr 1st 2008
Try mouser.com. That’s the cheapest I’ve found for circuit components, and they have bulk discounts. Those 1N4001 diodes ranged in price from $0.05 a piece to $0.26 a piece on mouser. Shipped for $5.95 USPS. That’s a max of $6.95 with shipping or a min of $6.15 for the cheapies.
Or I could just go down the street to Norvac in Beaverton, OR. If I were in MA I’d go to You Do it Electronics or ask someone from MIT. So in my backwater or a major city, I can find examples that totally contradict what your saying. We have these things in the states called “yellow pages.” Wonderful resource. You can even get them on the that new fangled “world wide web.”
I can’t say that I’ve ever found prices cheaper online overseas, but something to keep in mind when comparing prices, you don’t pay VAT if you buy in the EU from the US. Prices on euro sites include often VAT, until you enter a US address, and then the price drops 15%. Euro site are cheaper than they might at first appear.
I’ve ordered things from around the world, because there are some things you just can’t buy here. Like a bluetooth device I bought and a camera accessory that no US vendors had. Yankee ingenuity ain’t what it used to be.
Cheers.
Jan 19th 2009
Well i always buy stuff in the US. I get it sent to europe via a post adress in manhatten… Saves me the tax and customs in here in denmark if have the package sent marked as a gift!