This is partially inspired by demon's thread from a few days ago, but I've been thinking about it for a while.

What cool stuff is there to buy from the US that you can't buy locally, and now that the dollar is so good all of a sudden it's worth buying?

I'd love to buy books, but they're too heavy to ship mostly. Electronics are out (for me) because I'm scared of international warranty issues, but maybe there's some decent stuff that has global warranties.

I don't really need or want anything in particular.. just wondering if there's anything neat out there that is worth snapping up.

Merchandise for your favourite TV Shows. I have quite a collection of Dunder Mifflin clothing and bobble heads now. Plus you get wierd comments from the delivery guy "uhh.. it says it's from.. NBC!?!?"

I also found some Aussie films from the 80s that you can't buy here anywhere for sale on ebay/amazon on NTSC VHS in America. Very excited can't wait to get that.

Also bought an accessory for my panasonic video camera.

Gizmodo have a lot of awesome gadgets for sale, I mean really impressive stuff, but I've never bought from there.

I've noticed that a lot of importers have cottoned onto the falling US dollar and are having 'sales'.

I think electronics are pretty good value now. Pain in the arse using adapters though. Good what thermite said though, accessories.

air-soft gunz >.< lols!@#$@$

i am getting a cool action video camera that is 100% waterproof, does 1080p @ 30fps or 720p @ 60fps for leet slow-motion shizzle. has mounts for mounting on a motorcycle helmet etc...

i didn't end up buying from the states though... shipping made it easier & as cheap to buy locally.

i don't regret buying my motorcycle helmet from the states though... saved me nearly $200 from buying the equivalent locally.

What good US shops are there for buying goodies, like electronics etc?

I'd like to know for B'day pressies and things like that.

not hugely on topic, but if you're after books check out http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/

the aud is doing pretty well vs the gbp as well as the usd + free world-wide shipping.

Two sites that immeadiately spring to mind...

http://www.tshirthell.com <-- So much funny
http://www.thinkgeek.com/ <-- Getcha geek orn

kitchen knives

kitchen knives

oh yeh I need to get a couple of good knives.. what's a good place to hook that s*** up?

yeh i've been thinking of this too... wondering if TAG watch will be cheaper there then here?

wondering if TAG watch will be cheaper there then here?

I have been told yes. But I don't know of a website that sells them. My regular online watch shop doesn't have them.

T-shirts

how many watches could you possibly own that you have a 'regular online watch shop' ?

I'm considering buying a new snowboard, the prices between US and Aus are massive, sometimes over $300 (Including shipping).

I actually only own one, but I've been waiting for the dollar to get better so that I can buy a new one. Regular, as in the only one I bother to check for prices.

www.watchco.com if anybody is interested.

last edited by Triamks at 16:41:22 27/Jan/10

actually now that you mention it, I need some new shoes
can't find size 18 in Australia anywhere, even the people at the "big and tall" stores look at me like I'm a freak

Trog:

http://www.everten.com.au/
http://www.cutleryandmore.com/
http://www.tesora.com.au/
http://www.kitchenwaredirect.com.au/
http://www.yourhomedepot.com.au/
http://www.homecouture.com.au/
http://www.chefsales.com.au/
http://www.petersofkensington.com.au/Home/

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/

I prefer www.bookdepository.com - it is sometimes cheaper.

boats.

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/


I prefer www.bookdepository.com - it is sometimes cheaper.

carbon fibre wheels
jeans
shirts
snowboard gear
top up your fulltilt and alltunes accounts

US currency?

he would just be buying time

geddit?

can't find size 18 in Australia anywhere, even the people at the "big and tall" stores look at me like I'm a freak

That's only because you're a freak.

clothes, shoes and jewellery are the easiest things to get cause you can wear a $5000 watch and not have to pay customs :)

DealExtreme.com

Cheap crappy gadgets and toys with free shipping.
Go crazy.

^^^^

i want to buy mario mushroom now

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.27734

great thread - will read again

shamwow

If it were me I'd be hitting up amazon for all the movies that don't seem to be available locally for some odd reason or another but even now amazon only seems to list ebay-like pages of people selling them 2nd hand from home.

I bought a $4k girls tag from amazon for my mrs last time the $ was near .90

with insurance, tax and delivery it was $1600 delivered in three days

cheapest I could get it in Australia was 3200 and that'd take four weeks delivery.

I'll find the amazon store when I get back on my pc

Edit: The Amazon store is Perfect Timing. 1840 sales with 99% positive feedback.

And it was four days. I ordered it Thursday night it arrived on Monday.

last edited by natslovR at 20:47:21 27/Jan/10

I'd love to buy books, but they're too heavy to ship mostly

Really? I've ordered a heap of books from Amazon at over 20kg in the order without worrying about weight. They just split it into smaller shipments at no extra cost. 14.00USD shipping overhead for the order + 6.00USD shipping per book for 8-16 business day delivery. Not a bad deal! Add 16.00USD to the order and it'll arrive in 3-5 business days instead.

Actually I think it's time for another Amazon book order for me ...

6.00USD shipping per book

Most of the books I want to buy are like $8-$12 - so $6/each for shipping makes it a bit of a pain :(

that book depository site is awesome. thanks whoever posted it

Most of the books I want to buy are like $8-$12

Ah, makes sense, I probably wouldn't bother either if the shipping is comparable to the cost of the book. Mine are sometimes around 50-150 AU per book, which somehow inflates to a ridiculous $100-300 if I try to buy from an Australian store (with 6+ week shipping if out of stock), hence even mega-express shipping from Amazon is still cheaper ...

last edited by parabol at 20:54:08 27/Jan/10

mooby - can you recommend some good sites to check out bike gear? (preferably ones that you have bought from before)

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=38219425

^^^^

i want to buy mario mushroom now

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.27734

Cheers sir. I just boughts meh a lazer.

http://www.dealextreme.com/details.dx/sku.5928

Been looking for a cheap line laser to do some line-scanning stuff with my webcam for a hobby.

oh yeh I need to get a couple of good knives.. what's a good place to hook that s*** up?

I have a whole set of Furi knives. I like. Life time warranty. Aussie ocmpany, Brisbane based engineer designed them.

US postage is pretty awful.

I have a whole set of Furi knives. I like. Life time warranty. Aussie ocmpany, Brisbane based engineer designed them.

+1 we got a set for Christmas, they are awesome.

http://www.culinarycookware.com/media/catalog/product/cache/3/image/5e06319eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/f/x/fx514_1.jpg

Don't forget how strong the AUD is against the GBP & EUR at the moment either, I'm buying Bluray movies from Amazon UK for less than AUD$15 which is super value .. albeit Amazon UK are having a big sale at the moment.

that IS super value!

Will that laser even make it into the country to you Pinky? Customs likes collecting lasers.

i didn't like the furis, the edges have gone to s*** on mine and i'm pretty sure i was looking after them properly :(

hope mine have a lifetime warranty, if so i should invoke that s***.

Trog, all you need is a chefs knife and a paring knife. Maybe a good bread knife if you cut a lot of bread. Furi are an excellent choice.

Get something to keep them sharp with, I've got a $5 two sided stone from a chinese supermarket that works a treat.

Will that laser even make it into the country to you Pinky? Customs likes collecting lasers.

Who knows. It's very very low powered, I can't see any reason why they would stop it. If they want to collect it I couldn't care less for $4. That included postage :-/

Why not get ceramic knives? No issues with sharpening then, so much cooler!

When I say set we have "the set" + a cleaver, + the east west copertails.

i just waxed $150 on chipotle and other various hot sauces from america =)

I heard you can buy ghetto houses in the states for a dollar. You can prolly buy a nice house in a nice suburb there for a 100k.

http://www.bookdepository.co.uk/

I prefer www.bookdepository.com - it is sometimes cheaper.

http://www.booko.com.au/

I heard you can buy ghetto houses in the states for a dollar. You can prolly buy a nice house in a nice suburb there for a 100k.

VIC gov't did a think a while back where you could buy a house in Swan Hill for $1 but you had to live in it for twelve months. Some distant relation of mine did it. Their weather-board house had all smashed windows and graffiti and stuff but it was still a house, for $1. Hehe.

+1 for snowboarding gear, it's so much cheaper. First thing I'm buying when I get to NYC is a snowboard.

http://www.booko.com.au/

How could we forget booko? I don't know. As Book Depository regularly comes up first for me, I now just go there.

Has any here ever bought snow gear online? If so, from which shop?

any ideas for where to get beddings sets like quilts and pillow covers that kind of woman s***???

last edited by d[o_0]b at 17:24:06 28/Jan/10

@Triamks - try http://www.sierrasnowboard.com/ a few mates have bought boards from them and didnt have any complaints.

Bare in mind you can't buy any Burton gear (off the site) if you live outside of the states, you can however go through some dodgy companies that provide a US address for you and ship it for ya.

priceusa.com.au <-- if you want to ship stuff from USA but the company won't let ya

Watches can be hit and miss

Ebay/authenticwatches.com/watchseller.com/etc etc.. are all good places to get a bargain, I have bought quite a few watches from overseas and you can save a some cash - just make sure you do your research!

My most expensive watch (Tag Heuer Grand Carrera) I ended up buying here for a few reasons - adding up the import duties and what not, the pain-in-the-ass customs process (I am an impatient bastard so didnt want to wait to setup accounts with customs and f***around with all that which leaves using expensive customs brokers) plus the hassle of no factory warranty and having a 'grey' warranty made me spend a few more bucks here in Aus rather than purchase from overseas.
Same with my Sinn 856 I just bought - because its brand new - any hassles I can take it the dealer and get it fixed in Aus.

That said - I'm looking at buying a rolly or a JLC and will probably buy from the massive 2nd hand market in USA.

Shoot me a pm or ask if you want any help buying watches os - happy to help.

Also - dont ever listen to RRP on watches - its all BS.

ebay stores/amazon will give you an indication of its 'street' price - which is what your interested in :)

Thanks Stealthy, I'll have a look.

I have been buying loads of golf balls from www.golfsmith.com

They frequently have specials where you can get Pro V1's with your name printed on them (a service not available in AU) for US$39.99 per box - considering the AU price in pro shops is anywhere upwards of $75 per box this is an awesome price.

To save on shipping I go in with a mate and we buy 8-12 boxes at a time (enough to last us about 3-4 months). Last buy worked out to be about $52AUD per box, including shipping.

Bargain!

I heard you can buy ghetto houses in the states for a dollar. You can prolly buy a nice house in a nice suburb there for a 100k.

yup!

I got a 4 bedroom, 3 bath stone house with central air/heating, fireplace, .2 acre block. 15 minutes from downtown austin for just under $180k. with an interest rate locked at < 5% for 30 years it's a steel.

Repayments+insurance+taxes(rates) is just north of $1k/month.

Also I get my $8,000 first home buyers credit when the IRS feels like handing it over.

sunnies.

i bought a pair of raybans +shipping for about 200, when cheapest here was about 300 odd. this was a good few years back now.

you could buy some US dollars

you're 42 posts late persay

Repayments+insurance+taxes(rates) is just north of $1k/month.

I hate you :~(

I just bought a 3 bedroom place in Bracken Ridge for 340k, 600sq block, run down old highset timber + brick place
repayments/insurance/rates are like 3k/month

sadface

sadface

yes, i would be extremely sad face if i just bought on the northside

hahah Spook now with MORE funnies

Repayments+insurance+taxes(rates) is just north of $1k/month.

I hate you :~(

I just bought a 3 bedroom place in Bracken Ridge for 340k, 600sq block, run down old highset timber + brick place
repayments/insurance/rates are like 3k/month

sadface

You're doing something seriously wrong.

Let's say your place really was 340k. That means you probs had a 35k+ deposit, so you're loan is maybe $300k.

Monthly repayments on a 300k loan (25 years, 5.95%) would be around $1900, doesn't matter which bank you're with.

Rates are probs max. $2k/year (I hope not!) and insurance should be <$1k so you'd be looking at less than 2k / month repayments.

Even if you only had a 20 year loan we're talking $2,300-2,400 max. It's still a lot less than $3k.

You might need a new bank :-P

@stinky, that's f***ing incredible and makes me want to move to the USA.

my misses just got back from America and nearly bought a penthouse in nyc i think it was. 2bedroom penthouse 2 bath i think for like $150-200k or something ridiculous. she didnt buy it tho cause there were so many hidden taxes she couldnt b bothered dealing with on her holidays lol.

federal tax, local tax, tax, tax, tax.... just kept goin on and on/

us dollars

Not o/s but since knives were mentioned, found this local online store with great prices on knives http://www.everten.com.au/

That really is incredible stinky. If you bought a house, it could be your holiday home, imagine the FF points you'd earn going back and forth *drools*. Sorry, I saw "Up in the Air" tonight.

On the subject of knives, does anyone rate the furi knives at all?

Every time the usd gets low enough, I go nuts at dealextreme

last edited by HerbalLizard at 06:27:37 31/Jan/10

Trog, all you need is a chefs knife and a paring knife. Maybe a good bread knife if you cut a lot of bread. Furi are an excellent choice.

Get something to keep them sharp with, I've got a $5 two sided stone from a chinese supermarket that works a treat.

do you buy them online in the US? Any recommendations for stores? That everton.com.au mob looks pretty competitive after having a google on the weekend.

Global knives > Furi knives