Can you save money by buying direct from the US?

American brands aren't keen on the idea of you buying things in the US and making a big saving. In order to make it more difficult, some will design their websites so you cannot get into the US site if you're based in the UK.

Others will simply refuse to ship to the UK, and still more will add on such horrendous shipping charges that it wipes out any potential saving. However, there is a clever way to get around all of this, and save a small fortune.

The services

The solution is provided by a growing number of businesses, which operate large warehouses based somewhere in the US. Some of them will set up an account, so you can log in through them and see the US versions of the shops' websites.

You do your online shopping, and then get the shop to ship to the warehouse in the US. That way you overcome the issue of shops refusing to send items overseas too. They then receive the items, and send them on to you.

There are plenty of companies offering this service, including www.myus.com, myaddressus.com, shipito.com, and skybox.net/.
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The clever bit

Some of these businesses will also offer 'package consolidation', so you can have a handful of items delivered to the warehouse, and they will repackage them as one item - in the cheapest way possible.

One player offering this service is myus.com. Chief Executive Ramesh Bulusu told AOL that this is a fantastic source of savings, because they know the best possible way to package items for international shipping at the lowest possible cost. Anyone who has ever had a domestic delivery in an enormous box containing an acre of bubble wrap knows that the store will not always have the same priorities.

Bulusu added that the size of the shipping companies means they have also negotiated big discounts with the international delivery companies, so will offer anything up to 80% off the usual price. He added that the shipping services also tend to focus on express shipping, so you can get your item within 2-4 days of it leaving the depot in the US (which may be up to a week after your initial order).

Is this legal?

These services aren't trying to get around any international law. They will deal with customs for you, and ensure you pay VAT, so you're entirely within the law. They say that even after all of that they can save you money.

The savings

This is partly because the savings to be made by shopping in the US are so striking. Research at the end of last year revealed that Hollister men's jeans were for sale for £16 in New York, compared to £59 in London - a saving of 62%; Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream was at a 51% discount; the Frozen Snow Glow Elsa was on sale for 30% less; and the Apple iPad Air 2 18GB cost 13% less. Overall the items were 25% cheaper in New York than the UK.

Today's figures show that these savings haven't been eroded by currency movements. The new iPad Air 2 (with 64GB of storage and Wifi connectivity) costs $599 in the US, which works out as £392 at today's exchange rate. The same item is £479 in the UK. It means we're paying an extra £87 for exactly the same product.

Of course, you have to add in VAT and the cost of shipping, and in some cases this will mean it's not worth buying the items from the US. However, if you're buying several things - like at Christmas - and you can save up to 60% on some of them, then the savings involved may be enough to tempt you to try this alternative approach to shopping.

But what do you think? Would you give this a try? Or would you rather pay a bit more for items on your doorstep? Let us know in the comments.

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