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Cheapest US state to buy a macbook?

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Old Aug 11, 2011, 2:30 pm
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Question Cheapest US state to buy a macbook?

I'll be passing through IL, CA and HI on an upcoming trip and I'll take this opportunity to buy myself a new laptop. I'm aware that the difference in price with regards to the sales tax is relatively small but am I right in thinking that buying it in HI will be the cheapest?
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Old Aug 11, 2011, 2:52 pm
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Originally Posted by crystak
I'll be passing through IL, CA and HI on an upcoming trip and I'll take this opportunity to buy myself a new laptop. I'm aware that the difference in price with regards to the sales tax is relatively small but am I right in thinking that buying it in HI will be the cheapest?
Why don't you buy it online (Amazon for example) and have it shipped to the hotel? No sales tax and usually cheaper as well.

Here is a site for sales tax information by state

http://thestc.com/STrates.stm
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Old Aug 11, 2011, 2:55 pm
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I was wondering about doing that but won't Amazon US/ Apple require a credit card registered to a US address to pay online?
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Old Aug 11, 2011, 3:10 pm
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Originally Posted by cb1111
Why don't you buy it online (Amazon for example) and have it shipped to the hotel? No sales tax and usually cheaper as well.

Here is a site for sales tax information by state

http://thestc.com/STrates.stm
Amazon has to tax for states that it operates in. Watch the final tally.
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Old Aug 11, 2011, 3:13 pm
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I don't know about electronics, but most things in Hawaii are more expensive than on the mainland.
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Old Aug 11, 2011, 3:23 pm
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Originally Posted by crystak
I was wondering about doing that but won't Amazon US/ Apple require a credit card registered to a US address to pay online?
I've bought from Amazon.ca, .com, .co.uk and .de and sent to respective countries (actually, Austria in the last case). Amazon actually will remember use the same account for all countries
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Old Aug 11, 2011, 3:25 pm
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For more discussion, please follow the thread as it moves to the Travel Technology forum. Ocn Vw 1K, Moderator, TravelBuzz.
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Old Aug 11, 2011, 3:35 pm
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Isn't Micro Center considered to be a good brick & mortar retailer for Apple products? I'm not part of the Apple culture myself...but I've seen their ads and they're about the only place I've ever seen that sells new Macbooks at any kind of discount to MSRP. (That said, I'm sure it's like anything else: it will always be truly cheapest online.)

I don't think the state will matter much. If you're talking Chicago, San Francisco, and Honolulu, they're all going to have the major retailers that sell electronics. As djk7 says, a lot of stuff is more expensive in Hawaii.
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Old Aug 11, 2011, 4:30 pm
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If you are only going to be in Cook County, Illinois you will pay 10.25 or 10.5% tax I think it was. That is if you purchase it in a store. Cook County is like downtown Chicago basically.


If you fly in to ORD/MDW you may have different taxes around there.
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Old Aug 11, 2011, 5:21 pm
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I bought mine on a military base. Tax free, no shipping charges
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Old Aug 11, 2011, 5:29 pm
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Amazon has to tax for states that it operates in. Watch the final tally.
Whoo-hoo, that's a real can of worms. Amazon is sponsoring an initiative in California to exempt itself from paying sales tax. I saw the first of what I assume will be many $3/signature petition guys yesterday.
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Old Aug 11, 2011, 9:09 pm
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HI is probably your best bet. I have never heard of consumer electronics (at least smaller items) being more expensive on the islands.
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Old Aug 11, 2011, 9:33 pm
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Originally Posted by mkt
I bought mine on a military base. Tax free, no shipping charges
That's certainly helpful to the OP.
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Old Aug 12, 2011, 12:37 am
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Originally Posted by djk7
I don't know about electronics, but most things in Hawaii are more expensive than on the mainland.
I was planning on buying it from the Apple store in Honolulu so why would it be more expensive there? I thought all stores will have the same pricing excluding sales tax.
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Old Aug 12, 2011, 4:30 am
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Originally Posted by crystak
I was planning on buying it from the Apple store in Honolulu so why would it be more expensive there? I thought all stores will have the same pricing excluding sales tax.
Apple stores in HNL have the same pricing as any other Apple store in the USA. The tax in Honolulu is ~4.712%.

Enjoy your trip!

-David

Last edited by LIH Prem; Aug 12, 2011 at 4:38 am
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