Ordering a Computer from a US-based Website and Having it Shipped Abroad
 

Does anyone have any experience with doing this? I just looked at Best Buy and they say that they will not? Do any US-based websites allow it? If not, is there any workaround the rules? or do you just basically need to know someone in the US who could ship you a computer?

Thanks!

I've ordered a ton of stuff from Amazon US, and other US retailers (but individual ones, not large stores you find in malls). And had everything either shipped to Kuwait, or to a mailbox/forwarding company. There are a couple such companies which operate in the Middle East, so presumably there are also the same kind of things in other parts of the world.

Basically, I order as if it's being shipped to the mailbox address (the company I happen to use has their office/receiving centre in Jamacia, NY). They know where I live, and then ship it from there to me in Kuwait. Prices quite reasonable too.

Location-wise this may not work for you, but for your interest/information this is the company I have an account with: www.ushopweship.com

One roadblock you might have with doing this is that "please ship the laptop to Nigeria" is one of the most common ebay/Craigslist/whatever scams around. Even if you are 100% honest and upfront, many individuals selling electronics are likely to ignore you the minute you ask them to ship internationally.

I have a forwarding service account from the US/UK to Dubai from Aramex.

http://www.aramex.com/shopandship/default.aspx

I recommend them highly. The only warning is that you have to pay cash at the time of delivery for the delivery service.

Aren't the customs duties prohibitive, or is that just here in France?
I had a new camera shipped to me via my US remailer, and by the time I paid the customs fees on arrival here, it would have cost the same just to buy it here.

Of course, I realize that certain products are available in some places and not in others, so even if it costs more it could still be worth it to have it shipped in order to get the product you want.

Check out this thread on Tumi's to be shipped overseas, I linked two places that e-bags uses, you get a us address, they ship it to that address, package it and reship it.

Can't picture it being worth it for most things after shipping and customs duties (which most retailers just don't want to deal with which is why you can't usually just ask for overseas shipping, along with the huge fraud on credit card deals), but if the pricing works for you.....

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=822634

Be aware that you may need to have the computer configured differently then usual, some of the preinstalled software may not be legal to export.

I think that may be the big culprit with not wanting to ship computers internationally. Other countries don't have our same copyright laws and I heard a rumor that some middle eastern countries don't like encryption protocols.

I know for laptops it's probably not an issue, but power adapting/converting could be a headache. I wouldn't want to deal with buying a nice TV and shipping it somewhere that is 240 instead of 110. Plus NTSC/PAL stuff.