Ordering from Dell US, shipping to Europe

Well I got a nice deal for the Alienware 18.

Just had a chat with a kind gentleman working for Dell, but what he had to say wasnt very optimistic despite what the other people had to say.

Should I not go through with the order, despite it being $1000 cheaper than here in Norway? Or is this guy full of it? Anyone had success importing from Dell US? All I have to do now is call financial department and verify my CC.

Anyhow here is what he had to say:

Obstacle #1:
I have to verify my credit card according to the previous one who gave me the discount since its not a US card. Here is what the new dude had to say and he was sceptical.

"Even if you verify your credit card, 99% of the orders get stopped"

Obstacle #2:
I will use a post forward service. Nobody reacted to that before, until this new dude came along

"We only ship to private houses."
"How do Dell know its a post forward service that gets it and not me?"
"The adress"
"I highly doubt Dell keep a track for these companies"

Obstacle #3:
"You have to sign the package, so therefor the post forward service wont be able to recieve it"

Cant they sign for me, or tell the postman that they will just forward it to me for the postman?

 

I know when I ship stuff, the USPS (Alienware seems to use FedEx however), has an option to get a signature for the named person requiring ID. I don't think AW does this, but it could be an option I presume...even for FedEx...especially if the value of the item is high enough.

Don't you have to pay a lot of customs/import duties when you order from the US? I don't think a post forward service would be able to get around that because even if they put a low value, if something happened to a 4000 laptop, the risk wouldn't be worth it for them to chance it.,,not to mention possibly getting in trouble.

I doubt Dell knows anything about which house is which, but the import duties alone doesn't seem to make it worth it maybe...unless the sale price is much better.

They probably just have a policy to try to block outside orders since the foreign country probably has their own sales targets to meet and if everyone got around it, they wouldn't be able to do their jobs.

 

Oh, I forgot to say that after import duties, it is about $1000 cheaper!

Thats why I want to do it.

 

Even here in the US I have had Dell send to a Mail Annex that signs for the notebook and then I pick it up. I just don't put a PO box I put my name and the address of the Annex. 1K is a lot of money anywhere any time, don't blame you I would go that route to save that kind of loot.

 

what happens if the item develops a fault, will you be covered?

Nexus 4 via Tapatalk 2

 

Have you seen this? How to order from Alienware US for non US citizens

Seems to have had success for some

 

They don't require your signature specifically. My apartment office signed for my 17, and my little bro signed for the 18. The service listed on the shipping page was indirect signature required, IIRC.

 

Thanks guys. I think I will go through with the order tomorrow. I cant call the financial department since its closed on Sundays, but I hope it will go through when I call.

Seems like the people at Techinferno had some luck with their attempts using post forward service. Its good to know that people can sign for me, that solve that obstacle.

As for the warranty, the guy I talked to yesterday have worked for Dell for 4 years now and he says the warranty is valid all around the world, if you buy the extended one. So it doesnt matter if you buy 1,2, 3 or 4 years. So im covered here in Norway. Also, I have saved the chat between him and me if Dell decide to say otherwise if need to use the warranty later.

Will update this thread after I talked to Dell tomorrow. Probably more people than me that want to go this route in the future.

 

Make sure you are supplied with tracking information.

 

WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Just bought my Alienware 18...From Norway. They had a big discount campaign running now.
$700 off until August 28th.

Then I applied a 15% coupon.

Final price for GTX 770M SLI with 2 year extended plus 2 year accidental warranty, total price $3100. Compared to US price of $3400 (without discount), I am pretty happy

 

Congrats! how did you go about it?

 

He got it from his country.

Either way, I've done this before with Shipito.com as the forwarding service.

Step 1. Setup your Shipito account, deposit the first package fee ($8.50) and everyone is happy.

Step 2. Call your credit card company, and authorize the Oregon Shipito.com address as a billing/shipping address. You can remove it later.

Step 3. Order from Dell to the Oregon address. We picked Oregon because that skips he sales tax. If they ask, tell them that you work there, and they're going to receive and hold it for you.

Step 4. Wait for the package to make it to the depot, and get it forwarded to your address! If they hold the package, you MAY need to get an authorization form notarized and hand mailed to them. This happens in about 1/100 packages, and is to keep their legal status. All forwarders have similar precautions.

Step 5. Receive your package!

Now, I had no troubles with Shipito, but I know that some people have. All I know is that, for me it was cheap, easy, quick, and very helpful over the phone. They'll even take pictures of your package for damage before shipping it on with whichever carrier you'd like for a rather small extra fee.

 

That is a good guide for future buyers, Hybrus. I didnt know you could change billing adress on your credit card like that.

Shipito also have a concierge service that buy the notebook for you with their credit card, and then deduct that money from deposited money you put in your shipito account. But its a 8.5% fee for using that service so there gotta be some hefty discounts on the US dell price if you go that route. Or else its not much money to save.

@yeti: Thanks, bought from my own country, Norway, instead of from US. I saved about 300-400 dollars doing that. Pretty shocking considering Norwegian prices are awefully expensive. But it was an instant 700 dollar revate on 770M systems they had going on, plus I got a 15% discount so I just had to do it today while the promotion was running.

 

D'uh - missed that

 

And, 8.5% is roughly the equivalent of sales tax in many places. So, by using an Oregon shipping address to avoid sales tax you effectively offset (lose) that savings with their concierge fee. That's also kind of an iffy practice and there are some states that pursue what they consider to be sales tax evasion. Be careful if you choose an option like this.

 

Yeah its a fishy practice but for days like Black Friday with huge discounts that mostly US celebrate, you could still save some money.

I forgot to say that its 8% commision, and then 4.5% fee that covers paypal use. So if you buy a notebook that cost $4000, it will cost you $4500. Nice provision on their part. No wonder why they offer it lol

http://www.shipito.com/shopping-assistance

 

Yeah, there are two major kinds of shipping forwarders. The ones that buy it for you, and the ones that merely forward your packages. I definitely prefer the latter, because they are definitely cheaper.

Mind you, if you're doing a large purchase like that, and happen to have cash, they do give rather small fees on large Wire Transfers, because that's the most secure way for them to work.

Avoiding the sales tax like that should only count if you're doing US to US forwarding. I know that, as a Canadian, I can either pay taxes once on entry to the country, or twice, on delivery and entry, but it is fully legal for me to avoid the American taxes.