Buying a refurbished MBA from the US Apple Store: how? Thread poster: 2nl (X)
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2nl (X) 
Netherlands
Local time: 00:34
I'd like to buy a refurbished MBA from the US Apple Store. The problem is that they only accept American credit cards and only ship to American addresses. (I'm living in the Netherlands.)
Nevertheless, are there any solutions possible?
Hans
| | | | Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:34
Russian to English
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In memoriam | LEXpert
United States
Local time: 17:34
Member (2008)
Croatian to English
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| Remailing/forwarding service | May 15, 2014 |
The easiest way is to have a friend or trusted acquaintance in the US buy it and ship it to you, and you reimburse them.
The shipping aspect itself could be taken care of by using a mail forwarding/remailing service in the US, which, for a fee, provides you with US mailing address to ship the package to and will forward to your desired destination.
The credit card angle is more difficult to solve. Again, it's easiest to simply have a friend buy it for you. If someone w... See more The easiest way is to have a friend or trusted acquaintance in the US buy it and ship it to you, and you reimburse them.
The shipping aspect itself could be taken care of by using a mail forwarding/remailing service in the US, which, for a fee, provides you with US mailing address to ship the package to and will forward to your desired destination.
The credit card angle is more difficult to solve. Again, it's easiest to simply have a friend buy it for you. If someone were willing to purchase a US Apple Store gift card for you, you might be able to use that to complete your purchase and send it to a remailing service.
It might also be possible to purchase a prepaid US Visa or Mastercard-branded card to use for this purpose.
However, given the shipping/remailing costs, risk of loss or damage, and high customs duties (don't forget those!) you will probably pay if/when you receive your MBA, I would think carefully about whether what you propose is actually worthwhile vs getting it locally.
Or you can always find an excuse for a quick visit the US and go pick it up yourself. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Neil Coffey
United Kingdom
Local time: 23:34
French to English
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| Probably not worth it | May 15, 2014 |
Rudolf Vedo CT wrote:
However, given the shipping/remailing costs, risk of loss or damage, and high customs duties (don't forget those!) you will probably pay if/when you receive your MBA, I would think carefully about whether what you propose is actually worthwhile vs getting it locally.
I tend to agree it's probably not worth it.
I would vaguely consider it if you had a good friend who happened to be going to the US and could pick it up in store (which is an option: I assume in that case there isn't a restriction on who can buy it). In that case you'd probably get away with not paying customs duties as such, but there'll inevitably be some sales tax of some sort added (even if it's just the local sales tax in the state where you buy it), plus you need to be careful that a refurbished model isn't a couple of years out of date. It sounds like a lot of fuss and risk to save maybe a hundred dollars or so.
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AndersonT (X)
United States
Local time: 18:34
German to English
If the NL is anything like Germany, you might be looking at a hefty "import VAT" at the time of delivery which will basically eat up the entire price advantage over ordering a refurb in Europe.
Happened to me plenty of times during my stays in Germany. You think the weak Dollar and generally lower prices will make it worth it, only to find yourself paying about the same but now with the added risk of shipping a highly sensitive device some 8,000 mls.
Even if customs let... See more If the NL is anything like Germany, you might be looking at a hefty "import VAT" at the time of delivery which will basically eat up the entire price advantage over ordering a refurb in Europe.
Happened to me plenty of times during my stays in Germany. You think the weak Dollar and generally lower prices will make it worth it, only to find yourself paying about the same but now with the added risk of shipping a highly sensitive device some 8,000 mls.
Even if customs lets it slide, you'll still have to buy a Euro-power supply, and by the time you get that you might even pay more than you would have in Europe. ▲ Collapse
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