USA Shopping

[Howmanygoes]

With my job I now need to travel once a quarter to the US and to various locations. I get a 2 bag hold limit but only going for 2 or 3 days I tend to only need 1, so thinking I can pick up some bits that are difficult or expensive here, obviously they need to fit in a suitcase so I can't bring some sliders back.

Once I figured it out, I can probably bring some small bits back for others too.

I have a few bits on my list and some clothing, but open for inspiration...

 

[GeekOKent]

For the large stuff If you can ship it yourself when you are in the USA, to your own address in the UK that is on your id, not only will you get your sales tax back but you won't need to carry things back yourself. Also, many places only list price minus sales tax, you only find out that the thing for $125 costs $250 at the till.

Otherwise the GBP/USD rate is stacked up against the buy-in-US at the moment. Hopefully that improves into the year.

Ship it via some cheap surface transport - and it gets here in 2 weeks. And delivered to your door.

The key is to be the person who ships it, and be the person recieving it, at your permanent address.

Otherwise, some amazing shops and very good prices to be had for kit in places like REI etc and a bunch of stuff like ram mounts, emergency kit + recovery kit, radios. Just keep in mind that not everything there is free voltage,.like we have gotten used to.

Since you have a hundy, you can find loads of things for it too.

And if you are ever in Salt Lake area remember the land cruiser museum..

Many areas have 4x4 clubs and every single one I have approached ahead of time has been welcoming to their meetups, and there are some large events worth going to like the Overland Expo's.

What else ? I guess if you are there often enough get a credit card with very good security, and someone who won't charge for exchange.

Other than that, I guess enjoy the diversity of the US!

 

[cmcmill01]

Brought back one of those 22” Partner Steel stoves on the plane last time I went in November!!

 

[Howmanygoes]

@GeekOKent - so if I bought 5 rims and some sliders I could package it all up myself and the send it or them to myself?

I assume the reclaim process or ammount of the sales tax varies by state? I'd still have duties and tax to pay though when they arrived, where as if I bring smaller bits in my luggage I can risk customs declaration.

Thinking my snowboard bag is big enough to get sliders back in, just need to check the weights.

 

[GeekOKent]

Yeah, for stuff you can bring over do that. And at the airport you can still try and get 'Global Refunds' on sales tax.... Bit of a pot luck that is.

For things you ship yourself, the are a few things that change and it's not a clear cut case of direct import for commercial value, vat added - eg you can mark up zero customs value, insure itas private good not for sale. I will dig up details and share. Have brought over a few things over the years and never been docked by the customs yet.

 

[Gr8Yota]

If you want to ship stuff from the US the cheapest route I know is with the guy from Dakar Cars (remember them!!) who runs containers out of Florida, you send your stuff there, he puts it in his container and ships to the UK when it’s full, you pay just for your little bit of space used.

 

[felix2566]

Got any more info about him, tried a Google and couldn't find any info.

 

[GeekOKent]

Guess how I know about this send shit to yourself from US

They are in Swanley, Contact Details - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club]

 

[felix2566]

Many thanks

 

[Gr8Yota]

Got any more info about him, tried a Google and couldn't find any info.

Dakar-Imports - [Leaving Land Cruiser Club]