Buying from the apple store

[Juice]

Has anyone bought anything in the Apple store? Do you get taxed normally with customs? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.

[Polar Mac]

well the best thing i can think of is order it right, and then have it brought to your place by a courier service... they should have a list of services there that we have here in the philippines, that way you can going through customs cuz from what i heard its a hassle.

[dlim]

As in buying online?
Or buying personally from the store and bringing it with you to Manila in the plane?

[Juice]

Originally posted by dlim
As in buying online?
Or buying personally from the store and bringing it with you to Manila in the plane?

I meant buying online.

[elbert]

Back in late 2002, I purchased from the Apple Store online, but I had the items FedEx'd to a relative's house in the U.S. The Apple Store accepted my Philippine-based international credit card back then. AFAIK, Apple Store does not ship to the Philippines.

As far as taxes are concerned, bear in mind that computing products are zero tariff, but not VAT exempt (10%). Some couriers/forwarders (like Johnny Air) can ship items to you directly without customs hassles, while others (like FedEx) are inconsistent.

[phoenix16]

buying online from the apple store is a nightmare. ordered an ipod through a friend in the states. paid for a 2-day shipping but it has been 3 weeks and it hasn't been delivered to him. turns out that fedex couldn't find his house so they brought it to an apple warehouse (in the same city). the only thing that apple offered is to take the shipping fee off. they said it takes them 2 weeks to look for returned items in their warehouse. terrible service. the best way, i guess, is to either order from a reseller here or buy directly from the apple store. it costs more to buy from there because of the tax, unless what you want to buy is on sale.

[rickey]

I wouldn't consider this a nightmare. First of all, blame it on FedEx. When the person is not around, normally they leave a note at the door that they arrived, but since the house/apartment couldn't be found, obviously return to sender. The fact that they can still trace your iPod in the Apple warehouse doesn't make this a total loss. Also, at any point in this transaction, you can ask for a refund. 2 weeks seems long, but they always say this (along with Dell, IBM, Amazon, etc.) to give themselves time. (Dell always says 3-5 days, when they really mean 1-2 days.)

I try to avoid the Apple Store in New York and online for one simple reason: tax. I buy mostly from smalldog.com which like most online stores do not charge tax in most places. Regular shipping (again 3-5 days) from smalldog is cheaper than the tax from buying in the Apple Store. However, if I really need instant gratification, I just buy from the store.

[Juice]

Thanks for the info. I realize The Apple store doesn't ship to the Philippines. So that's the end of that.

[PatrickGaerlan]

Originally posted by Juice
Thanks for the info. I realize The Apple store doesn't ship to the Philippines. So that's the end of that.

You can always use a package forwarding service like Johnny Air Cargo's. The Apple Store ships it to the New York address provided by JAC then JAC ships the package here. I've been using their service for quite a while now and I'm very happy with them. You might be out of luck though if you're planning to use a credit card with a Philippine billing address, I think they only accept U.S.-issued credit cards.

U2U me if you need more details of the JAC service.

[longbeard]

Originally posted by PatrickGaerlan

Originally posted by Juice
Thanks for the info. I realize The Apple store doesn't ship to the Philippines. So that's the end of that.

You can always use a package forwarding service like Johnny Air Cargo's. The Apple Store ships it to the New York address provided by JAC then JAC ships the package here. I've been using their service for quite a while now and I'm very happy with them. You might be out of luck though if you're planning to use a credit card with a Philippine billing address, I think they only accept U.S.-issued credit cards.

U2U me if you need more details of the JAC service.

Yes johnny cargo works like a charm.. but you have to wait sometimes before the shipment comes in.. I heard that during peak season they sell Plane tickets at a low price, but you can't bring any luggage with you (you can guess what you will be bringing)...