Other Buying iPhone from US and shipping to your own country - experience

[domineus]

Hi everyone

As we are on the verge of a new iPhone being announced and preordered, I was wondering of anyone's experiences purchasing an iPhone from the USA and shipping it to their own country. I just moved to the UK due to work and personal life and have quite a bit saved in my Apple ID balance to purchase the iPhone from the United States (about 2K USD). I was hoping to purchase the iPhone and get it shipped out rather than buying it in the UK as the price is extremely expensive. For example - my iPhone 12 Pro Max (512 GB) from the USA was 1548 with Apple Care+ but the same phone in the UK is almost 2400 USD. I won't be able to visit the states again until late December/early January (COVID willing) so the option to ship it out is one I wanted to explore.

Has anyone done this successfully? What's your experience with import fees? Which shippers have you used? Does it compare?

Thanks

 

[psychopomp2]

I'm in the UK and 2 main US freight forwarders i use regularly are globalshopaholics.com and shipito.com.

I prefer globalshopaholics because

a) they give you a New Castle, DE address as standard, which is a sales tax free address. Shipito also have a tax free address (Tualatin, OR) but this isn't free.

b) With Globalshopaholics whatever value YOU put on the US customs declaration is the actual value declared.

c) Globalshopaholics have slightly slightly cheaper shipping rates to UK, especially if using Aramex.

I tend to use shipito for cheaper items and globalshopaholics for higher value items, including a few iphones i've sent to them over the last few years. Never had to pay any UK import taxes on any iphone

 

[eyoungren]

Hi everyone

As we are on the verge of a new iPhone being announced and preordered, I was wondering of anyone's experiences purchasing an iPhone from the USA and shipping it to their own country. I just moved to the UK due to work and personal life and have quite a bit saved in my Apple ID balance to purchase the iPhone from the United States (about 2K USD). I was hoping to purchase the iPhone and get it shipped out rather than buying it in the UK as the price is extremely expensive. For example - my iPhone 12 Pro Max (512 GB) from the USA was 1548 with Apple Care+ but the same phone in the UK is almost 2400 USD. I won't be able to visit the states again until late December/early January (COVID willing) so the option to ship it out is one I wanted to explore.

Has anyone done this successfully? What's your experience with import fees? Which shippers have you used? Does it compare?

Thanks

The only thing I might suggest is making sure the device is unlocked before buying.

I've never done this, but there have been plenty of people in this forum who bought here and sent their phone to a family member in a foreign country - only to discover that the phone was carrier locked and therefore unusable. Since carrier lock is not a common thing outside the US, people make assumptions.

 

[4sallypat]

Are there differences in the modem frequency bands used in the US vs UK version iPhones ?

 

[Lihp8270]

Be aware that what the other poster was suggesting in terms of value etc, if Mis declared to avoid tax etc, that is illegal.

If you’re here on a visa, consider or not whether saving on tax is worth dealing with potentially being accused of tax evasion.

If you purchase from the US the value declared customs should be the value of the item plus the cost of postage.

You will have to pay VAT of 20% plus customs duty.

 

[now i see it]

If it was easy or legal, or legally worthwhile, everyone in the world outside the USA would be doing it.

 

[Big Bad D]

Under-declaring the value, as well as risk of tax penalties if caught, will also impact any insurance claim if the item is lost and undelivered.

 

[beerseagulls]

I dont' know about the UK Customs, but all the foreign customs that I've deal with have the prices of everything.. yes, including iPhones. You can declare whatever you want, but it only takes them 5 seconds to check the actual value. They will be basing the import duty based on what they find, not what you declare. The good thing about that is I once accidentally declared double the actual value.($4000 instead of $2000 on a used camera lens) The recipient got a notice from her country's customs that the declared value was incorrect and they re-calculated it based on $2000. (although this was a non-corrupt honest EU country)

 

[domineus]

Lots of replies (thanks so much - I never received a notification about this)

I'm in the UK and 2 main US freight forwarders i use regularly are globalshopaholics.com and shipito.com.

I prefer globalshopaholics because

a) they give you a New Castle, DE address as standard, which is a sales tax free address. Shipito also have a tax free address (Tualatin, OR) but this isn't free.

b) With Globalshopaholics whatever value YOU put on the US customs declaration is the actual value declared.

c) Globalshopaholics have slightly slightly cheaper shipping rates to UK, especially if using Aramex.

I tend to use shipito for cheaper items and globalshopaholics for higher value items, including a few iphones i've sent to them over the last few years. Never had to pay any UK import taxes on any iphone

This is super duper helpful. I was going to go through UPS/DHL. Since it is shipping from Chicago I imagine it would go through to New Castle DE first then to my current location (Scotland). I think, given that you've never had to pay any import taxes on the iPhone I will give it a shot. Any pointers?

The only thing I might suggest is making sure the device is unlocked before buying.

I've never done this, but there have been plenty of people in this forum who bought here and sent their phone to a family member in a foreign country - only to discover that the phone was carrier locked and therefore unusable. Since carrier lock is not a common thing outside the US, people make assumptions.

I usually buy my devices unlocked. Just last year I was part of the iPhone Upgrade program in the US, but because I've been saving (doing surveys and such) I have 2K saved in my apple account. Having said that I thought why not just buy it unlocked (including Apple Care+). The iPhone 12 Pro Max I have in Scotland works well enough on 4G (I haven't gotten a 5G signal on Three) but I assume it's due to being prepay/signal. But definitely a good look - thanks for the heads up.

Be aware that what the other poster was suggesting in terms of value etc, if Mis declared to avoid tax etc, that is illegal.

If you’re here on a visa, consider or not whether saving on tax is worth dealing with potentially being accused of tax evasion.

If you purchase from the US the value declared customs should be the value of the item plus the cost of postage.

You will have to pay VAT of 20% plus customs duty.

I'll probably declare the proper value at point of sale. I am planning on sending both the new iPhone and the Apple Watch over. I don't necessarily mind declaring proper value but I'll do a quick recommendation search! Since I will definitely need to follow up on total pricing and such I don't necessarily mind.

Off to researching a bit

Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[gilby101]

Also consider potential support issues. Support under warranty is only in the country where purchased. AppleCare+ may be needed to get support in other countries.

Are there differences in the modem frequency bands used in the US vs UK version iPhones ?

I don't know but would be nervous about that.

 

[domineus]

Also consider potential support issues. Support under warranty is only in the country where purchased. AppleCare+ may be needed to get support in other countries.


I don't know but would be nervous about that.

Apple Care+ has fixed an issue with my iPhone 12 Pro Max being in the UK so at least there's an exchange with that.