Question about buying from U.S. to use in Australia

[Matt T]

In a few weeks I'm planning on buying a snazzy new 27" iMac, and assuming the US/AU dollar stays near parity, I've thought about buying it from the US and having it shipped over to save a few hundred dollars. I'm just wondering if there is anything I should know about doing something like this, especially in terms of the power supply. Obviously I'll need to buy a new power cable to use in Australian wall sockets, but does the US have a different power voltage or something than Australia (in other words, will my US iMac blow up if I plug it into my Aussie socket?). Also, will buying it from the US affect my warranty?

And are Apple nice enough to ship it to me for free?

I'd really appreciate any feedback from those of you who have done the same.

Edit: ok so after doing some proper research on Apple's site I see that they won't ship outside the US - so can anybody recommend a method to get around this?

 

[techhead42]

I had the same idea. Actually I wrote to Steve Jobs as to why the prices for the iMac haven't changed in Australia since the AUD and USD have hit near parity. I have not as yet received a reply.
There are apparently US state tax issues to take into account and they are different in each state, not unlike our GST. Then there are the shipping fees. And finally all you need to do is get an outlet adapter and the iMac will be able to use the Aussie power supply.
After all this is considered I found that the money you would save would be eaten up by the points I made above.
I was also told that Apple would adjust the prices of the iMac based on the exchange rate when the next refresh is due. I assume that if by then if the AUD and USD are still near or at parity at that time then the prices will be adjusted accordingly.
Personally I will wait until the next refresh to purchase my iMac which will hopefully be around April 2011.

 

[87vert]

Checkout macmall.com their website says they do international shipping. Not sure how much it would cost though.

 

[Loramarthalas]

It's definitely cheaper to buy from the US. I imported a MacBook Air last year and saved about 30% on the apple.com/au store price.

The only real issue, as I see it, is the chance of being slapped with GST at the border. The way to avoid this is to have your supplier mark the item as a gift or to mark it as having less than $1000 value. Most eBay sellers are happy to do this if it gets them the sale. I had no problem when importing a MacBook.

I say go for it. Do it through eBay, and do it through a respected seller, and you cant lose. The price for shipping is usually $150usd, which means that a 27" iMac 2.93ghz with 4gb can land in Australia for about $2350-2400. A huge saving on the list price of $2988.