Purchase MAC from abroad?

[Ifti]

I'm located in the UK and fast saving Amazon US vouchers from another source.
Items that are shipped to the UK are quite limited so I find myself racking up Amazon US vouchers with little to spend them on!
An option would be to purchase items for resale on eBay etc, but I wouldn't mind replacing my current rMBP15 (used for editing with FCPX) with a full blown Mac Pro.

Again, shipping would not be possible with such a value item. Hence I could possibly travel to the US next holiday period, spend a week there, and still come back with a Mac Pro having spent less on the entire holiday then I would have on a system purchased here in the first instance! And thats including the import tax etc I would be subject to on the way back!

Anyhow, if I were to go ahead with this option, I was wondering on a few queries....

1. Would I be able to purchase from Amazon US and have the item delivered to the hotel I would be staying at?
2. I have read different views on warranty status. Some say that Apple warranty is worldwide, others state it is not? I am leaning towards the latter, but does anyone have a definitive answer before I ask Apple directly??

Any other issues you can foresee??

Many thanks for your input in advance.

 

[MRrainer]

AFAIK, warranty is world-wide.
Imagine moving from the UK to the US (or vice-versa) and Apple refusing to honor the Apple Care you bought.
Does amazon actually sell the MP?
I have never done this, but I believe amazon would also ship to a hotel. After all, some people literally live in hotels.
The question is more: would the hotel accept the shipment and keep it (safe) for you, possibly for quite some time before you arrive (I'd order rather early than late)?
I would check with the hotel first. My guess would be that the more upscale the hotel is, the more they'd be willing to accommodate to your needs.
Don't you have a friend or an ex-coworker in the US that could receive the goods for you?
I'd feel better leaving stuff like that with somebody I know.

With laptops, the resale value is usually lower because of the "wrong" keyboard. On a MP, that's not really relevant.

 

[gnasher729]

Just typing "Apple warranty" into Google leads to this page: http://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/ which tells you about all the warranty conditions. You may be responsible for getting the product back to Apple - which should not be a big deal because you can take it to the nearest Apple store.

If you buy for example from the USA, you will have to pay import tax. If it is a Mac you will get a US keyboard. And you only have UK or EU statutory rights if you buy in the UK or EU, so you lose that. Right now the pound is so deep in the gutter, and Apple hasn't updated UK prices yet, so you lose money buying in the USA.

 

[mtneer]

If I am not mistaken, EU regulations allow for an extra year's warranty on products purchased within the Union. Obviously, a US purchased Mac will lack that. Purchasing extended warranty could add a couple of hundred dollars to your purchase price (if you were to choose to do so).

 

[MechaSpanky]

For what it is worth, I live in Japan but I have some Apple devices (computers, iPods, etc but no iPhone) that I bought in America. I had a problem with one of my iPods and I took it to the Apple Store here and they fixed it for free even though it wasn't purchased here in Japan. I also owned an original iPod Shuffle (the first one) and it was recalled because of a faulty battery or something and I returned it with no problems to the Apple Store here in Japan (and it too was purchased in the States) and they replaced it for free. I also have some British friends who used to live in Japan and when they moved back to the UK, they went through the states and bought some Apple gear and they had no complaints.

Mecha

 

[Ifti]

I would check with the hotel first. My guess would be that the more upscale the hotel is, the more they'd be willing to accommodate to your needs.
Don't you have a friend or an ex-coworker in the US that could receive the goods for you?
I'd feel better leaving stuff like that with somebody I know.

With laptops, the resale value is usually lower because of the "wrong" keyboard. On a MP, that's not really relevant.

I don't know anyone living in the US, although I'm sure some of my friends do - may look into that avenue

Just typing "Apple warranty" into Google leads to this page: http://www.apple.com/legal/warranty/ which tells you about all the warranty conditions. You may be responsible for getting the product back to Apple - which should not be a big deal because you can take it to the nearest Apple store.

If you buy for example from the USA, you will have to pay import tax. If it is a Mac you will get a US keyboard. And you only have UK or EU statutory rights if you buy in the UK or EU, so you lose that. Right now the pound is so deep in the gutter, and Apple hasn't updated UK prices yet, so you lose money buying in the USA.

If I am not mistaken, EU regulations allow for an extra year's warranty on products purchased within the Union. Obviously, a US purchased Mac will lack that. Purchasing extended warranty could add a couple of hundred dollars to your purchase price (if you were to choose to do so).

I would like to purchase the AppleCare extended warranty but want to be sure it will be valid in the UK before doing so etc.
When it comes to price differences between the UK and US, the reason I'm doing this exercise is to use the vouchers I have gathered on the AmazonUS store, so I would in effect be getting the Mac Pro by using vouchers rather then cash. I am happy to pay the import tax etc as a result
The only other way I can think of doing this is to just scrap the whole idea and purchase smaller items that I can resell over here in the UK - yes I lose out a little etc, but could still raise enough to cover purchasing the MacPro locally in the UK instead...

Will look into the friend/local person living in the US idea first

Thank you

 

[MikeSweden]

I live in Sweden and I have bought my last 3 computers in USA. I have also bought a lot of phones in USA. I have never had any problems with warranty in Sweden, even though the product have been bought in USA. Apple Sweden have used swedish/EU warranty (1 year) if something happened. Never had anyone told me they had shorter warranties due to being purchased in the USA.

Regarding Keyboard. if you buy your laptop computer from Apple store USA, you can choose which keyboard you want. Since Im from Sweden we have a totally different keyboard. But just choose which country standard you want and Apple will ship with your choice.

I have never had any problems what so ever except from the power adapter. But since Apple has removable ones I just put on the Swedish standard adapter.

Hope this helps

 

[Ifti]

Another question - can I purchase a MacPro in the US, bring it to the UK, and then purchase the extended Applecare within the UK??

 

[MRrainer]

Of course.
But why not purchase the AC in the States, too?
It doesn't matter.

 

[Ifti]

Of course.
But why not purchase the AC in the States, too?
It doesn't matter.

The purchase isn't from Apple directly. It's from Amazon US. I could of course purchase AppleCare direct from Apple while I'm there - just nervous about purchasing it then being told when I'm back in the UK that it's not valid here! Lol

 

[Cat Dancer]

This thread has been most interesting and the responders have pretty much confirmed what I expected regarding the keyboard configuration options and somewhat with the Apple Care.

If you plan to UpGrade the speed, SSD size, Keyboard change, then it does take an average or 5 to 7 days for a Build To Order to arrive at my door over the past 3 years. I'm in California and they all shipped from China. My latest Mac, 6/16 ended up going to Memphis and then to my location. The other changed planes in Anchorage then direct to California, go figure, back on 10/31. I doubt the keyboard layout for your country of choice will be in stock in the usual Apple Store's for an off the shelf purchase.

I have noticed that when I've purchased Apple Care with the Original Order, the Clock on that starts the moment it is built. If you wait until you physically have it in your possession and make that Purchase, it may give you additional time on the clock. I'm not sure if you could wait to a date just before the 1 year anniversary to invoke this option to possibly get an extra year of Apple Care. Thinking that through some more, it would still just be a 2 year addition.

The questions about the Apple Care begin to create a hazy area that none of us have been able to confirm or adequately validate.

I'd suggest you make a few calls to the Apple Phone number in your region and run your questions by them just to see what they may have to say. You may even call a few times and get different CSR agents and see if they are consistent with the responses.

Then, if you have the luxury for being the U.S, do the same with Apple here. I'd expect you may hear a different story with each call or have to do the CSR Roulette to figure out which CSR's are really not up to speed on these questions or are desirably consistent.

It shouldn't matter to Apple if you are purchasing via Amazon as a Mac Sold is a Mac Sold. You are not window shopping per se, just trying to exploit a potentially very good purchase option. They want to Sell Mac's.

 

[MRrainer]

If you plan to UpGrade the speed, SSD size, Keyboard change, then it does take an average or 5 to 7 days for a Build To Order to arrive at my door over the past 3 years. I'm in California and they all shipped from China. My latest Mac, 6/16 ended up going to Memphis and then to my location. The other changed planes in Anchorage then direct to California, go figure, back on 10/31. I doubt the keyboard layout for your country of choice will be in stock in the usual Apple Store's for an off the shelf purchase.

I once heard that Apple's 5th Avenue Store has a lot of keyboard-layout variations in stock (if not all of them).

Tourists come there, as well as people on business trips. Probably seven figures each year.