Foreign student buying in US

[jnc]

I'm planning a long weekend in NYC, and I'd love to be able to pick up a notebook over there while I'm at it. In fact I've delayed the trip until after Macworld and CES just in case something desirable pops up

Question: Will a foreign University student be able to go to an Apple Store and use their Edu discount? How fussy are they at the tills about ID and such? I have a NUS card, and don't mind picking up an ISIC card if necessary.

It'll be a bummer if I can't use it, because the regular US price is low, but still only about equivalent to what I'd get in the UK with my edu discount (and I'd get a US-layout keyboard). If I could get the US Edu discount, well... the trip will be that little bit more worth it!

 

[GimmeSlack12]

Education is education, it shouldn't really be an issue. The NUS card will mean nothing to Americans though, just have your school ID on hand. If I remember correct the NUS card was a discount card for students right? When I was in Manchester we had both an NUS and a school student ID.

A Brit buying an American computer, get ready to re-map that @ and " key (god that bugged me when I was over there).

 

[jnc]

If I remember correct the NUS card was a discount card for students right? When I was in Manchester we had both an NUS and a school student ID.

Hey, I'm at Sheffield Hallam University, and our student ID and NUS is the same card

 

[nikehair]

My student friend from Lebanon was able to use her ID card to purchase a Macbook Pro at a discount, but she was also taking courses at a local NYFA satellite campus.

I think you'll be ok.

 

[nazuk]

This may sound irrelevant for a typical student - but I have purchased numerous items as a non-student in Apple Retail Stores in the US. They have always asked me for photo ID (Passport or Drivers's Licence), but I was paying by credit card. The point being, take the Passport with you along with your NUS card - your very unlikely to have any problems that way.

 

[cvahl]

In the Apple store in Boston, they neither accepted ID from my university in Berlin, nor my ISIC-card. They told me that they were instructed to act this way, so you might get problems. Luckily, they accepted my Harvard id, although I'm just doing an internship and do not have a real student id...

You might try to register your ISIC card at ISIC.com, then you would get 10% off at the online store, but you would still need an address to ship it to...

 

[f1]

It depends what Apple Store you go to. THe one here in Toronto Canada will offer student discounts to anyone who holds a university or college ID (NOT ISIC) regardless of which country it is issued from, I have personally used my student card from U Chicago, and my friend used hers from U of London with no problems. However in another thread, a poster mentioned that the Mountainview California location will NOT accept Canadian Student Cards...

 

[Spanky Deluxe]

Be careful. I think if you buy in store in the states you have to pay sales tax. I think its something like 8%. Also I think that I believe in America, Students only get 8% off unless they go through their own campus stores. In the UK (if you're a Uni student and order over the phone) you can get 14% off (Higher Education Discount).

So US Price for base MBP is ~$2000 (£985) after discount and with sales tax.
UK Price after discount is ~£1120 so although its cheaper, you may not consider it to be worth it after the hassle of having to get past customs (they can stop you and charge you).

 

[jnc]

Be careful. I think if you buy in store in the states you have to pay sales tax. I think its something like 8%.

I think New York tax is 8.5%? I rounded to 9% and calculated (using the Education Store prices at store.apple.com) that a 2.4 MBP would be $2507, or £1234 as opposed to about £1345 here.

Without the US edu discount it worked out about £1335, so it's only worth buying in US if I can get the edu discount. I don't mind paying £10 more to have a British model with a real keyboard

 

[Mydel]

Be careful. I think if you buy in store in the states you have to pay sales tax. I think its something like 8%. Also I think that I believe in America, Students only get 8% off unless they go through their own campus stores. In the UK (if you're a Uni student and order over the phone) you can get 14% off (Higher Education Discount).

So US Price for base MBP is ~$2000 (£985) after discount and with sales tax.
UK Price after discount is ~£1120 so although its cheaper, you may not consider it to be worth it after the hassle of having to get past customs (they can stop you and charge you).

I work 6m/year in US and often travel. A lot of people ask me to buy Apple stuff in US. Customs never ever asked me about any electronic im carrying with me. Idont think its an issue

 

[jnc]

I work 6m/year in US and often travel. A lot of people ask me to buy Apple stuff in US. Customs never ever asked me about any electronic im carrying with me. Idont think its an issue

Yeah I don't think there's much issue with a laptop, I don't even know how they'd go about pinning you for it anyway, it could be from anywhere.

If you're trying to bring 5 Mac Pros from the US, might be a little more noticeable