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Would like to buy an iPod Photo today

K

kerpow

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 16, 2004
331
0
London
My sister-in-law is coming over to the UK from the US at the end of the month so I thought I'd buy a few things online and get her to bring them over - BW3 wing sauce :) and a new iPod.

However, when on the US Apple Store the billing address has no option to change country. Is it not possible to buy from this site from abroad. Surely I'm not breaking any laws if I want it sent to a US address, I could say its a gift. I'll get her to use it on the flight over so it doesn't look like it is a gift for me and have to pay duty on it.

Would I have more success if I telephoned the Apple US Store?

Thanks.

P.S. Can anyone think of a good reason not to buy the 30gb iPod Photo? No imminent updates are there?
 
SpaceMagic said:
Your post makes absolutely no sense to me...



Why would you want to change to UK, when she lives in the US???!
Click to expand...

Please re-read my post.

"She is coming to the UK....."

I live in London, as it says in my profile. iPod's cost less in the US because of $ to £ exchange rate. £250 in UK, $349 in US which converted is £192.

So, if I buy the iPod using my credit card and enter my billing address in the UK, send it to her address in the US, she brings it to London and I save £58.
 
Is it not a whole lot easier to simply ask her to buy it for you and you either wire her the money beforehand or reimburse her when she comes over? It's not like she can possibly buy the wrong item if you explicitly say '30gb ipod photo'. :confused:
 
dietcokevanilla said:
Is it not a whole lot easier to simply ask her to buy it for you and you either wire her the money beforehand or reimburse her when she comes over? It's not like she can possibly buy the wrong item if you explicitly say '30gb ipod photo'. :confused:
Click to expand...

I don't think she has $350 burning a hole in her pocket, especially when she's trying to plan a trip to Europe.

I thought of transferring money but my PayPal account won't accept transfers from my bank. I've tried calling both and they both blame eachother, I gave up.

Wiring money using any other method takes time and costs extra.

Am I really asking a lot here? Surely people buy gifts from Apple for friends/relatives.
 
This might seem too obvious but have you tried entering her address as the billing address but using your name?

It's worth a try. The worst that could happen is it won't work.
 
AmigoMac said:
western union her the money before...
Click to expand...

Yes, I can do that. I'm just surprised its that difficult. I just bought a pair of jeans and a t-shirt from Abercrombie and it worked fine.

I'll try a few other online stores, I don't have to buy it off Apple's site.
 
Another and cheaper (used to be, don't know if it still is) way to wire money is Moneygram. Post Offices and Travel Agents often have the ability to do it.

But I'd still try using her address as the billing. You'd be amazed how few companies ever check. And failing that, calling Apple would probably overcome it. Try both first. Sending money between countries is expensive!
 
cooknwitha said:
But I'd still try using her address as the billing. You'd be amazed how few companies ever check. And failing that, calling Apple would probably overcome it. Try both first. Sending money between countries is expensive!
Click to expand...

Damn, you were right. It did work. Nice new iPod Photo coming my way. Thats quite disturbing in a way, the lack of security Apple use on their site.

I'm glad I could get it from Apple and have it personalised. All the other online stores (Tiger Direct, CDW) had HP iPod's. I don't want no stinky HP logo on my Apple kit.

Thanks, I owe you one.
 
kerpow said:
Damn, you were right. It did work. Nice new iPod Photo coming my way. Thats quite disturbing in a way, the lack of security Apple use on their site.
Click to expand...

Woohoo!!! Great news. I used to work for a bank and discovered that a lot of "security measures" are just smoke-screens to comfort customers. But don't make too much noise, it worked out for the best! ;)

Enjoy the iPod Photo when it arrives!
 
Apple checks the address. tried it once myself :( The order was Ok, but after a few days the store said it had been cancelled. when calling them they said VISA had cancelled it because of the address.

you'll have to wire her the money.
 
BlackDan said:
Apple checks the address. tried it once myself :( The order was Ok, but after a few days the store said it had been cancelled. when calling them they said VISA had cancelled it because of the address.

you'll have to wire her the money.
Click to expand...

No, its gone through ok. But...Fed Ex wouldn't deliver it because the apartment had a different name on it so I had to call Fed Ex and confirm the name on the door.

As it turned out all Apple stuff has to be signed for but Fed Ex said anyone with ID for that address could pick it up.

So I've saved nigh on $100. I feel an iSight camera coming my way soon :)
 
runninmac said:
Or you could send it to yourself then UPS/ Fedex it to her.
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Wait wait wait whoa. You are proposing he send it to himself, which means he pays the UK price, ships it to her, which means he pays international postage, and then has her brig it to the UK with her for him? WHAT? :rolleyes:
 
It will be collected from Fed-Ex this evening by her flatmate and given a thorough testing. She flies over in two weeks time.

Is iTrip any good? I've heard they don't work too well in large built up cities (like London). I don't drive but thought it might be useful to carry around to friends houses when I want to play it through their stereos.

They're illegal over here but only because it is technically considered private broadcasting.
 
kerpow said:
It will be collected from Fed-Ex this evening by her flatmate and given a thorough testing. She flies over in two weeks time.

Is iTrip any good? I've heard they don't work too well in large built up cities (like London). I don't drive but thought it might be useful to carry around to friends houses when I want to play it through their stereos.

They're illegal over here but only because it is technically considered private broadcasting.
Click to expand...
Its funny, you try to avoid so many laws and just say "well its illegal, but who really cares I can buy it from US." What are the point for laws and international customs when they can be so easily circumvented by a kid looking to score an ipod.
 
jared_kipe said:
Its funny, you try to avoid so many laws and just say "well its illegal, but who really cares I can buy it from US." What are the point for laws and international customs when they can be so easily circumvented by a kid looking to score an ipod.
Click to expand...

The law about broadcasting is obviously out of date. No one in the right mind would consider an iTrip as an illegal radio station. The thing has a range of about 10 feet. Just out of courtesy for the Police I would not set it at a frequency that could clash with their VHF range.
 
Do british people vote on their own laws? Are you old enough to vote?

I just hate when people piss and moan about getting a j-walking ticket, because they freaking do it all the time and they got stopped once.

Oh and if your police use VHF for their radios, you won't be able to get your itrip to transmit anywhere near those frequencies. FM doesn't overlap with VHF, otherwise TV would constantly screw with radio's. ;)
 
jared_kipe said:
Do british people vote on their own laws? Are you old enough to vote?

I just hate when people piss and moan about getting a j-walking ticket, because they freaking do it all the time and they got stopped once.

Oh and if your police use VHF for their radios, you won't be able to get your itrip to transmit anywhere near those frequencies. FM doesn't overlap with VHF, otherwise TV would constantly screw with radio's. ;)
Click to expand...

You're a friendly bloke aren't you. This is supposed to be a community forum. Try to be a little more constructive with your comments rather than "piss and moan". And yes, I am old enough to vote but I don't see how that's relevant to this discussion. Are under 18's not encouraged to buy Apple products?

VHF/FM. So I may not fully understand the difference. Again, a helpful comment would be more apprecriated than trying to shoot me down. The police use 100.00 to 102.00 FM, I'll avoid that range so I don't interfere with their communications. But again, we're talking about a device that has a very limited braodcasting capabilities.

All I asked was how useful the iTrip is as I've just laid out a lot of money to your favourite company and wanted some cool accessories.
 
Sound like you already have all your "troubles" figured out. All I was doing is saying how people who want to break the laws can justify it anyway they want. If thats shooting you down, then I guess you are doing what I was describing. But don't take offense, I mean you no offense anyway.

Furthermore, why do british cops use a 'public' frequency for their communication? So theives can listen in on their $5 kmart radio instead of an expensive police scanner?
 
kerpow said:
Is iTrip any good? ...[snip]... They're illegal over here but only because it is technically considered private broadcasting.
Click to expand...

Really? That's quite interesting. Just goes to show how silly some old laws are and they never get fixed!

I remember Graham Norton going through a list of laws in US states that were clearly very old or just weird. Laws like:

It is against the law to worry a squirrel
It is against the law to have sex with a live fish
Mourners at a wake are only allowed to eat three sandwiches.

Ah well, some laws are there to be made fun of. Enjoy the iPod when it arrives!:)

As for the iTrip, I haven't heard many good things about them. When it comes to cars, I've heard it's better to get something like the SmartDeck. But if you just want to plug it into a friend's stereo, then a simple stereo mini-jack => stereo RCA lead would do the trick.
 
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